Illustrated Documentation on Study tour “Best practices ... - SeeRural

<strong>Illustrated</strong> <strong>Documentation</strong> on
Study tour
“Best practices for regional rural development, regional
cooperation and area-based development"
November, 26 th - 30 th , 2012
Germany and Austria
<strong>Documentation</strong> on SWG ABDA study tour in Germany and Austria, 26th to 30th November 2012 1

Summary
The ABD approach was recently initiated in the region through an EU-financed study carried out in
close collaboration with SWG. The SWG Assembly has selected four cross-border regions in the
Western Balkans to be involved in the process of implementing the Area Based Development
Approach (ABDA). These regions are: Drina-Tara, Drina-Sava, Prespa and Shara. So far, an indepth
analyses, development strategies and action plans for each of these regions have been
elaborated in close cooperation with stakeholder groups formed in each of these regions.
Therefore, SWG organized a study tour to Germany and Austria, which took place from November
26 th to 30 th , 2012. The group, composed of representatives from each of the regions as well as
accompanying experts and representatives from the SWG Headquarters (see detailed list of
participants below) was accommodated in Kempten, Allgäu.
The study tour was meant to provide an opportunity for representatives from the ABDA crossborder
regions in the Western Balkan countries to become familiar with good practices of
implementing policies for rural development and regional cooperation in EU member countries.
The program was tailored to cover the topics of Regional Rural Development, the implementation
of LEADER through Local Action Groups, the organization and marketing of different regions,
mechanisms of trans-regional cooperation, aspects of tourism, branding, business locations,
issues of energy saving and sustainable construction, civic participation in decision-taking
concerning energy and selected cross-border projects.
This documentation contains the list of participants, the accomplished programme and a short
description of the visited organizations, initiatives and projects during the study visit.
Participants
The group consisted of representatives of the four selected cross-border regions, representatives
of the SWG Head Office, consultants, technical support and interpreters, in particular:
1. Sabina Mujazinović; Drina-Sava / BiH; Independent consultant for Agriculture and
Rural Development; Ind. Consultant
2. Vesna Katić; Drina-Sava / BiH; Director; Association for support and development
SISTEM
3. Mladen Markesic; Drina-Sava / Croatia; Project Manager; International
Cooperation Office TINTL
4. Dubravka Tomšik Krmpotić; Drina-Sava / Croatia; Museum Director; Ilok Town
Museum
5. Zoran Miletic; Drina-Sava / Serbia; Director of Agriculture in the City of Sabac; City
of Sabac
6. Nikola Niksic; Drina-Sava / Serbia; Director of Micro regional Cluster "Sancti
Demetri"; The City Sremska Mitrovica – Cluster for tourism "Sancti Demetri"
7. Naum Tashovski; Prespa, Macedonia; Advisor of Sector for urbanism, communal,
local economic development and cross-border cooperation and environmental protection;
Municipality of Resen
8. Ognen Dostinoski; Prespa/Macedonia; Head of sustainable tourism and
environmental education; National Park Galicica
9. Ilia Dishnica; Prespa, Albania; Country Coordinator; Dorcas Aid International
10. Ali Laho; Prespa, Albania; Mayor Erseka Municipality
11. Slavoljub Mlađenović; Drina/Tara; President; Association Eko-rafting klub "Rajska
plaža"
12. Milijana Vasiljević; Drina/Tara; Council of Agriculture and Environment; Town Hall
13. Snežana Milisavljević; Drina/Tara; Project Manager; Regional Development
Agency Zlatibor Ltd.
14. Milina Jecmenica; Drina/Tara; Vice President; Agronomic Center
15. Dejan Zejak; Drina/Tara; Agronomy Engineer, Manager; Experimental Nusery
16. Vaso Knezevic; Drina/Tara; Counsiler; Secretariat for Urban Development and
Environment
<strong>Documentation</strong> on SWG ABDA study tour in Germany and Austria, 26th to 30th November 2012 2

