ASSET (Action to Strengthen Small European Towns)

Recent information on ASSET, and an archive of previous pages that were previously on this ECOVAST website may be found at the DorfWiki site operated by Franz Nahrada, Chairman of ECOVAST AUSTRIA
 

On 16 November 2010 ECOVAST and ASSET organized a seminar in Potsdam, Germany on the topic of European Small Towns.

POTSDAM SEMINAR: 16 November 2010
Held at the University of Applied Sciences: Fachhochschule, Potsdam
The day’s event was held under the auspices of the ECOVAST Project ‘Action to Strengthen Small European Towns (ASSET). The event had been organised by Angus Fowler of the German ECOVAST Section and Phil Turner of the UK ECOVAST Section.

The 3 purposes of the seminar:

• To report progress of the ASSET project of ECOVAST
• To discuss policies for small towns in Europe, member states and regions
• To arrive at recommendations for a major European Conference on Small Towns in 2011

There were poster displays on various reports by ECOVAST Sections from Austria, Germany and the United Kingdom, and others.

• Information on the work of Professor John Shepherd of Birkbeck College, University of London, on the development of a strategic database for small towns in England
• Information from Steffen Maretzke of the Federal Institute for research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development and the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development
• From the Brandenburg Ministry of Infrastructure
• Dirk Michaelis displayed information on the region of Altmark, Sachsen-Anhalt
• Activity on small towns by the ECOVAST Croatian Section.
• Copies of the New Wittstock Declaration 2008 by ECOVAST Germany, the Brandenburg Chamber of Architects and the Municipality of Wittstock/Dosse

The morning session was a series of presentations on research that has been carried out by ECOVAST and others.

THE FIRST SESSION - WHAT ARE SMALL TOWNS?
1. Phil Turner introduced the conference and the aims and objectives of the ASSET project and gave an overview of the progress of the work on small European towns in Germany, Croatia and the United Kingdom. He referred to the real policy gap in European policy concerning small towns as the current emphasis is on urban areas and rural area, peripheral areas, mountains and islands.