Platform Newsletter # 1 - May 2014
Contents PLAT.F.O.R.M. at a Glance p. 2 Active Capitalisation p. 3 First Transnational Event in Lyon p. 5 Next Steps p. 6 1
PLAT.F.O.R.M. at a Glance Details Alpine Space Priority 2 - Accessibility and Connectivity Duration: 01/09/2013-30/11/2014 Total budget: 493.865 ERDF grant: 375.337 Platformers Transpadana - Italy (LP) Regione del Veneto - Italy Technische Universität Wien - Austria Comité pour la Transalpine - France Provincia di Torino - Italy Observers Camera di Commercio di Trieste - Italy Uniontrasporti - Italy Università degli Studi di Torino - Italy Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia - Italy Osservatorio Torino-Lione - Italy UZH Universität Zürich - Switzerland Österreich Umweltministerium - Austria TUM Technische Universität München - Germany Conseil Général de Savoie - France RDA LUR Regional Development Agency for the Ljubljana Urban Region - Slovenia Primorska Chamber of Commerce - Slovenia PLAT.F.O.R.M. is a transnational capitalization project under the framework of the European Cooperation Programme Alpine Space 2007-2013, priority 2 Accessibility and Connectivity. The project involves 5 partners coming from Italy, France and Austria and 11 Observers, which are institutions supporting the project and interested in its development and results. The PLAT.F.O.R.M. Project aims at integrating social sustainability into infrastructure and transport decision-making process in Alpine Space areas. A first recognition of previous projects on this topic revealed how several of these mainly focused on economic and environmental sustainability of infrastructures and on mobility policies with particular attention to the technical aspects of planning. Social topic third pillar of the more general sustainability concept in relation to transport planning and in particular that of major transport infrastructure seems sometimes left in background, revealing challenging opportunities to be developed. Social conflicts generated by Major Transport Infrastructure (MTI) projects are relevant in vulnerable alpine areas. For example, in Italy, the Lyon-Turin high-speed railway became a case history and the entire Mediterranean Corridor area (from France to Slovenia) shows cases of local participation importance underassessment and consequent conflicts. In Austria, connectivity and accessibility issues are usually supported by the majority, but local environmental and social impacts may cause oppositions, e.g. Brennerbasistunnel. Thus, transport and mobility is a technical issue and a social problem, and infrastructural project sustainability could be also measured by public participation degree and policy makers ability to trigger and assess it, benefiting also from previous transnational projects. Some experiences in Europe demonstrate that sustainability of a project could be measured in fact by the degree of involvement of local communities within the planning phase and by the availability of tools capable of supporting opinion-forming processes. The PLAT.FO.R.M. Project aims to transform stakeholders in an integrated and necessary part of the decision-making process, by: an adaptive capitalization process to exploit previous Alpine Space projects achievements; a prototype to enlarge (by ICT and liquid democracy tools,) the participation on target groups and assess its feedbacks; specific tools (didactic tools, webinars methodologies, deliberative polls) to involve target groups: local communities, schools, universities, local administrators, policy makers. The Project duration is 15 months, from 1st September 2013 to 30th November 2014. The project total budget is 493.865 of which 375.337 is co-financed by the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund). 2
Active Capitalisation The objective of PLAT.F.O.R.M. Active Capitalisation is the dynamic recognition of the 47 projects, financed under the four calls for proposals within the European Territorial Cooperation Programme Alpine Space 2007-2013, to compare their results and outputs in terms of their relevance towards the three main sustainability pillars, Social, Economic and Environmental (further simply SEE). The Active Capitalisation is structured in three phases (below, is reported a brief description of the first two phases, which represent the current state of project implementation): 1. 2. 3. Categorization of projects Selection of projects through outputs In-depth analysis of selected project outputs and their impacts through focus groups with SM Phase 1: Categorization of projects PLAT.F.O.R.M. has analyzed each Alpine Space (further simply AS) project, according to one of the three specific priorities set within the programme itself: Competitivenness and attractivenness, Accessibility and connectivity, Environment and risk prevention. This analysis has been made through the categorization of projects according to its relevance to one or more of the SEE pillars. The results demonstrate that the priority Accessibility and connectivity includes the largest number of AS projects and that the economic sustainability pillar is the one that has mostly been addressed, followed respectively by the Environmental one and, finally, by the Social one. The geographical distribution of projects partners in the Alpine Space Cooperation Area shows a relevant presence of Italian (about 31% of the total) and Austrian (19%) partners. Less relevant is the participation of German and French partners (about 14%), followed by the Slovenian (11%), Swiss (9%) and Liechtenstein ones (0,8%). 3