17. Ibsen Elezi; Sharra / Albania; President; Kukes Region
18. Perparim Elezi; Sharra/Albania; Logistic Specialist; Kukes Regional Council
19. Suad Tosuni; Sharra / Kosovo*; Coordinator for cross border cooperation;
Municipality of Dragash
20. Ismet Cocaj; Sharra / Kosovo * ; Director of Agricultural development; Municipality
of Prizren
21. Daut Zekiri; Sharra, Macedonia; Director of Agricultural Development; Municipality
of Prizren
22. Sasho Matovski; Sharra/Macedonia; President; NGO Bela Vista
23. Irena Dzimrevska; SWG Secretariat/Head Office; Head of Operations
24. Ivan Toromanoski; SWG Secretariat / Head Office; Project Assistant
25. Uwe Krappitz; Consultant / Germany
26. Petra Stolp; Consultant / Germany
27. Dragana Jovanovic; Consultant / Drina – Tara; Regional Organizer; Independent
consultant for Rural Development
28. Predrag Markovic; Consultant / Drina – Sava; Regional Organizer; Independent
consultant for rural development
29. Elvir Rizvanovic; Macedonia; Driver; Hisar travel
30. Nedzmedin Ibraimi; Macedonia; Driver; Hisar travel
31. Boban Miloshevic; Multimedia production; Director/Producer; Natura Balkanika
32. Fllorent Krasniqi; Translator (German - Albanian)
33. Dance Gidalova; Translator; (German - Serbian/Croatian)
34. Vera Kandikjan; Translator (German - Serbian/Croatian)
Accomplished programme
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Arrival of participants by bus from SEE to Kempten early afternoon
Check in at JUFA
21:00 Dinner in the hotel
Monday, November 26, 2012
08:00 Breakfast
08:30 – 10:00 Introductory workshop
� Study tour programme
� Presentation of participants
� Introductory presentation to the German administrative political system and
Regional Rural Development programmes
10:00 Departure by bus to the region of Westallgäu-Bayerischer Bodensee
11:00 – 13:30 Introduction to the region, its Regional Management and the Local Action Group
(in the restaurant at Skywalk)
Lunch in the self-service restaurant of Skywalk
Visit to rural development project: “Skywalk Allgäu”
Skywalk Allgäu gemeinnützige GmbH
Oberschwenden 25
88175 Scheidegg
T: 08381/896-1800
Fax: 08381/896-1813
www.skywalk-allgaeu.de
14:00 – 15:30 Visit to selected rural development projects in the region:
“Schaukäserei” (cheese making demonstration)
15:30 – 16:30 “Grenzerpfad” (border line trail)
<strong>Documentation</strong> on SWG ABDA study tour in Germany and Austria, 26th to 30th November 2012 3

17:00 Return to Kempten
19:30 Dinner in the hotel
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
08:00 Breakfast
08:45 Departure by bus
09:15 – 11:45 Presentation of Allgäu GmbH - organization for marketing and the development
of the Allgäu region; trans-regional cooperation of 4 administrative districts and 3
cities
Three key topics:
- tourism
- branding
- business location.
12:15 Lunch
14:00 – 17:00 Presentation of AlpSeeHaus Immenstadt - a collaborative project of different
local groups that unites multiple functions and aims under one roof
Afterwards visit of exhibition of natural preserve
18:30 Social evening and dinner in an Alpine cottage after torchlight hike
Approx.22:00 Return to the hotel
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
07:30 Breakfast
08:30 Departure to Altusried
09:30 – 12:00 Visit to Regional Management of Oberallgäu:
“Regional Development in the Oberallgäu region and the LEADER programme of
the European Union”
12:00 – 13:30 Visit of a herbal farm
Cultivation of aroma, spice and healing plants Visit of the farm shop
Lunch on the farm (local speciality “Wildkräuterspätzle”)
12:30
13:30 Departure from herbal farm
14:00 Presentation of Allgäuer Überlandwerk GmbH on Solar Park of Ursulasried with
civic participation
15:00 Visit of Kempten hydropower plant
16:30 – 19:30 Free time in town
20:00 Dinner in the hotel
Thursday, November 29, 2012
07:30 Breakfast
08:30 Departure to Außerfern
<strong>Documentation</strong> on SWG ABDA study tour in Germany and Austria, 26th to 30th November 2012 4

