Good practice:

Quartier 2020 – Gemeinsam.Gestalten. (Neigbourhood 2020. Shaping communities together.)

Demographic change is challenging more and more citizens as well as municipalities in a diversity of ways. Many municipalities will soon not have enough (age) appropriate and inclusive living spaces, sufficient health and care, social and mobility services, and a vital, participatory community life.
Baden-Württemberg’s neighbourhood strategy “Quartier 2020” supports local stakeholders with a comprehensive toolkit to deal with these challenges, which consists of:
- a helpdesk and support center (i.e. “Gemeinsames Kommunales Kompetenzzentrum Quartiersentwicklung GKZ.QE”)
- voucher programme for external expertise
- various funding programmes for a participatory development of age appropriate and senior-friendly neighbourhoods
- Information materials (i.e. brochures, presentations, website: www.quartier2020-bw.de)
- workshops
- ideas competition and awards programme
- scientific evaluation and advice
- training and qualification (i.e. Quarter-Manager/Neighbourhood Coordinator)
- a network (ecosystem)
Municipalities, villages and cities, counties/districts and citizens are the main stakeholders and beneficiaries of the practice.

The resources needed depend on the scope and selection of features (see above) as well as the amount available for funding projects; between 500,000 - 1,5 Mio. Euro + awards.

This practice can be considered as good since
- more than 200 municipalities in Baden Württemberg have already participated in and benefitted from the programme
- 53 award winners in the idea contest, with awards worth over 2,7 Mio. Euro.

Variety of stakeholders – challenge of coordinating different needs and expectations
Strong heterogeneity when it comes to challenges within different communities
Getting the information about the strategy to all the stakeholders that could profit from it (especially in rural areas)

Please explain why you consider this practice (or some aspects of this practice) as being potentially interesting for other regions to learn from. This can be done e.g. through information on key success factors for a transfer or on, factors that can hamper a transfer. Information on transfer(s) that already took place can also be provided.

Key success factors:
Can be transferred rather easily.
The approach is very open to the specific challenges and resources in the various communities.
The strategy is developed continuously, so that it can adapt to new research insights or trends in society.
Continuous networking and strong networks are not only a result but also a requirement for the strategy´s success.
There are different funding programs, from small amounts to big amounts, that can be combined, so that the first steps are easy to take.