EU: Integrated Territorial Development

The programme was designed for 18 delegates of NDRC and took place from 26 May to 05 June 2012. The information session contained a relevant mix of lectures and practical experiences. The ultimate goal of the course was to reflect about Integrated Urban-Rural Territorial Development in Europe. The case studies were carefully selected in cooperation with the managing authorities of the cities and regions visited, reflecting the diversity of European regional and urban policy experiences.

The course started with a briefing session at GIZ office in Beijing. This covered basic logistical issues and background information on the topic. The session was leaded by the project coordinator and supported by a renowned expert on EU-China regional and urban policy cooperation. Once in Europe, participants started the field visits that took them to two countries representing the diversity urban-rural links: England (West Midlands) and Germany (Hamburg area). Moreover, the cities and regions visited have developed different networks of urban-rural cooperation at the regional and local level, making them particularly interesting as references for Chinese officials. Including the meetings in Brussels, a total of three countries was visited.

With regard to interactive participation, we had scheduled two workshops in the programme: a brief wrap-up session at the end of the first week and a half-day one at the end of the complete session. The brief workshop was designed to debate with delegates about the report to be drafted and to be discussed during the closing workshop. The information session was rounded-up by a half day workshop comprising the key contents of the seminar. Moreover, participants were requested to develop their own reflection on EU regional policy, the urban-rural links in Europe and their relevance for Chinese challenges. Participants worked on the practical report, focusing on the lessons learned for their own regional policy tasks. Participants were also able to assess the seminar and to receive participation certificates.

Press coverage was widely achieved in the West Midlands (UK), where newspapers and radio reported about the Chinese experts visit. Also the City of Hamburg reported about the Chinese visit at the ERDF-managing authority’s website.

For more information, please refer to our report: CETREGIO 1_2013_Technical_Report_130813