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Case Studies |
Examples from Partners
Scotland
Aberdeenshire Towns Partnership (ATP)
ATP is a partnership between Aberdeenshire Council (the municipality), Scottish Enterprise Grampian (regional economic regeneration agency) and Communities Scotland (housing and community regeneration agency). It was formed in 1998 to target a portion of the agencies’ resources on shared objectives, so that the mutual benefits were enhanced. Each agency allocated a specific budget for the partnership annually. Five Aberdeenshire towns were identified as an initial priority and each town set its own strategy and targets, which were evaluated annually. After 8 years three towns (Ellon, Inverurie and Stonehaven) graduated out of the programme and two other towns joined. More information on the Aberdeenshire Towns Partnership can be found on their website (www.atap.org.uk).
Towns Together
The Business Associations in ten towns across Aberdeenshire worked collaboratively to promote tourism in the area. Experience and expertise was shared. Activities included joint presentation of the towns at major national tourism events, and coordination of town events to ensure that there is not unnecessary competition. More information can be found on their website (www.townstogether.org.uk).
Inverurie
Project Title: Inverurie and District Voluntary Sector Speed Networking Event
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Description:
Speednetworking event aimed at voluntary groups in the Inverurie area.
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Objectives:
To improve networking and partnership working within the voluntary sector and other sectors in the area. This would lead to a more effective and efficient service delivery.
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Process/Stages:
Planning & Invites
We invited participants from our database and networks to attend the event. These were distributed early so that workers were able to allocate time for it. It is recognised that people are always working to tight deadlines.
Logistics of Event
Participants were split into 2 groups a) those with info stands b) and those who wanted to take part by moving around the stands. Layout and accessibility of the venue also had to be arranged.
Day of Event & Evaluation
The event lasted approx 4hrs and was a huge success. The results of the evaluations were all very positive.
The planning and preparation including the event itself took around 20hrs to organise. |
Outcomes/Results:
- Raised awareness of local organisations and the services they provide.
- Encouraged networking and partnership working.
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Learning Points:
- The event highlighted the need for further networking between the different sectors in the area.
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Contact Information: Kaye Simpson email Gordon Rural Action 01466 793676
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Stonehaven
Project: Coastal Towns Website |
Activity description:
Creating a web presence that promotes town/tourism/business in each of the coastal towns.
One main/home page which would contain details on the areas that the coastal towns share such as sea, produce, heritage/culture, tourism (and more).
There would be a page for each coastal town to go into more detail and to summarise their best assets.
There would be a ‘contacts’ page and an ‘about us’ page
Each page would be in English and have a simple link (such as the country’s flag) to click on to see the page in each of the other three languages.
Each country would translate each page in their own language (ie 7 pages in total).
There would be a main link to the SusSET website from the home page.
Within the town’s individual pages there would be links to appropriate websites relevant to the town, such as business association, town website, travel information, etc. These links would be requested to be reciprocal, which would give the site two way traffic and expand the number of people visiting the site
The aim would be for the four coastal towns from the four countries to work in partnership on a joint project, which would promote and expand the areas we have in common, which have been already identified.
The site would be a marketing tool which would demonstrate the SusSET project ‘at work’ to residents/businesses of the towns involved and also to a much wider audience.
The site would also be a valuable tool to link businesses.
Each town would provide the information for their page and work together to produce the home page and a name for the site (which is critical to attract people to the site)
Each town would be involved in marketing the site in their own area, through press, town groups, etc
A forum could be added to this site (or the main site). The option would be for the forum to be open to all and a moderator would be required to manage the site. Or passwords could be used to allow all involved with the project to help set up the site and to communicate effectively beyond the life of the SusSET project.
The website can form a starting point and evolve further if other project towns wish to become involved.
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Lead officer: Jacqui Christie
tel: 01569 768327 email
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See: www.europeansmalltowns.com
Sweden
West Sweden
‘West Sweden’ is a regional association founded in 1992 in order to increase the area’s EU connections. It established its Brussels Office in 1993 to inform about EU issues before Sweden’s entrance into the EU 1995. Now West Sweden has 71 members; 68 municipalities and 3 regions (the Region of Halland, the Region of Värmland and the Region of Västra Götaland). The organisation has supported the members with applications and partner searches concerning transnational EU-projects. Many useful international contacts have been established as a result.
Region Västra Götaland International Unit
17% of the overall Swedish population live in Västra Götaland's 49 municipalities. Västra Götaland is one of the largest regions in Sweden with an area of 24,000 square km. The Region has a very important roll both as coach and as a financial supporter for growth.The RVG ‘International Unit’ monitors and handles issues concerning the Region’s participation in international organisations, official entertainment and marketing. The region is in charge of five EU programmes and takes part in another ten. The programme group is responsible for coordination and drafting in the programmes and issues to do with EU’s cohesion policy.
Local networking
Co-operation in networking at local level is rather common in Sweden. In Strömstad for example, there are some good formal practices: the ‘Town Team’ is a communication network between citizens, stakeholders and local authorities concerning big local events, urban planning etc. The Town Team is very closely linked to the SusSET project. The latter has enabled the local council to communicate issues at an extent that otherwise would have been impossible. ‘Competence Cooperation in Strömstad’ is an association with local partners to provide short courses in required subjects for employees in both private and public sector.
Intra municipalities or regions
‘South of Bohuslan Tourist AB’ - 5 Municipalities in Sweden whereof Kungälv is one and ‘North of Bohuslan Tourism’ - 5 Municipalities in Sweden whereof Strömstad is one.
