Development of a regional strategy

On 19 May 2003, the first committee was formed, chaired by Mars Di Bartolomeo. The municipalities of the South region, defined by the Master Plan for Regional Development, unite their destiny in a desire to develop together, by pooling their resources and enhancing their potential. PRO-SUD was then made up of 12 municipalities: Bascharage, Bettembourg, Clemency, Differdange, Dudelange, Esch-sur-Alzette, Kayl, Mondercange, Pétange, Rumelange, Sanem, Schifflange. It now includes 11 with Käerjeng, following the merger between Bascharage and Clemency.

In just one year, Mars Di Bartolomeo has created a regional dynamic with a view to making PRO-SUD a strong interlocutor with the state authorities. Speaking with one voice to defend the interests of the communes of the South in the fields of territorial planning and decentralisation was essential.

The president launched the first conference on the future and gathered all the partners, 60 actors of the territory, around a table during two weekends. There was the business world, politics, associations, the objective was to build a regional strategy. As the blast furnaces had just closed, it was absolutely necessary to use the industrial wasteland and give a future to the region that had carried Luxembourg for more than a century.

By mobilising and bringing together the dynamic forces of the region, PRO-SUD laid the foundations for a renewal of the regional image and enabled the development of a master concept on which the syndicate based its work programme.