09:30 – 11.30 Introduction to the Regional Development in the Austrian Region of Außerfern
Presentation on the cross-border high quality hiking trail “Lechweg”
12:00 – 14:00 Visit to a regional project on the rehabilitation and touristic use of old castles -
Ehrenberg
Buffet lunch from hotel “Zum Mohren” (speaker of the association “Nature Park
Chefs” that closely cooperates with local agriculture)
14:00 – 16:30 Transfer to and visit of the famous castle of Neuschwanstein
17:00 Transfer to the hotel
20:00 Dinner at the hotel
Friday, November 30, 2012
07:00 Breakfast
08:00 Check out from the Hotel
Transfer to the Austrian Region of Vorarlberg
09:30 – 11:15 Women Museum of Hittisau:
Presentation by Franz Rüf on:
� Regional Development in Vorarlberg
� Inter-municipal and transnational cooperation and projects
Presentation by Helga Rädler on:
The project and the building of the Women Museum Hittisau
11:30 – 12:30 Visit of Langenegg Alpine dairy :
Presentation of the dairy by the manager Possibility to buy cheese
12:30 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 14:30 Energy trail of Langenegg
Explanations by Franz Rüf on energy saving, sustainable construction material
(European silver fir), example of local kindergarten
15:00 – 15:45 LCT-one guided tour and discussion:
CO2-reduced wood constructing in urban areas
15:45 Coffee break
16:30 Starting the journey back home
<strong>Documentation</strong> on SWG ABDA study tour in Germany and Austria, 26th to 30th November 2012 5

Monday, November 26, 2012
Irena Dzimrevska officially opened the study tour on behalf of SWG. Uwe Krappitz explained in an
introductory workshop the study tour program and gave an overview on the German
administrative political system and Regional Rural Development programs.
<strong>Documentation</strong> on SWG ABDA study tour in Germany and Austria, 26th to 30th November 2012 6

After the introduction, the group visited the LAG Westallgäu - Bayerischer Bodensee in the
western art of Allgäu Region. Frank Seidel, the Managing Director of the LAG gave a presentation
on Leader 2007-2013, the region, the organization of the LAG, its main activities and foci, public
relations, networking, scientific research of the LAG and selected projects. The first project
presented was the Skywalk in Scheidegg – a canopies walk and nature discovery trail for young
and elder explorers.
In the afternoon the group visited the Alpine dairy of Bremenried and got a first-hand introduction
into the production art of Allgäuer Emmentaler cheese and the organizational efforts to create an
“Allgäu cheese route”.
On the way back the group still stopped at the “Border-Trail”, an old smuggling route between
Germany and Austria, now designed as an educational hiking trail for children and adults.
<strong>Documentation</strong> on SWG ABDA study tour in Germany and Austria, 26th to 30th November 2012 7