Poland
Puck
Puck Town Twinning
 Participation in town twinning projects is very attractive for small towns. Such towns can exchange experiences in tourism, culture, traditions, ecology, business procedures and many others. Puck also participates in such a partnership of towns along with German towns of Konz and Stein, and French town of Gueret. Recently the towns decided to reinforce and support the cooperation regarding social and economic connections, also integrate groups interested in solving problems concerning social and economic development. A meeting was held in Puck where partners discussed essential conditions for co-operative activity of local authorities and NGOs concentrating on the issues of work, trade, local development and economic growth. All participants focused on creating and supporting a model of cooperation between local governments and non - governmental organizations from the participating towns. They established closer relations between themselves. The main ideas on undertaking future common initiatives were developed.The integration between participants of the project was achieved by commonly spent time, trips, fete etc. They had an opportunity to see Puck, yacht port, the library, primary school and what is the most important met representatives of local NGOs in Puck, also the representatives of The Marshals' Office in Gdańsk. The dissemination of the knowledge about cooperation between twin cities was achieved by creating CD-ROMs containing all information.
http://miasto.puck.pl/towntwinning/angielska/opis_projektu.html
Puck
Puck and Wireless Connectivity
Small towns in Poland usually do not have free access to wireless internet. In other small towns of Pomerania region (where Puck is located) tourists can only have access to internet through internet cafes. The l ocal authorities of Puck have prepared in cooperation with one of polish internet portals a new facility for inhabitants and tourists - the free internet zones. There are two such zones in Puck – one on the old town market, and another one on the pier. The activity was promoted through billboards and banners in the town, on the town’s website, and on the collaborating internet portal. Besides, the strategic location of the zones attracted people to places in towns, where retail and services are located. This supported the local retailers to some extent, and can also be a good example of town centre management project. During the holiday season, this facility was mainly attractive to young people and children and convenient for business people who were on holidays in Puck. See www.miasto.puck.pl
Lębork
Azure Land and The Slavic Coast
Lębork Municipality participated in a project ‘Tourism - a joint case’. It was the first large training and counselling project supporting tourism business in Poland. Training sessions were directed to small, medium and big companies, representatives of local government and organisations supporting tourism development.
The project was organised by Polish Agency of Enterprise Development. The training and counselling sessions were subsidised by European Social Fund. The goals of the project were to raise qualifications of tourism employees, assistance in the development of tourism products, and animate partnership & cooperation in the region.
There were three components of trainings and consultations: Networking Cooperation, Tourism Management, and Language Courses. About three hundred thousands hours of training were prepared for not less than four thousand people.
The Partnership Groups were formed during the project, and were comprised of representatives of entrepreneurs, local authorities and NGOs active in the tourism sector. Their goals are creation, development and promotion of tourism products generated under common brand in close cooperation of the partners in the relevant region. Lębork is a member of such Partner Group named The Slavic Coast for all weather. The Lębork’s project is named Azure Land.
www.tws.org.pl
Examples from Elsewhere
County Cork, Ireland
Agro-Food Networks
The sustainability and organic food movement has had a significant impact on many rural areas around the world. As a result of demand for organic produce in County Cork in the last 25 years, localised suppliers have evolved into larger organic networks and organisations. This demand has been influenced by rising incomes, local and national media stories, and a general lifestyle trends. In fact, the local supply is not enough to meet national demands, giving rise to a number of economic opportunities in rural areas. These agro-food networks have been supported through box schemes, wholefood suppliers and local farmers markets either in small towns or city centres.
Small Town Networks, Highlands UK
Encouraging Re-generation
The Small Town Networks headed by the Highlands Council in Scotland recognises the importance of people as a resource in small towns. It builds partnerships and shares information between 12 rural towns regarding opportunities and tools for regeneration. The key component of these partnerships is the voluntary input from individuals, local businesses and community groups. These volunteers are enabled and supported by project officers. In addition, the network has EU funding which can be made available to specific projects as needed. The result is a bottom-up approach to planning and development. It emphasises the strengths of individual towns and focuses on a resource that is often overlooked in larger cities – people power.
(www.smalltownnetworks.com)
Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk UK (population 35,000)
Town Twinning
The creation of twin towns is growing more common throughout many small towns in Europe. Twin towns can use their connections to develop commercial and business opportunities or to focus on a cultural exchange. Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk has made twin connections with Compiègne in France and Kevelaer in Germany. The connection in France is now 40 years old and is celebrated by representatives each year with a long weekend shared together alternating between the two countries. The focus of the partnership is the development of friendships and personal networks. The social connections have built upon these links and the two towns now share a common Friends network. Bury St. Edmunds focuses on the importance of cultural exchange with the younger members of the population. It adds a unique component to the lives of youth within the town as well as an opportunity for them to be involved in shared policy discussions between twinned towns.
(www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk)
Rural Romania
Tourist Networks
In Romania, an NGO entitled National Association of Rural, Ecological and Cultural Tourism (ANTREC) was established in 1994 to assist small towns developing tourist facilities. It allows individuals, groups or whole towns to register their tourist accommodation for advertisement on their website. In a study carried out in 2000, 77% of tourist visitors to small towns said that the information found through tourist networks such as ANTREC was invaluable to their experience. In addition, in 2001, 67% of those guesthouses advertising through a national tourist network had regular visitors. The networks successfully work to reduce the amount of effort required by individual business owners or towns with limited resources. They reduce competition between towns, and facilitate a partnership with neighbouring towns, which greatly enhances the attraction of tourists.
(www.regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk/events/presentations04/benedek.pdf)
Principal Contacts
ANTREC - www.antrec.ro/en-antrec.html
Small Town Networks - www.smalltownnetworks.com
UK Rural Planning Network www.rtpi.org.uk/rural_planning_network and www.ruralnetuk.org
UK Urban Forum – www.urbanforum.org.uk and www.neighbourhood.gov.uk
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