Water as a resource for local development
The Municipality of Åmål has recently listed some strategical project ideas in "Vision Åmål 2015". Quite a few are connected to development of "water-areas". In the project "Water - a resource for local development" Åmål would like to share experiences with other European cities in this specific area. What can we learn from each other, share best practices, perhaps create new models for water protection and use of water as a resource.
Our partners in the Baltic Sea Area, Türi in Estonia and Prienai in Lithuania are participating in this project. The objectives for the project are to identify different water-project ideas, that could be used in the development of our cities. An important part is also to show that it can be realized hand in hand with improvement of water environment in the Baltic Sea Area.
We also hope to find a partner in Poland later on (through former project contacts).
The project was approved in June 2009 by The Baltic Sea Unit – Sida, Sweden.
Lead partner is Åmål Municipality and project leader is Peeter Särg.
Total project budget: approx 30 000 Euro.
In the project a minor pilot study will be carried out (Åmål- lead partner).
Three workshops are planned/suggested, Åmål, Sweden in November 2009, Prienai, Lithuania in February 2010 and Türi, Estonia in May 2010. 5 persons from each town/municipality are invited to each seminar (costs for travel and accommodation covered by the project). Representatives from the regional planning level will be invited to participate as observers.
In the final report the different ideas from the participating partners will be presented. It will be be used as a base for a follow-up project application to EU-project funds, such as the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 or INTERREG IV C Programme. In this phase participation of regional as well as local partners are essential.
Specific water connected ideas so far:
Åmål:
North Bay (Norra Viken) environmental improvement. Creation of high quality residential and recreational areas around and at the North Bay. Different options how to improve water quality.
Türi:
Old water-power-stations at Pärnu River. Creation of recreational areas in historical industrial environment.
Prienai:
The town is situated at the shores of river Nemunas. Drinking water supply from a nearby lake.