Tuesday, November 27, 2012
In the morning the participants visited the
Allgäu GmbH - an organization for marketing
and developing the Allgäu region with its
650000 inhabitants. Managing Director, Mr.
Fischer, welcomed the group before Kerstin
Duchardt, the Product Manager of the
company ltd. introduced the structure and
history of the region.
There are 4 LAGs in the Allgäu, but Allgäu
GmbH is the umbrella organization which
coordinates those activities relevant for the
whole Allgäu region. It employs 23 staff
members.
Kerstin focused on the 3 aspects of tourism,
branding and business location. The latter
comprises infrastructure, energy and
business start-ups. Tourism covers different subjects, such as the network of some 80 hotels, 550
holiday farms and 120 private holiday apartments for rent. The latest project is a bicycle trail of 450
km.
However, linking of all the partners involved will take 2 – 3 years. In terms of branding – 4 out of 6
criteria must be fulfilled to get permission to use the Allgäu brand. The Allgäu brand vision 2020
was explained in detail as well as the new strategic aims of the brand and the setup of branding
partnerships.
In the afternoon, the AlpSeeHaus Immenstadt was
visited – a collaborative project of different local
action groups uniting multiple functions under one
roof and housing an exhibition of the natural
preserve of Nagelfluhkette. Andreas Güttler from
the NEZ (Nature Experience Center) introduced the
main actors of the AlpSeeHaus as well as the NEZ,
which is a regional competence center for nature,
sustainable tourism and environmental training.
At the end of the visit, the group had a joint photo
with several Mayors as representatives in the
management board of the Nature Park.
On Tuesday a social evening took
place at Wannenkopfhütte cottage
with torchlight hikes (uphill and
downhill as the cottage was not bus
accessible), welcome at campfire
and dinner.
<strong>Documentation</strong> on SWG ABDA study tour in Germany and Austria, 26th to 30th November 2012 8

Wednesday, November 28, 2012
In the morning, Regionalentwicklung Oberallgäu in Altusried was
visited. The LAG has 60 members (out of these, 27 municipalities), and
143000 inhabitants live in its region. The Managing Director, Dr. Sabine
Weizenegger, explained the main principles of LEADER and gave
examples for the LEADER approach in Bavaria, especially in the period
2007 to 2013.
The very interesting
presentation comprised
the structure and working
methods of the LAG, and
different projects and
ways of cooperation.
The regional development concept describes the area, analyzes the status quo, the SWOT, local
action groups, the guiding vision and aims, development strategies, the implementation of
measures, environmental protection and sustainability, the foreseen cooperation among rural
areas and project planning. Successful project examples were mentioned in terms of intermunicipal
cooperation (a bridge built by the citizens, uniform signposts for hiking trails, networking
of ruin fortresses in the region), horizontal networking of partners (farm holidays, LandZunge),
value added chain, networking with partners in Baden-Württemberg and transnational cooperation.
For the lunch, the ProKräuter herb
farm in Wengen was visited. The Dinser
family manually grows and processes
herbs and aromatic plants to produce
tea, mixed spices and dressings etc. and
markets them on farm.
The service of the family enterprise
comprises the on-farm shop, a small
restaurant, regular brunch offers and
“culture and buffet” events. In guided
visits, groups are educated on herbs.
In the afternoon, the group had the chance to get a comprehensive overview on the
“Energiewende” (“Energetic Change”) in Germany because of the basic political decision to
abandon the use of nuclear power until 2022. They visited tone of the important regional energy
suppliers, the Allgäuer Überlandwerk.
<strong>Documentation</strong> on SWG ABDA study tour in Germany and Austria, 26th to 30th November 2012 9

Finally, the group had the
chance to visit a modern
and unique hydropower
plant in the middle of
Kempten.
The hydropower plant of
Kempten has a
performance of 2.6 MW
and won an architecture
award in 2010.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
It applies a comprehensive development concept in
an open bottom-up process and networks nationally
as well as transnational. Projects focus on value
adding to cultural heritage, heritage of nature, village
renewal, strengthening of agriculture, cooperation of
agriculture and tourism and education.
Success criteria for tourism projects in rural areas are
available resources and abilities, the link of different
tourism strategies and networking.
The company is one of the most innovative energy suppliers in
Bavaria that stands for regional networking concerning the issue
of energy production and distribution.
Jürgen Herrmann, member of the company’s management
board, explained aims and potentials of the energy change, its
implementation as well as experiences to be shared. Several
models of civic participation were mentioned (Solar Park
Ursulasried).
In the morning an Austrian LAG was visited. Günter
Salchner introduced the LAG Außerfern which covers 37
municipalities with a total of 32000 inhabitants. The LAG
considers itself a one stop shop (with one contact point for
all administrative, operational and management issues) and
plays the role of a coordinator and initiator with no (or little)
political influence.
The most recent project is the 125 km Lech hiking trail, which was opened in June 2012. Tourism
means: build up core competencies from own resources and abilities and change these potentials
into marketable products. However, tourism projects must complement each other and pay into a
common strategy. Success can only be reached by cooperation, but cooperation requires initiators.
<strong>Documentation</strong> on SWG ABDA study tour in Germany and Austria, 26th to 30th November 2012 10

