The OP ERDF for the Valencian Community 2014-2020 has the main aim to boost economic growth in the Valencia region, as well as to contribute to the achievement of the EU 2020 targets for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth that includes the creation of jobs and the boost of regional productivity. The OP is divided into 5 thematic priorities (+ 1 TA).

The priority concerned by the WaVE project is Priority 6: Environment and resource efficiency, and more specifically the Investment Priorities that concretely impact the valorisation potentials of water-linked cultural heritage in the region. Firstly IP 6.3 that deals with the protection, promotion and development of cultural heritage, secondly IP 6.4 that deals with the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and thirdly PI 6.2 that deals with investment into the water sector.

As the OP is nearing the end of its life-cycle with 2020 coming nearer, its Managing Authority (MA) is working on additional funding opportunities to disperse the remaining OPs funds, focusing strongly on calls that support SMEs and mobility, leaving out opportunities for cities, cultural & natural heritage operators under the mentioned IPs for the recovery of water-linked cultural heritage sites that the Alicante Region is plentiful of, especially in their possibilities to valorise heritage on an integrated manner, covering both the natural and socio-economic values of these sites for the economic growth of the region.

The ROP ERDF Emilia-Romagna Region (2014-2020) has the main objective to boost innovation, improve regional systems of R&D and to contribute to achieving the EU 2020 targets for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth in the region. The OP is divided into 5 thematic priorities (+ 1 TA).

The Priority addressed within the project is Priority 5 that, next to a strong focus on the development of its tourism sector, aims for the protection and enhancement of the cultural, artistic and natural heritage in the region via usages that involve innovative technologies and add to the livability of the region. More specifically, the WaVE project will contribute to the betterment of the priority’s schemes that affect the territorially defined Coast, Po Delta and Cities of Art areas.

The enhancement processes the priority is able to create, related to cultural heritage, lack a distinct focus on the sustainable and integrated rehabilitation of the natural, cultural and economic values of cultural heritage, capitalizing especially on the innovation potentials of regional value chain actors active in the field of heritage, as is also described by the RIS3 of the Emilia-Romagna region. The priority needs to be improved so that it is more receptive to the valorisation of nature-based cultural heritage using innovative and technological approaches. The improvement would especially be welcomed in light of the large-scale redevelopment processes of the Darsena area in Ravenna.

The main objective of the Interreg VA SK-HU programme is to contribute to the EU-2020 strategy and foster economic, social and territorial cohesion along the Hungarian - Slovakian border. One of the Programme’s aims is to support the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, making the Danube and Ipoly rivers, that form the physical border between Slovakia and Hungary, an important focus point.

The Programme consists of 5 Priority Axis (PAs), of which PA1: Nature & Culture, and specifically Investment Priority (IP) 1.1: conserving, protecting, promoting and developing natural and cultural heritage, is the main focus for the WaVE project. The PA focuses on the improvement of cross-border cooperation related to the utilization and conservation of the endogenous natural and cultural potentials of the region, thereby to support sustainable growth of local economies and add to social cohesion in the region.

Although the programme includes support measures for the regeneration of the region’s natural and cultural heritage, it does not include a specific focus on the the integrated valorisation of cultural heritage that is historically interlinked with the Danube and Ipoly rivers, thereby missing out on the natural and socio-economic potentials held by these heritage sites in their ability to add to cross-border and economic growth of the region.

The Cultural Heritage Report is the operational basis of the Municipal Plan 2017 for the City of Aarhus that focuses on the listing, administration and policy-making related to the valorisation of the city’s cultural heritage sites. The objective is to inform policy-makers and city planners on the values of so-called ‘cultural environments’, formed by the grouping of built heritage that transcends the level of individual buildings to create areas that reflect essential socio-economic and environmental functionalities, and by doing so influence decision making related to the urban transformation in the city of Aarhus. The Report addresses cultural environments following 7 specific themes.

Within the WaVE project, the Municipality seeks to address the themes ‘landscape of the industrial community and landscape’ and ‘urban environments’ that cover the majority of maritime and water-linked heritage environments in the city. As Aarhus is currently undergoing a rapid transformation process with its industrial docks heritage sites being one of the key economic and social redevelopment focus points, it becomes increasingly clear that the Report is lacking in its capabilities to effectively cover and reflect on water-linked built heritage in these areas, evoking the need to better align the Report with transformation processes in Aarhus and intrinsic values of these types of heritage, covering both urban, maritime and cultural functions.