2009-

Sustainable Historic Towns Working Group 2009-                    

Chair: Dag Arne Reinar, Directorate for Cultural Heritage, Norway 

Members
Denmark: - Estonia: Mart Siilivask
Finland: Özlem Özer-Kemppainen, Margaretha Ehrström
Germany/Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: Jan Schirmer
Latvia: Katrīna Kukaine, Juris Dambis
Lithuania: Giedre Filipaviciene
Norway: Ingun Bruskeland Amundsen, Dag Arne Reinar
Poland: Beata Makowska 
Sweden: Åsa Dahlin, Pål Anders Stensson   

Project
June 1, 2010: Application to the Nordic Council of Ministers for co-funding of project called

“Urban Heritage – Good for the Climate!”  

The project addresses the sustainability of historic towns across the Nordic/Baltic Sea Region, in reference to the effects and consequences of the global, ecological situation. In the proposed project SuHiTo wishes to focus on urban heritage as an environmental asset and part of the urban ecosystem, and its role in the efforts to achieve low carbon economies in the Nordic and Baltic Sea Region.  

Many urban buildings can be upgraded relatively simply, while others are sensitive to uncritical intervention and require more technically advanced and/or subtle procedures. Through the proposed project the participating countries will share knowledge and discuss issues of mutual importance. The project structure has two phases, which both focus on the individual and combined performance of buildings and their urban context. 

Specific aims - Phase one

- Collect comparative knowledge of national strategies, actions and adaptations to reduce the carbon footprint and energy consumption of urban heritage resources, from the urban level to individual buildings.

- Identify short and long term challenges and research needs concerning sustainable urban heritage management in the participating countries.

- Search for best-practice principles and examples within and outside the participating countries, concerning the sustainable use and reuse of urban heritage assets, at different urban levels. 

- Search for and link up with networks and organizations working in same field.

Tentative aims - Phase two

- Establish/link up with urban renewal projects where heritage conservation is addressed parallel to and coordinated with improvement of social, economic and ecological sustainability, at an urban level.

- Extract best practice principles and techniques from pilot cases.

Working Group and Project Meetings
February 24-25, 2010 in Stockholm
September 8, 2010 in Riga