Forschungsabteilung 3
SUREURO -
Sustainable Refurbishment in Europe:
Good Practice exchange and evaluation of innovative / sustainable approaches
in Post-war Housing Stock Refurbishment
The
project was funded under Key Action 4: „City of Tomorrow and Cultural
Heritage“ in the „Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development“ programme
under the Fifth Framework Programme of the EU
5. EU-Rahmenprogramm
Projektleitung: Thomas Knorr-Siedow
Projektbearbeitung: Thomas Knorr-Siedow, Britta Trostorf, Doris Gstach
Laufzeit: 03/2000 – 04/2004
SUREURO beschäftigte sich mit der nachhaltigen Sanierung von (Nachkriegs-) Wohnsiedlungen im europäischen Vergleich. Im vier Jahre laufenden Projekt standen ‚good practice’-Ansätze in Pilotsiedlungen der sieben Teilnehmerländer in den Bereichen Management (Kommunikation, Lernende Institutionen), Design und Technik zur Entwicklung von übertragbaren Tools (‚transferability’ als Forschungsthema) im Mittelpunkt. Schwerpunkte des IRS-Beitrages waren die Erarbeitung von Grundlagen für ein nachhaltiges Kooperationsmanagement für Wohnungsunternehmen und die Kompetenz im Wissenstransfer nach Ostmitteleuropa.
Duration: 03/2002 – 06/2004
Problems to be solved
In the member states of the European Union about 80.000 residential
areas and approximately 56 million flats were built after 1950, with a high
percentage being in eminent need of refurbishment. About 170 million people
live in these post-war housing areas. In addition, the large industrial housing
estates in Central and Eastern Europe are a specially demanding problem.
Physical as well as social decline of the estates lead to their decreasing
competitiveness on the European housing markets – especially under
the demographic challenges of shrinking populations.
Although sustainable strategies for urban renewal offer numerous solutions
to neighbourhood requirements, they are rarely found in the EU member
countries; and - where applied - integrated approaches focussing on an
increase in participation of all relevant actors in a refurbishment process
are very divers. Many modernisation strategies are oriented on technical
requirements and initial costs only, which ignore the necessarily long-term
perspective of refurbishment processes.
Especially among and within housing companies - as being the relevant
initiators to enhance local living conditions - a target-oriented upgrading
of housing management models has to be understood as an important asset
for the future.
During the last 4 years, the SUREURO project - with 4,9 Mio € being
one of the largest research projects in the EU - has developed innovative
and integrated models for the fields of
- Co-operation Management,
- Design and Construction and
- Technical Support Systems.
The main target groups of SUREURO are housing companies, construction companies, designers, architects, governmental and local authorities and – very important - tenants and their organisations.
Currently, SUREURO is just about to offer its final products to the public.
Sureuro and its objectives
SUREURO has evaluated the current processing and know-how in urban renewal
of post-war housing stock. Its focus is the sustainability approach to
achieve a balance between financial, social and environmental priorities
within the above named three fields of housing rehabilitation and maintenance.
Its main objective is the exchange, enhancement and dissemination of sustainable
good practice strategies on the basis of close co-operation between practitioners
and research; the project consortium consists of several actors in nine
European countries (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Great Britain,
France, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy).
SUREURO pursues the objectives of supporting locally active housing companies by
- stimulating and supporting sustainable and consumer-oriented transformation of post war housing areas
- developing, training and implementing practical management tools to integrate sustainable development and tenant participation in refurbishment management processes without exceeding the normal costs for the tenants
- identifying the suitable context for housing personnel to use Sureuro models and systems with the proper management and participation skills to succeed in the renovation process.
After the compilation of good practice, mutual testing of the tools in twelve project sites (resp. 13.000 housing units) has required necessary adjustments to local and national conditions. Based on scientific and practical surveys it was possible to generate structuring models for refurbishment and day-to-day maintenance. In this context, multilateral learning for management and scientists to be open to implement others’ innovative and good practice gained specific significance. This helped identify Critical Success Factors as preconditions for transferability and tool’s implementation.
Acknowledging the assets of current EU enlargement processes SUREURO has also integrated Czech and Polish housing companies and research institutions. This has led to a very fruitful exchange on knowledge transfer.
The partnership
The project has brought together partners from different backgrounds:
twelve housing organisations in nine European countries, fourteen research
facilities as well as consulting firms and construction companies.
For more information visit www.sureuro.com.
The role of the IRS
The SUREURO project aims at promoting the exchange between research
and practice on housing management. Within this context the IRS has provided
its international research expertise on integrated approaches for urban
development and housing policy. Focussing on the integration of research,
the IRS considers the project in relation to theoretical approaches deriving
from the political and social science (e.g. Concept of Governance, Network
Theory, European City).
Within this context, the IRS thematically concentrates on
- Co-operation and Strategic Management, Tenant Participation and Neighbourhood Management
- International transferability of applied tools
- The integration of Central and Eastern Europe in the SUREURO Project with the IRS representing an intermediary node for knowledge transfer.
In 2003, the IRS co-organised two events
- an International Conference in Krakow, Poland (SUREURONET)
- a National Workshop in Prague, Czech Republic (SUREURONAS)
both aiming at disseminating and measuring the transferability of Sureuro
results under Central and Eastern European legal and housing market conditions.
The SUREURO results
... are tools, models and methods for the overall process of refurbishment
- clearly structured in a web-based information system which has recently
gone public.
Visiting the SUREURO website (www.sureuro.com)
will lead you to more information and to various SUREURO tools like: Co-operation
Management Guide, SUREURO Game Exercise (SGE), Simulation Model, Sustainable
Quality Identification (SQI).
The future of Sureuro
With the projects termination in June 2004
- The revised user-friendly web site will give free access to SUREURO tools and good practice
- The SUREURO Game Exercise (SGE) – offering easy access to the basic structure of the projects’ results – will be available as internet application
- Knowledge transfer to interested parties in Europe as well as in the Acessing States will be organised professionally
- A European network and a consulting administration for further dissemination will have been established.
Contacts
- Lead partner/ Project Coordinator:
Jan A Blomstrand
Kalmar, Sweden
- at the IRS:
Silke Alsen, phone: + 49-3362-793 164
Thomas Knorr-Siedow, phone: + 49-3362-793 235
Articles / Tools (IRS)
Sustainable
neighbourhood rehabilitation in Europe - from simple toolbox to multilateral
learning by Ellen van Beuren, Delft University of Technology Holland;
Frédéric Bourgrain, CSTB France; Thomas Knorr-Siedow, IRS Germany
SUREURO
Co-operation Management Guide
Concept and final editing by Bosse Lindholm, Municipality of Kalmar,
Sweden; Dayenne Smolders, wonenCentraal, Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands;
Silke Alsen, IRS Germany
