MAREMA

The MAREMA project is initiated by the Regional Government of Carinthia (lead partner of the operation) and aims at the exchange of experiences in regional management (RM) with 12 partners in the EU (from Zone East, North, South, West), Norway and in 2 accession countries. Furthermore, new RM structures will be developed, adapted to individual regional needs and characteristics of 3 different types of regions. These new structures shall activate the potential of the regions towards sustainable development. For communication and exchange of experience and project results a network will be established, which will endure after project finalisation as an efficient means of co-operation between RMs. As universal concept for regional management does not exist, the partner regions have been classified into three types of regions, each with special preconditions and needs. The three types of regions are: cross-border-regions, regions with dominant restrictions (mainly large protected areas such as NATURA 2000 sites) and regions building or rebuilding RM structures. Activities will take place on two levels, the transnational and the regional level. On the transnational level networking will be the main activity. This comprises the establishment of national and international contacts between regional management institutions, the exchange of experiences and know how between these institutions, the dissemination and discussion of the project progress and results concerning regional activities in 4 transnational workshops and public relation work. Also, methods for the practical work in the partner regions will be elaborated and discussed on this level. Each partner will also work on the regional level in the partner region. The regional level is the actual work level, where the new approaches get elaborated. This happens by means of analyses of the current regional situation and deriving from there the formulation of needs for more efficient RM structures in the individual region. Concepts for new RM organisation forms including RM funds will get elaborated and include measures for efficient marketing and intense contacts on regional level. All outputs of the MAREMA project will be available to the public. MAREMA shall assure sustainable co-operation in the field of regional development and regional management, strengthen the competitiveness of regions and initiate a sustainable regional development in the partner regions, which for their part shall serve as models for other regions in Europe. The duration of the project is 24 months. The project management will support the lead partner to ensure the quality of the expected results.