The residents drafted ten recommendations, together forming the European Residents' Agenda 2005 . This Agenda was presented to the Dutch minister of Government Reform and Kingdom Relations, Thom de Graaf, on November 27, 2004. The European Residents' Agenda 2005 will also be presented to the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Committee of the Regions and Euro Cities.

On the first day of the conference, focus was put on Dutch initiatives for residents’ participation; the participants visited several projects by bus. On the second day, initiatives from other countries were discussed. As a result, several recommendations where made, directed towards all participants in urban regeneration projects. These recommendations were then presented to minister Thom de Graaf, as representative of the Dutch EU Chairmanship.

More than 200 residents took part in the conference, from the EU member states Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Austria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and the United Kingdom, as well as from Switzerland.
As expected beforehand, the conference didn’t provide a really new approach to urban regeneration. Various organisations and resident groups made quite useful contacts, though, realising literally the goal of ‘making new connections’. Two days of discussions culminated in a plenary session, in which two EU Parliament Members (Ms. Ieke van den Burg and Mr. Erik Meijer) and a Dutch government official (Mr. Herman Schartman) took part.

Start with relatively small projects
Comparing various urban regeneration projects, it appeared that starting with relatively small projects might be best, when starting residents’ participation from scratch. Presumably, smaller projects work because they show results sooner, which encourage residents to participate further. Another recommendation: take advantage of other projects’ successes. It is really stimulating for residents to see the end result of urban regeneration projects elsewhere, and to see how residents’ participation has contributed to this result. A visit might often be a good idea.

Examples
A Dutch example of a successful smaller project, visited by the conference’s participants, is the Schuttersveld (Schiedam - Nieuwland). A neighbourhood consisting of blocks of flats was made more pleasant by several measures: balconies were renewed, individual satellite dishes were replaced by four, larger, collective ones. The public area surrounding the flats, for which no-one felt responsible before, was turned into a communal garden.
Another example of a small-scale project: a school in the same part of Schiedam (Brede School ’t Meesterwerk) set up a ‘Parents Room’. There, parents can meet each other and talk, not just about their children, but about the neighbourhood in general as well.
In Newcastle (UK) Scotswood residents, concerned about demolition plans for
their homes, and the local council made plans together for restructuring the
neighbourhood. Residents and Council meet monthly as equal partners to discuss progress. Making these plans involved compromises; some residents had to accept that their homes would be demolished, and received guarantees in turn that they would be able to return to other premises in the neighbourhood.
The Scotswood residents visited various European projects in York, Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow en Malmö (Sweden).
Newcastle Council seeks a 'model' restructuring approach not just in order strengthen Newcastle, but it hopes to attract the international building expo as well.

O’ Devaney Gardens in Dublin (Ireland) is a low-income neighbourhood where social problems abound. The residents hired a professional adviser, to help them making their own plan for development of the neighbourhood. As a first step, a survey into residents’ opinions and needs was held. The survey’s response was 92%, which is very high. The residents’ combined efforts already has had concrete results. For instance, the local council decided to build a multi-purpose Community Resource Centre in O’ Devaney Gardens.

Dublin's most important message: if you want to deal effectively with the Council or with housing corporations, you'll need expertise. Hiring a professional advisor might help.