Actions putting the Territorial Agenda into practice

Cross-border spatial planning

Cross-Border Spatial Planning: A vision for a cross-border functional region

Cross-border spatial planningThe Ministry of Energy and Spatial Planning of Luxembourg is currently revising the Master Programme for Spatial Planning. This new version of the main spatial planning document will include guidelines for the near- to medium-term future development of the Luxembourgish territory (time horizon 2035) and strategic orientations for its long-term future development (time horizon 2050).

As an input for these strategic orientations, the Ministry wants to develop a territorial vision for the ecological transition of the cross-border functional region of Luxembourg until 2050 based on the principles of decarbonisation and resilience in a process called “Luxembourg in Transition”. Showcasing this process, the Ministry of Energy and Spatial Planning of Luxembourg has set up a Pilot Action to initiate a mutual learning process with partners from across Europe and allow for its application in other territories (cross-border or not).

The Pilot Action based on this process is aimed at the local and regional level in a cross-border dimension with a focus on the topics of decarbonisation, resilience and cooperation in (cross-border) functional regions.


Rationale and link to Territorial Agenda

Together with stakeholders from the cross-border region, the Ministry of Energy and Spatial Planning launched the “Luxembourg in Transition” process in October 2020. It is based on a cooperative competition with 10 international multidisciplinary expert teams developing territorial visions and implementation strategies with concrete projects for a decarbonised and resilient cross-border functional region of Luxembourg until 2050. After a methodological framework has been established in the first stage (Oct. 2020 – Jan. 2021), it will be adapted to the territorial context of cross-border functional region in the second stage (Jan. 2021 – June 2021). Finally, a coherent vision with demonstration projects will be developed in the third stage (June 2021 – Dec. 2021). Public participation plays a vital role throughout the whole process, with a Citizen’s Committee involved in the decision-making process.

The Pilot Action “Cross-Border Spatial Planning: A vision for a cross-border functional region” is based on the process “Luxembourg in Transition” . It allows for the application of the process “Luxembourg in Transition” or elements thereof in other territories (cross-border or not).

Its main goals are to:

  • Share the methodology of the process “Luxembourg in Transition” process and inspire its application in other territories (cross-border or not) and
  • Discuss the challenges of cross-border spatial planning in relation with decarbonisation and resilience.

The visioning process “Luxembourg in Transition” as well as the Pilot Action contribute to the priority of ”Integration beyond borders”. With the thematic focus of decarbonisation and resilience, both furthermore aim at aligning territorial development with the European Green Deal, thus contributing to the priority of “Healthy environment”.


Envisaged activities

The pilot action is going to run in two main phases, each with specific activities:

  • Phase 1 (Dec. 2020 – Feb. 2022): The objective of this phase is for partners to exchange, comment on, and learn from the process “Luxembourg in Transition”. While this territorial visioning process is ongoing, the Ministry will share relevant documents with the partners, present the different steps and organise regular (online) meetings to discuss them. This will give partners an opportunity to critically assess the  process.
  • Phase 2 (Feb. 2022 – Dec. 2022): Based on the lessons learnt, partners are invited to develop a short guidance note for the potential application of the process in other territories (cross-border or not). The guidance note will describe the different steps of the process and offer lessons for implementation.
  • The guidance note could be presented at a closing event or conference on cross-border territorial visioning.

Envisaged lessons and results

The idea of the pilot action is to share experiences and facilitate the application of the process “Luxembourg in Transition”. The central output will be a short guidance note concerning the potential application of the process. Ideally, the experiences, lessons and exchanges from this process could motivate the development of cross-border territorial visions for decarbonisation and resilience in other territories of Europe.


Envisaged dissemination

General information on the process of “Luxembourg in Transition” is available on the website https://luxembourgintransition.lu. While the process is ongoing, the responsible Ministry will share relevant documents with all partners. The guidance note concerning the potential application will be disseminated on a broad basis and could be presented at a closing event or conference on cross-border territorial visioning.


Time planning

The pilot action is going to run in two phases from March 2021 until December 2022. The Kick-off Meeting took place on 26 March 2021.


Resources

The three first meetings were held online. Depending on the situation in relation to travel restrictions, the costs for partners in the future could include travel costs for attending a meeting or a site visit.


Final Report

 

Final Report

Partners

In the framework of “Luxembourg in Transition”, the Ministry of Energy and Spatial Planning of Luxembourg works closely together with stakeholders from Luxembourg as well from the neighbouring countries of Belgium, France and Germany. For the pilot action, the Ministry of Energy and Spatial Planning of Luxembourg wanted to set up a partnership with interested parties from other countries at the local, regional, national, cross-border or transnational level.

The partners are: The European Commission (DG Regio), the European Committee of the Regions, the Benelux Union, Switzerland (Federal Office for Spatial Development), Rhineland-Palatinate (Ministry of the Interior and Sports), the EGTC Eurorégion Nouvelle Aquitaine-Euskadi-Navarre, the EGTC Euregio Meuse-Rhine”, the Kommunalgemeinschaft Europaregion POMERANIA e.V., the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR), the Central European Service for Cross-border Initiatives (CESCI), the Mission Opérationnelle Transfrontalière (MOT) and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability.


Lead stakeholder

Ministry of Energy and Spatial Planning, Luxembourg
Frederick-Christoph Richters (frederick-christoph.richters@mat.etat.lu)


Key messages/ results/ updates

The kick-off meeting has started a mutual learning and sharing process that has lasted until February 2022. The main output of the first phase is the presentation of the process and results of “Luxembourg in Transition” and a critical exchange with partners that, in the second phase, is meant to result in a guidance note for the potential application of the process in other territories (cross-border or not).

7th May 2021 Second meeting of the Pilot Action
15th October 2021 Third meeting of the Pilot Action
23rd December 2021 – 21st January 2022 Survey for partners on the potential application of “Luxembourg in Transition” and the results of the Pilot Action
13th May 2022 Fourth meeting of the Pilot Action
September 2022 Fifth meeting of the Pilot Action
November/December 2022 Possibility to organise a closing event or conference.
Date (Jan-Jun 2021) Main Activities
18th February 2021 Participation in the ESPON Joint session Pilots LAB TA2030, promoted by PT PRES & ESPON
16th March 2021 Participation in the event “Territorial Cooperation Agenda 2030: Bringing Territoriality into Interreg”, promoted by Interact
25th March 2021 Participation in the event “Territorial Agenda 2030: a future for all places, a future for rural areas”, integrated in the ‘Rural Vision Week: Imagining the future of Europe’s and promoted by PT PRES
26th March 2021 Kick-off meeting of the Pilot Action
6th May 2021 Participation in the pilot action “A future for lagging regions: fostering the implementation of spatial strategies” kick-off event “Putting the Territorial Agenda 2030 into practice”, promoted by the German Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community (BMI) and the German Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR)
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