23.09.2022
During the currently four years since its start, much has happened in the research project ReGerecht. Participants of the project now presented some of its results at the symposium “Good Urban-Rural Relations: For a Sustainable Development in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania”, which took place on September 15th at HanseMesse Rostock.
The event was organized jointly by the research projects ReGerecht, PROSPER-RO and VoCo, which are all part of the BMBF funding scheme “Stadt-Land-plus”, as well as by the scheme’s accompanying research team. The aim was to present core results of the three research projects that focus on Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and discuss them with regional decision makers and the interested public. With more than one hundred participants from administration, ministries, politics, and interest groups that represented all levels from municipalities to the Federal level, this aim was certainly reached. A total of ten expert talks examined different aspects of urban-rural cooperation – from sustainable land management and resilient infrastructures to regional value added. For the ReGerecht project, apl. Prof. Dr. Thomas Weith (ZALF) and Ute Franke (Landeshauptstadt Schwerin) presented concepts for regional land banks, Antje Ellen Wahls (Amt für Raumordnung und Landesplanung Westmecklenburg) reported how regional planning contributes to a regional balance of interests in Westmecklenburg and Eva Eichenauer (BTU) explained results of her work on regional value added from wind turbines. A poster exhibition that included results of the analyses on digitalization (Sabine Barthold, TUDD) and land use conflicts (Meike Fienitz, ZALF) conducted in the ReGerecht project completed the event. During the final panel discussion the exchange between the Symposium’s participants was further intensified. Here, two of ReGerecht’s practice partners were part of the panel: Amt für Raumordnung und Landesplanung Westmecklenburg, represented by head official Karl Schmude, and Landgesellschaft Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, represented by Torsten Mehlhorn, head of the department for urban and regional development. The manifold information and the opportunity for personal exchange were received very positively by all participants. Conclusion: Diverse knowledge is available which now needs to be (further) implemented. Or, to use the words of Thomas Beil (Greifswalder Agrarinitiative): Regarding implementation we now not only have to start trotting, but we need to switch on the warp drive (as known from Star Trek).
