The Province of Groningen brought together last November administrators and officials from 5 different municipalities to learn about the goals and project management of MOMAr Interreg Europe. During the session, they have been presented with the latest activities and the results thus far.
The presentation was held by Mrs. Verdijk, project leader of this international project for the preservation of rural heritage. She offered a summary of the development of the project, which aim is to establish management models for rural heritage, and informed the attendees that due to the COVID-19 situation, the duration of the program has been extended for six months to make up for the exchanges that could not take place up to now.
Regarding the work accomplished, Verdijk reported how there have already been several exchanges, one physically in Corsica at the beginning of 2020, and the further visits were digitally implemented through online webinars in which the good and challenging practices were exchanged. The advantage of this is that a wider audience could be involved in the digital meetings, which was eagerly used. In addition, various stakeholder meetings were held within the province of Groningen to involve the partners and to explore the depths together with them. The project leader pointed out how MOMAr also does this within the province itself by involving colleagues from other departments by organising in-house meetings.
The project has already yielded 42 practices from which 40 insights are applicable for Groningen and 25 applications have been developed. These are things that have been learned and can be appropriately applied in the region. This concerns both policy and practical implementation. For example, a matrix has been made of the policy areas of ERL and culture, brought together to see where interfaces and opportunities for linking exist. Craftsmanship and innovation are also an example that is now being worked on. An action plan is being developed to keep ourselves sharp to properly apply these insights. All practices are summarized on the MOMAr website.
What's next? If the COVID-19 situation allows, there will be some other exchanges in the coming six months, including one to Groningen.
Deputy Mrs. Wulfse from the Province of Groningen expressed her happiness with the results of this project, she was also proud that Groningen’s examples are inspiring for the partners.
