Achievements and outcomes of the project activities

Innovative actions in rural areas
A key feature of this theme is the desire of people living in rural areas to maintain their identity while simultaneously benefiting from innovative action to address quality of life issues, the maintenance of services and the provision of good conditions for business development all with a view to the reduction of out migration. The following projects contributed to new networks and partnerships which, in turn, developed innovative measures to promote urban and rural cultural heritage, natural assets and modern culture.

Business and Environment linked through Small-scale Tourism (BESST) developed new opportunities for small-scale tourism in rural peripheral areas.  International exchanges were facilitated by transnational co-operation in the project. These exchanges were designed to stimulate a range of activities simultaneously in three places on an on-going, progressive basis and allowed the partners to share the learning gained from these joint activities.

Within the North Sea Rural Development Project (NS Rural), new services were established to support the everyday life of inhabitants in peripheral areas. The “Smart Home” project of NS Rural provided the technical solution for flood sensors, and for fall detectors, the latter enabling the elderly to stay in their own homes longer than would otherwise be possible.

The project the North Sea Cycle Route – Cycling On (CO2) has facilitated the consolidation of the North Sea Cycle Route (NSCR) as a global tourist attraction with an impact well beyond the North Sea Region itself. The main achievement was the development of a permanent management structure to oversee the integration of the NSCR as a high quality attraction in the North Sea Region. As the number of cyclists continues to rise, it is expected that both the public and the private sectors of the partner regions will continue to improve the conditions along and the level of services on offer along the North Sea Cycle Route. A complementary project was The North Sea Coastal Path (NAVE NORTRAIL), covering 5100 km of finalised trail in 26 partner regions within 7 countries. In addition, along the trail the project has operated two heritage networks: Ox Trails and the Lighthouse network. As a result, the paths along NORTRAIL are more than walking trails; they also operate to reveal the natural and cultural heritage of the areas.

Safeguarding cultural and natural heritage
Increasing awareness of the importance of cultural and natural heritage has been a predominant feature within this theme. The Integrated Landscape and Cultural Heritage Management and Development Plan for the Wadden Sea Region (LancewadPlan) project developed an integrated management and development plan for the common landscape and cultural heritage in the Wadden Sea Region. The strategy “A Living Historic Landscape” encompassed the joint strategy for both its landscape and cultural heritage. Pilot projects, showed how to integrate cultural plans into regional planning and also carried out regional implementation activities.

New integrated approaches contributed to the protection and restoration of cultural, natural and historical landscapes and townscapes. In this context, consideration was given to finding new uses for historical environments, including buildings.

The creative rehabilitation, protection and development of cultural and natural landscapes and townscapes through integrated spatial planning with focus on seafaring heritage (NorthSEAfaring) combined maritime heritage with regional and national planning spatial planning strategies by introducing innovative solutions and ideas, bringing together spatial planners and maritime heritage practitioners.

Spatial strategies, including heritage protection measures were developed in all of the participating regions and towns. Another final outcome was represented by the reconstruction of historic maritime heritage sites in the North Sea Region, which serve as additional tourist attractions and support economic development. Through the transnational approach, project partners of the NorthSEAfaring succeeded in gathering together traditional skills and crafts to underpin historic port infrastructures such as the reconstruction of the “tjalk”, a traditional vessel type in Emden, Germany.

Protecting and developing valuable landscapes
Alongside the viability and attractiveness of living and working in rural areas, a further important subject has been the issue of protecting and developing valuable landscapes. The Farmers for Nature (F4N) project presented best practice from extensive agriculture and new roles for farmers preserving valuable landscape in peripheral areas.

The project identified and implemented 7 aspects of best practice in the maintenance and improvement of rural landscapes, enhancing their ecological value and preserving their cultural identity. One of these was the development of a public – private model for agricultural products. The model functions as a ‘consultancy’ for regional development and is of relevance to EU agricultural policies. It offers a new way of encouraging closer ties between public and rural affairs, to help finance changes in farming practice.

Combining the assets of natural resources, development of landscapes and new technologies, Mobility and National Parks (MoPark) worked on the sustainable development of national parks with the partners undertaking a wide variety of activities, adapted to their local situation and needs. This project has had significant economic impact on rural development and  out of season activity in partnership areas.

Enhancing the accessibility of tourist attractions by developing public transport was the main focus of the New Opportunities for Inland Waterways across the North Sea (Canal Link). The value of waterways as a catalyst for the regeneration of urban and rural areas has become increasingly recognised, together with the need to ensure that they are better integrated with adjacent land uses. The project carried out a study into opportunities for developing yachting links between canals across the North Sea, particularly between Scotland and Scandinavia. It also carried out the classification of a recreational waterway network in the North Sea Region, following the proposed United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) classification system.

Lasting legacy for the North Sea Region through the projects' achievements

These projects have attracted widespread interest with achievements that will have long-term effects especially in relation to policy shaping. Business and Environment linked through Small-scale Tourism (BESST) resulted in a political agreement to prioritise internationalisation as the future way forward for the Fyresdal municipality in Norway. The North Sea Coastal Path (NAVE NORTRAIL) project managed to stimulate debate around public access to the coastal zone and may influence further national legislation regarding the Outdoor Access Code.  Planning legislation in the UK and Denmark may also be influenced regarding better procedures for acquiring landowner agreement to access private land.

Increased awareness of the importance of integrating cultural and natural heritage into planning has been a key contribution of the LancewadPlan project. It will be transformed into policies of the “Trilateral Co-operation” for the protection of the Wadden Sea and the action programme will be implemented in the near future.

In a similar context, the creative rehabilitation, protection and development of cultural and natural landscapes and townscapes through integrated spatial planning with focus on seafaring heritage (NorthSEAfaring) worked together with the UK government to develop concepts of support for Maritime heritage at Ministerial level. Transnational work with the key maritime heritage groups within the EU raised awareness of the implications of working with spatial planners and the necessity of becoming involved as a matter of priority rather than waiting for planning issues to create difficulties. Through implementing its 7 pilot projects, Farmers for Nature (F4N) stimulated integrated policy making at  regional, national and international levels in Europe. It contributed to the E.U.’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) implementation in different countries, with one pilot project contributing to the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD).

New Opportunities for Inland Waterways across the North Sea (Canal Link) will work on several follow-up actions including further restoration work on the canals in Langedijk (the Netherlands) and the restoration of the Bradford Canal (UK), business and product development activities in Varmland (Sweden) and Telemark (Norway) and to the implementation of landscaping work in West Flanders (the Flemish Region of Belgium).

The nine projects approved in this theme have delivered an interesting and wide range of results that will contribute to the lasting legacy of the Interreg IIIB North Sea Programme. These include policy shaping, the integration of cultural and national heritage issues into planning to avoid problems and the encouragement of integrated policy making at regional, national and international levels of Europe and beyond. Some projects also succeeded delivering additional investment as a result of their activities.