European Standards for Vocational Training in Urban Regeneration

Our partnership aims at establishing proper and reliable standards of vocational training in integrated urban regeneration. The principle is to provide a basis for thinking about urban regeneration and therefore the partnership involves academics and practitioners. We would like to achieve through provision of manuals containing examples of best practices in urban regeneration form Europe. The project is funded by the Leonardo da Vinci fund to develop a strong partnership and framework for future collaboration; however we are planning to expand the project through a different stream of funding.

In the first year of the project partners exchange know-how in field of urban regeneration as a interdisciplinary subject of didactic and vocational activity, comprising heritage management, financial aspects of regeneration projects, GIS analysis, sustainability and innovative applied urban conservation methods. The main approach will be continuous dialogue between partner institutions during meetings, mutual visits and through exchange of didactic and training materials.

During the second year of the project the partners will develop manuals for practitioners from each partner country focused on different aspects of urban regeneration, based on the most up to date case studies from each partner. This approach will ensure that partners can present good examples of practice in their countries and provide an opportunity to think how these could work in other places.

The final manuals should form a basis for programmes of vocational training and for formulation of uniform standards for vocational training in the field of urban regeneration. Its particular value is in focus on the World Heritage Site Cities, which are required to maintain highly effective management regimes in order to meet standards set up by the Word Heritage Committee, not only in spatial terms, but also social, concerning outreach schemes. The outcomes of the project will be translated into native languages of each partner.

Monday, 5 May 2014

The REAL CORP conference - the paper work


Although we were not able to attend to the REAL CORP conference I would like to present my colleagues’ paper work.




European Standards for Vocational Training in Urban Regeneration

Krzysztof Jan Chuchra, Marek Bryx, Julia Neuschmid
(MA, MSc Krzysztof Jan Chuchra, Edinburgh World Heritage, 5 Bakehouse Close, Edinburgh EH8 8DD, krzysztof@ewht.org.uk)
(Professor Marek Bryx, Warsaw School of Economics, al. Niepodległości 162, 02-554 Warsaw, mbryx@sgh.waw.pl)
(Mag. Julia Neuschmid, CEIT ALANOVA, Concorde Business Park 2F, 2320 Schwechat, Austria, j.neuschmid@ceit.at)

1.      Abstract


SATURN is the Leonardo da Vinci funded project developed by a partnership of Edinburgh World Heritage, Warsaw School of Economics, CEIT Alanova and IURS (Institut pro udržitený rozvoj sídel o.s.). The project aims to establish a framework for vocational studies in urban regeneration. One of the key questions this project raises is: what range of skills and knowledge professionals should have to enable them to define issues accurately and find the most suitable solutions for urban regeneration? The SATURN project provides a set of manuals and recommendations for students, learners, and professionals in the field of urban regeneration. The real value of SATURN comes from its practical dimension and input from practitioners actively involved in city planning and the processes of urban regeneration.

2.      Background on Urban Regeneration and vocational learning


Currently, there is a strong deficit of specialists with broad interdisciplinary skills needed in urban management (including heritage management in Central and Eastern European countries). Most professionals responsible for this domain are geographers, planners, architects, art historians and conservators. Required are broad skills such as an interdisciplinary approach, management skills, an economic background and knowledge of how to obtain funding from diverse sources. Moreover, investors operating in urban heritage areas need to have knowledge of the historic social values of these sites. The local decision makers, administrators and regulators need to have knowledge of economic and management skills and can also benefit when they can have access to broader international experiences and examples. Anyway, in practice sometimes professional knowledge, management skills, or language skills to work internationally are lacking.
Urban regeneration as a subject for vocational learning and as an academic research discipline is likely to be one of the visionary and developing fields on the horizon over the next 20 years. Projects dedicated to the redevelopment of city centres and brown field sites are becoming a necessity. The issue becomes even more complicated in the old historic cities with a relatively high public involvement. The links between conservation, urban design, coordinative and financial skills are crucial elements of any regeneration project or strategy and are still largely absent in urban heritage management standards. It is important that these problems are addressed to achieve the fastest and most effective outcome.
One of the best ways of learning and teaching is through analysing good practice. Urban regeneration is no exception. However, effective learning is efficient if the process of discovery encourages creative thinking about a problem. European unification and technological development in communication allow the efficient exchange of information between people interested in the subject. SATURN provides a platform for the exchange of views on good practice and standards in vocational teaching. One important aim of the project is to produce a set of manuals focused on examples of good practices in urban regeneration as well as a set of recommendations. The overall object is to provide centres of education with an efficient tool, which will bridge the gap between theory and practice. The SATURN project has been funded the the European Life Long Learning Programme Leonardo between 2012-2014.

3.      Partnership approach


The real value of SATURN comes from its practical dimension and input from practitioners actively involved in processes of urban regeneration. It also involves vocational trainees who are not only one of the key beneficiaries of the project but also participants, which should allow the project to bring the real educational value. Moreover, SATURN involves communities living in partner cities, to ensure an even more practical dimension to the project and to test some of the ideas through a community engagement process. The SATURN blog (http://eurosaturn.blogspot.co.uk/) informs about ongoing activities and results. One outcome of the project are three manuals, focusing on management aspects in urban regneration, social and economic aspects as well as technological aspect. In addition, the main product of the SATURN projects is the formulation of recommendations and standards for professionals and teachers/trainers in the field of urban regeneration. 

 to read more please find the attachment
CORP_2014_SATURN_paper.pdf
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