Active Capitalisation The recognition of AS projects partners also demonstrates that Public Authorities are the most represented (42%). Other important entities are Research centres (18,9%), Educational bodies and Universities (16,3%), Associations (11,1%) and Enterprises/Companies (8,1%). Phase 2: Selection of projects through outputs From the 47 analyzed AS projects, we have identified 73 outputs (belonging to 42 projects), to be capitalized. These outputs belong to different typologies: Tools and decision support systems (32,9% of the total), Studies and analyses (23,3%) and Recommendations for policymakers and policy papers (15,1%). Another important step of the Active Capitalisation process has been the analysis of the main addressees of projects outputs. Results show how the 65% of outputs are addressed to Public Authorities, the 12,3% to Enterprises and Companies, and the 9,6% to Educational bodies and Universities. Although frequently mentioned, local communities are often left in the background as outputs direct target groups. Finally outputs have been analyzed according to their relevance, affinity and potential to PLAT.F.O.R.M. aims. Each output has received a specific score demonstrating its relevance in terms of topic addressed, used approach and further utilization in different contexts. We then applied thresholds, graphically represented below in form of a traffic light. Three questions were considered to assess the importance of the outputs analyzed, thinking about Platform purposes: Which is the relevance of the output s approach? Which is the relevance of the theme addressed by the output? Which is the potential pertinence of the output with the issue of social sustainability of transports? As shown in the left column, 14 Projects gained the green and yellow light, meaning that they are particularly interesting for PLAT.F.O.R.M. purposes. This capitalisation process and its results will now access the 3rd phase, during which it will be assessed and validated by external stakeholders through dedicated focus groups. *Ranking according to PLATFORM aims. All scores may be subject to change. 4
First Transnational Event in Lyon On the Way of 2020: Proposals for a Social Capitalisation of Alpine Space Projects It took place in Lyon on the 25th of February at the Region Rhône-Alpes headquarters the first transnational event of the PLAT.F.O.R.M. Project, organised by the French partner Comité pour la Transalpine, and in which institutional partners, external experts and the public were invited to learn more on project aims and advancement. What is PLAT.F.O.R.M. Project? In the first part of the meeting, Ida Cappelletti (Transpadana - lead partner) presented the general aims and activities of the project: encouraging participation and social sustainability of the public and policy makers about the planning and management of large transport infrastructures in order to strengthen the cohesion within the Alpine Space. Consultation in Preparation and Decision-Making Process Luc Picot (Décider Ensemble Association) presented a contribution focused on the importance of defining exactly what are the key factors and the risks of consultation and involvement activities in decision-making processes, not just those related to construction of new transport infrastructures. Showing some experiences in France, he explained, there is often a tendency to confuse terms such as information, consultation, cooperation, negotiation and public debate : a confusion which in many cases has created an inconsistent and superficial involvement of the population with subsequent conflicts. Why a Social Capitalisation? Project partners presented the state of the art and the next steps. The project will develop forms of awareness through specific activities in schools and universities: Susanne Nilsson (Transpadana) for the roleplaying game Playform, aimed at high schools; Lauraine Panaye (Transalpine) for a didactic tool in primary schools; Andrea Ballarin (Veneto Region), for the webinars and summer school for public administrators and stakeholders; Stefania Grasso (Province of Turin) for the seminars for local administrators. Sharing Best Practices in Consultation An interesting example is presented by Mélanie Betz (CCI de Lyon), partner of PUMAS Project, Planning Sustainable Regional- Urban Mobility in the Alpine Space, one of the most virtuos projects capitalized by PLAT.F.O.R.M. This project, aimed at improving urban mobility in the Alpine regions, fielding a number of good practices and pilot projects related to social sustainability, such as: the active involvement of all stakeholders throughout the planning process; the commitment to sustainability; the looking beyond the borders through an integrated approach; a focus on achieving ambitious, measurable targets; and finally, a method including all steps of the life-cycle of policy making. 5
Next Steps May 15, 2014 12,00-17,00 Vienna University of Technology Vienna May 28, 2014 Turin area First PLAT.F.O.R.M. Focus Group Meeting The first Focus Group will be focused on the selection of social sustainable Alpine Space projects (2007-2013) and international experts from different fields are invited to support PLAT.F.O.R.M.-team with their experiences. First Piloting of PLAYFORM Role-Playing Game Transpadana will experience the role-play called PLAY.FORM (Play to Form Opinions Related to Mobility). Students will be asked to simulate a decision-making process in the planning of a major transportation infrastructure that will have to be designed in an Alpine context, characterized by a variety of specific and critical issues. June 17, 2014 10,00-13,30 Palazzo Grandi Stazioni Venice Second Transnational Event in Venice The second PLAT.F.O.R.M. Transnational Event will take place in Venice and will be entitled Social sustainability in the Alpine Space: a challenge for the future. This event will be the occasion to present the results of the first Focus Group, the PLAYFORM roleplaying game and the on-line Capitalisation Matrix. During this event, the second Focus Group, a comprehensive Round Table to identify and debate social relevant challenges for the Alpine Space programme 2014-2020 will be held. The results deriving from the Focus Group will be useful to close the Active Capitalisation activity. Share ideas through our Platform: we believe that opinions count! For more information: www.platformproject.eu https://twitter.com/platform_alp http://www.linkedin.com/pub/project-plat-f-o-r-m/86/332/907/en 6