[Future agencies for the revitalisation of vacant buildings ]

The famous ALT/BAU babies are not the only offspring of the ALT/BAU Transfer Network. In the ALT/BAU network, the aim was to transfer the URBACT Good Practice from Chemnitz - the Housing Agency for shrinking cities- to the network partner cities and to adapt its methods to the local conditions. Along the way, our partners in Riga and Turin came to the realization that setting up an agency as such was not way to go in their contexts. But four partners founded or are founding an agency similar to the one in Chemnitz. Here the transfer becomes really tangible.

During our final and farewell meeting on 28 and 29 June in Turin, Bénédicte Borckmanns, Diana Lepadatu and Szymon Kiełkowski presented the current state of development of the agencies in Seraing, Constanta and Rybnik. The new agencies are not 1:1 copies of the Chemnitz agency. In every city there were and are special features and specific needs that will be taken into account in the future tasks of the agencies. In Vilafranca, for example, social aspects play a very important role, while in Seraing homeowners also receive practical-technical advice. In Rybnik the ULG discussed whether the agency should be independently operated or municipally run. Ultimately, it was established as a municipal institution. Szymon Kiełkowski explains why the decision was made in this way and shares details about the birth of the agency in Rybnik.