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Events

Conference:
Making new connections
Resident participation helps urban regeneration
On November 26 and 27, a conference on resident participation in urban regeneration will take place in the Netherlands (Rotterdam). The conference is organised by the LSA (Dutch Association for Special Neighbourhoods). Residents from large cities of all EU countries who are working on the improvement of their neighbourhoods are invited. The participants are volunteers, and committed to making their neighbourhood a safer, cleaner, and socially better place.
The aim of the conference is to learn from each other as European citizens and to advice the EU (European Commission, European Parliament and city-organisations) focused on the improvement of the inner-city areas of the large cities.

Program
Visit five Rotterdam neighbourhoods
Hosting of participants by residents from five Rotterdam neighbourhoods. The residents will show the participants what they are doing to improve their neighbourhood. Every neighbourhood will make its own program according to different themes of the conference.
Date: 26 November 2004
Venue: four neighbourhoods in Rotterdam and one in Schiedam
10:00 hrs Welcome
10:30 hrs Plenary meeting;
by: chairman of Delfshaven Ton Harreman, en Lorna Koenen
11:00 hrs Tour Shipyard 'De Delft', employment project
11:30 hrs Lunch
12:30 hrs Departure to neighbourhoods
13:00 hrs Neighbourhood meetings in Rotterdam en Schiedam in groups, according to themes: safety, employment, integration, living and living conditions, CT applications.
17:00 hrs End of tour

19:00 hrs

Diner and party

Residents have been asked to present their own neighbourhood, with materials brought from their own city. At the end of the day, each group will discuss and formulate conclusions and recommendations for EU policies on urban regeneration.

Presentation of findings
Date: 27 November 2004
Venue: Rotterdam City Hall
10:00 hrs Welcome
10:30 hrs Plenary meeting; Mr Bolsius and Lorna Koenen
10:50 hrs Workshop
12:30 hrs Lunch;presentations of several projects
14:30 hrs Panel discussion on workshop conclusions with politicians
15:30 hrs Break
16.00 hrs Plenary EU meeting
16:45 hrs End of conference
End of conference: the findings and proposals from the European citizens are presented to the Dutch Minister for Administrative Reform and Kingdom Relations, Thom de Graaf. He will be asked present them at the informal Ministers Conference on Urban Renewal, that will take place two days later in Rotterdam.
17:00 hrs Drink

Organisation
LSA, a network organisation of residents from the 30 biggest cities in The Netherlands, in co-operation with the city of Rotterdam, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and Social Quality Matters (SQM), a project from the Urban Expert Centre and Expert Centre on Social Policy.
contact: Helena Bouscher, Henk Cornelissen
Prinsegracht 51
2512 EX The Hague
The Netherlands
tel.: +31 (0)70 - 380 44 31
fax.: +31 (0)70 - 380 99 73
e-mail: connections@lsabewoners.nl
site: www.lsabewoners.nl

Participants EU countries
Seventy-five people from the EU countries outside The Netherlands can participate in the conference. The organisation will pay travel and hotel expenses for fifty participants, but only if the participant is a volunteer and plays an important role in the improvement of his or her neighbourhood. You can only apply for the residents' funding by sending the attached application form to the secretariat of the LSA in The Hague.

Dutch participants
On the first day, Dutch residents from the thirty Dutch cities participating in the Dutch program on urban policy will attend the conference, together with several professionals connected to the EU City Network. On the second day, Dutch politicians, local authority representatives and professionals involved in urban policy will also be able join the conference.