After the overview a good practice example was visited: the ruin fortress of Ehrenberg, which is
more than just a museum. It used to be a fortification across the Alps on the famous Via Claudia
Augusta. It offers culture, nature and is an event location to be rented.
Also lunch was served at the Castle ruins of Ehrenberg.
Friday, November 30, 2012
On Friday, the LAG of Vorarlberg in Austria was visited. It is a relatively big
affiliation of 64 communities as it comprises many valleys.
Franz Rüf gave an overview on the LAG which was
founded in 2001 for the LEADER+ program. The LAG’s
biggest challenges are the improvement of competitiveness
in agriculture and forestry, tourism, environment, quality of
life in the villages and economic diversity.
A LEADER project is usually tied into one of the 6 core
themes of their development strategy:
1. Agriculture and forestry, cultural landscape
2. Economy, tourism
3. Spatial development, infrastructure, mobility
4. Social and society
5. Education and culture
6. Renewable energy, energy efficiency.
<strong>Documentation</strong> on SWG ABDA study tour in Germany and Austria, 26th to 30th November 2012 11

The projects serve the raising of consciousness as well as planning and preparation of investments
in community facilities.
One project of the LAG is energy-efficient construction. The active heritage of construction was
picked up in order to secure employment. Partnership networks were established on different
subjects. Business development focuses on energy-efficient construction, tourism on the
development of summer tourism and agriculture is linked with tourism.
An important project is silver fir. Regional Development decided to develop this resource, which is
widely available in the region as timber sale dropped considerably in 2000. The idea, however, was
discussed with the mayors and Hittisau was the first community to build a model house from silver
fir.
This building houses the Hittisau Women Museum, the practice hall for the local brass band and
the fire brigade. Joint advertisement on silver fir was organized with Allgäu. The timber price
increased considerably and the project was extended. Along a inter-municipal hiking trail some
stations offer a telephone to be called for information on the respective place.
The Women Museum of Hittisau is the first and only women museum in Austria. Worldwide it is
the only one in the rural area. It was founded in 2000, initiated by Elisabeth Stöckler, and has
shown more than 30 exhibitions on women-related subjects since. Its mission is to document and
familiarize with cultural achievements of women in order to extend female identity, motivate
reflection processes and raises awareness on gender issues. It mobilized many women in the area
to play an active role in community life. Helga Rädler guided the group in a very dedicated way
through the current exhibition of “Women and Circus”.
The Langenegg dairy is a good practice example for joint
marketing of small Alpine dairies. It processes 2.8 mill kg of
milk from 30 dairy farms in the region that exclusively feed
their dairy cows on grass and hay.
In the afternoon Franz Rüf guided the group on a walk
through the Energy Trail of Langenegg and explained
different projects of energy saving and sustainable
construction material (silver
fir). The trail passes
knowledge on renewable
energy in an entertaining way. Thus, the local transformer is an
industrial building and at the same time a piece of art. Langenegg offers
seminars on energy and involves landscape designer, artists, energy
experts and pedagogues.
The study tour was closed with visiting the Life Cycle Tower (LCT one).
It is an example for new strategies of sustainable use of resources. The
name of the company CREE stands for creative resource and energy
efficiency. Cree is a pioneer of natural change in urban agriculture.
Christian Vögel conveyed the philosophy of the company for CO2reduced
wood constructing in urban areas.
<strong>Documentation</strong> on SWG ABDA study tour in Germany and Austria, 26th to 30th November 2012 12

* "This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo
declaration of independence."
<strong>Documentation</strong> on SWG ABDA study tour in Germany and Austria, 26th to 30th November 2012 13