On October 5th and 6th, 2022, the political leaders of the PRO-SUD inter-municipal syndicate met to work together on the definition and implementation of a common regional development strategy for the territory of the “Minett UNESCO Biosphere“.
The syndicate of municipalities for the promotion and development of the Southern Region, created in 2003, and consisting of the municipalities of Bettembourg, Differdange, Dudelange, Esch-sur-Alzette, Käerjeng, Kayl-Tétange, Mondercange, Pétange, Rumelange, Sanem and Schifflange, was awarded the label of UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in October 2020.
Last week, the region’s political leaders expressed their desire to implement a coherent development strategy to be able to offer the inhabitants and the local economy concrete paths and projects for the sustainable development of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. This development supports the objectives and strategies of the new “Plan Directeur de l’Aménagement du Territoire” (PDAT) which is currently in the consultation phase and is in line with the values defined by the World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
Extended meeting of the PRO-SUD municipalities with the Minister for Spatial Planning
On Wednesday the 5th of October, the Minister of Spatial Planning, Claude Turmes, members of the colleges of aldermen, of the communal councils and of the technical services of the municipalities of PRO-SUD met at the Centre Culturel Artikuss in Soleuvre in order to launch the implementation work of the regional strategy of territorial development for the 11 municipalities of the region which constitutes the territory of the “Minett UNESCO Biosphere”.
The report on a territorial vision for the southern region of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, produced by the consulting firm ECAU and finalised earlier this year, was presented to the municipal leaders. On more than 150 pages, it sets out possible orientations and paths for the future development of the region as a whole in the form of a complete and detailed inventory.
Quality of life for citizens and preservation of natural resources at the heart of the approach
At the beginning of the meeting, Claude Turmes addressed the country’s development challenges by presenting the draft PDAT, which sets out the objectives and measures for sustainable development of the whole country until 2050. “It is a question of combining economic development and environmental preservation in order to maintain the quality of life of the people. It is therefore essential to plan differently and to develop a new culture of territorial development,” the minister stressed, emphasising the PDAT2023 project’s approach, which favours an intersectoral approach to territorial planning and projects between public actors, including of course the municipalities as essential partners.
Within the framework of the current consultation procedure, the elected representatives were invited to give their opinion on the draft PDAT2023 and thus participate with concrete remarks before its final adoption. Following the minister’s explanations, the president of PRO-SUD, Georges Mischo, summarised the proposals of the consulting firm ECAU, referring not only to the region’s steelmaking past, a unifying element of identity, but also to its common challenges and its shared future as a UNESCO biosphere reserve. According to him, “the shared regional strategy to be developed must focus on the well-being of citizens and their quality of life”. In order to implement this strategy, while taking into account the need to reduce the continuous sealing of green spaces and natural areas, and to cope with a constantly high demographic pressure, accompanied by continuous immigration to Luxembourg, he detailed a number of possible options that should be taken into account in the development of a regional action plan.
Georges Mischo mentioned “the economic diversification of the region, the creation of new cross-border transport concepts, the strengthening of regional food production, the creation of affordable and integrated neighbourhoods (“city of the quarter hour”) with a high standard of living as well as the protection and preservation of the region’s unique biodiversity as possible axes of a common vision”. Furthermore, he stressed the importance of making natural and urban habitats more resilient to climate change and extreme weather events.
Eleven projects presented
After the presentation of the possible fields of action for the establishment of a joint regional development strategy, each of the eleven member municipalities of the PRO-SUD union presented a project which it is carrying out or plans to carry out as a municipality and which, in its opinion, could be beneficial to the whole region. These projects range from the CO2 remediation of existing buildings to the development of a cross-border network of cycle paths, the creation of structures to promote local agriculture and sustainable tourism, and projects likely to guarantee the region’s energy self-sufficiency in the medium and long term. Other local projects presented by the municipalities dealt with the consequences of climate change and how to counteract the overheating of the urban space by creating green spaces in the settlements while preserving natural areas capable of generating cold air.
First concrete steps agreed
After Wednesday’s meeting, the PRO-SUD committee met again at Ellergronn on Thursday 6 October to take the first concrete steps towards the creation and implementation of a joint development plan.
After constructive discussions between the representatives of the 11 municipalities, it was agreed to analyse the 11 projects presented the day before in relation to the needs of the region.
This definition of priorities, as well as the choice of concrete projects to be carried out as a region, will take place during the next committee meetings and after having collected the opinions of the eleven aldermen’s colleges.