Final Network Conference
For two years nine partner cities all across Europe have been studying various possibilities for the re-use and revive former military assets. In working together the cities of Piacenza, Serres, Varazdin, Szombathley, Telsiai, Koblenz, Longford, Espinho and Cartagena took advantage of good practices in other cities in exchanging experiences and gaining common knowledge in this field.
Today four of our PRAXIS volunteers were able to participate in the programmes final conference during which the results of their work since 2015 have been presented and discussed. In addition to our team and representatives from each city also representatives of the European Union’s URBACT Secretariat have attended the event in the Phillipos Xenia Hotel close to the valley of Serres.
The topic of the presence of former military assets that have slowly turned into abandoned areas after the end of their operation period is in fact a highly current topic that has to be dealt with within the European Union. With the aim of turning a potential problem concerning these areas into an engine that could drive change if using an innovative approach the URBACT network MAPS (Military Assets as Public Spaces) called for participants all over Europe in 2015 and effectively contributed to provide various areas with hopes and options to create new civilian futures.
The conference gave people with all kinds of backgrounds (citizens, local stakeholders, political representatives, municipality representatives) the opportunity to debate with urban professionals and decision makers. Throughout the day there were several speeches and presentations as well as an exhibition and the presentation of a short documentary movie.
As also said by some of the organisers of today, the event was filled with a lot of information in a short time, but the way of dissemination of the information and of the presentations contributed to an overall positive experience for everyone involved and led to a great exchange of ideas and opinions. Even as outsiders like our volunteers it was interesting to follow the event and to gain some insights on the topic as it is just as well an issue that some of our home areas are effected by as well.
written by Karo Van
Today four of our PRAXIS volunteers were able to participate in the programmes final conference during which the results of their work since 2015 have been presented and discussed. In addition to our team and representatives from each city also representatives of the European Union’s URBACT Secretariat have attended the event in the Phillipos Xenia Hotel close to the valley of Serres.
The topic of the presence of former military assets that have slowly turned into abandoned areas after the end of their operation period is in fact a highly current topic that has to be dealt with within the European Union. With the aim of turning a potential problem concerning these areas into an engine that could drive change if using an innovative approach the URBACT network MAPS (Military Assets as Public Spaces) called for participants all over Europe in 2015 and effectively contributed to provide various areas with hopes and options to create new civilian futures.
The conference gave people with all kinds of backgrounds (citizens, local stakeholders, political representatives, municipality representatives) the opportunity to debate with urban professionals and decision makers. Throughout the day there were several speeches and presentations as well as an exhibition and the presentation of a short documentary movie.
As also said by some of the organisers of today, the event was filled with a lot of information in a short time, but the way of dissemination of the information and of the presentations contributed to an overall positive experience for everyone involved and led to a great exchange of ideas and opinions. Even as outsiders like our volunteers it was interesting to follow the event and to gain some insights on the topic as it is just as well an issue that some of our home areas are effected by as well.
written by Karo Van
