A Network Initiative to Build up Perspectives and Enhance and Capacities for Local Transformation in the Danish-German Fehmarn Belt Region / The BELT

A new Danish-German region is taking shape due to the Fehmarn Belt Connection, which is characterized by connecting two mainly rural and periurban areas on each side of the Fehmarn Belt. From a regional development perspective, this situation represents a unique opportunity - but also a challenge - to ensure a decentralized perspective on the region. Through a network and stakeholder participation approach, the BELT Planning & Network Initiative seeks to facilitate knowledge transfer and collaborative learning to integrate social, cultural and environmental aspects in local and regional transformation and development. Behind the BELT Planning & Network Initiative are Roskilde University and Technische Hochschule Lübeck as well as the Zealand planning and architecture studio Rural Agency. BELT Planning & Network Initiative wishes to pursue a collaborative initiative for this new region - for and with the Regions' citizens and stakeholders - in particular the future generation in the Region. Through close collaboration with students from RUC and TH Lübeck and through collaborations with partners on both the German and Danish side, we aim at facilitating a new approach to local and regional planning based on cross-border collaboration, applied research, and the inclusion of citizens - regional stakeholders, actors, and interest groups - in the process.

The BELT Planning & Network Initiative aims at:

● Solving the issue of a broad-based shared vision for the Fehmarn Belt Region, which is so far missing.
● Connecting regional stakeholders, actors, and interest groups in the process to ensure a public engagement in the development of the Fehmarn Belt Region and facilitating exchange between students (creating a cross-border professional network).
● Creating a bottom-up planning and development approach with a broad foundation in the region itself.

As a result the Initiative will provide:

● a coherent overview over the perspectives and capacities for local transformation in the Danish-German Belt Region
● an online platform mapping existing and future perspectives and capacities in the region; a network and knowledge pool which provides public as well as private actors with a strategic overview over the development of the region
● A jointly developed and shared vision of the Belt Region as a result of knowledge exchange and knowledge transfer

En ny dansk-tysk region er ved at tage form som følge af Femern Bælt-forbindelsen, der er karakteriseret ved at forbinde land og by på hver sin side af Femern Bælt. I et regionalt udviklingsperspektiv repræsenterer denne situation en unik mulighed - men også en udfordring - for at sikre et decentralt perspektiv på regionen.
Gennem en netværks- og stakeholder tilgang vil Belt Network-initiativet søge at skabe videnoverførsel og kollaborativ læring, hvor sociale, kulturelle og miljømæssige aspekter integreres i den lokale og regionale transformation og udvikling.
Bag Belt Network Initiativet står Roskilde Universitet og Technische Hochschule Lübeck samt det sjællandske arkitektstudie Rural Agency.
Vi ønsker at igangsætte et samarbejdsinitiativ for den nye region - med borgere og interessenter - i særdeleshed den fremtidige generation i regionen. Gennem et tæt samarbejde med studerende fra RUC og TH Lübeck og gennem samarbejde med partnere på både tysk og dansk side er målet at facilitere en ny tilgang til lokal og regional planlægning baseret på grænseoverskridende samarbejde, anvendt forskning og inklusion af borgere -regionale interessenter, aktører og interessegrupper - i processen.