Nils
Scheffler
Validated Lead Expert
Generic Skills
B.1. Understanding of integrated and sustainable urban development:
During my studies of Spatial planning at the University of Dortmund, Germany (1996-2002), I specialized in integrated, sustainable urban development and cooperative planning processes in social deprived neighborhoods. After my studies my work has focused at both the local and international levels in the field of integrated, sustainable urban development and participatory planning and implementation processes. Since 2003 I am developing participative and process-related development policies and action plans that are integrated and implementation-oriented, for the neighbourhood and city level, leading to change. Also I have been assisting municipalities in implementing such policies and action plans.
A thematic focus in the last years had been on integrated approaches along the thematic fields of energy efficiency of cities and neighbourhoods (reduction of CO2 emissions) and cultural heritage development.
A characteristic of my work is the involvement of relevant stakeholders in the development and implementation process through different methods and techniques to achieve better results and satisfaction.
Since 2007 I have been involved in the URBACT programme, supporting the URBACT programme and having been the Lead Expert of the two URBACT networks HerO and URBACT Markets.
Since 2013 I am a DGNB auditor for sustainable urban neighbourhoods.
B.2. Understanding of exchange and learning processes at transnational level:
Already during my studies, together with other “planning” students in Europe, I founded the Planning Student Network “PlaNet”. Each year we organised one conference and other exchange activities to share our experience, visit good-practice examples and work together to find solutions for local problems. This spirit has continued since then and I have been involved in various transnational projects within URBACT and INTERREG, promoting the sharing of experience, knowledge transfer and the common work on solutions for shared challenges. Through these activities I have amassed a very high level of competence in interdisciplinary cooperation in international and multicultural environments.
In the URBACT II programme I had been the Lead Expert of two networks (HerO and URBACT Markets) and thematic expert of other two networks (SURE and ESIMeC). Further at the two URBACT Summer Universities I coordinated and moderated Local Support Groups, lecturing about the Action Planning model and supporting tools of the URBACT programme.
My philosophy in supporting transnational cooperation projects is to achieve that each partner, starting from its current situation, makes clear progress along the project and experiences the joy and the benefit in exchanging and cooperating with other colleagues in Europe, experiences the added value of such projects.
B.3. Proficiency in English:
Through my continuous assistance of transnational projects, also within the URBACT programme, I frequently use the English language for face-to-face communication, for presentations and for the dissemination of final outputs and results. Examples for published final outputs have been the UBRACT HerO guidebook “The Road to Success – Integrated Management of Historic Towns” and the final publication of URBACT Markets “Urban markets: Heart soul and motor of cities - Ideas, inspirations and illustrations, making city markets drivers of sustainable urban development”. Also various articles have been produced for the URBACT Tribune.
Besides English, fluent communication is also possible in Spanish and German.
Expertise for the design and delivery of transnational exchange and learning activities:
Summary Expertise for the design and delivery of transnational exchange and learning activities:
Having been the Lead expert of two URBACT networks and thematic expert of two other URBACT networks I have an ample wealth of experience in the design and delivery of transnational exchange and learning activities based on the URBACT methodology.
My working philosophy is to jointly elaborate with the partners the key issues, on which ALL partners want to work and exchange on. Based on this, a working programme for the transnational exchange and learning activities will be elaborated and coordinated with the partners. Study visits to experience the “reality” and different approaches from first-hand have proven to be effective. Also common workshops and peer-reviews, which provide space for discussion, exchange and working together on a concrete issue, proved to be successful. Organising such and other activities, based on the needs and interests of the partners, will be my task, helping that each partner is advancing.
Thematic expertise:
Theme / Policy:
Integrated Urban Renewal
Summary Thematic expertise:
Since 2003 I support the cities of Fürstenwalde and Bad Belzig, Germany in their urban renewal attempts. I support both, the development of integrated as well as thematic strategies and actions plans, involving relevant stakeholders and the implementation of it. During the implementation phase my tasks are the project management of the urban renewal of the inner city and of the public redevelopment funds. Further I give advice on and support for public and private rehabilitation and redevelopment actions. Further I am in charge of the mobilisation and participation of stakeholders.
Also at international level I am working on urban renewal.
I was part of the URBACT expert team on “Sustainable Regeneration of Urban Areas”, elaborating case studies and co-writing the final output of the project results.
For the URBACT network “SURE” I wrote the briefing paper and made a presentation about the integrated preservation and socio-economic regeneration of historic neighbourhoods. This was followed by a reflective workshop with project partners, facilitated by my person. For the partner Larnaca I wrote the report on the challenges and opportunities faced regarding the socio-economic regeneration of the target area with reference to the historic value of the neighbourhood.
For the INTERREG project Hist.Urban I moderated and gave expert advice for the working group “Planning and Management of Integrated and Implementation-oriented Urban Development Processes”.
Theme / Policy:
Urban Strategic Planning
Summary Thematic expertise:
As city planer I support a variety of municipalities in their urban strategic planning attempts. For example for the city of Fürstenwalde and Bad Belzig I elaborated the integrated action strategy to deal with the social challenges the cities are facing. Also I support them in updating of their integrated urban development concepts. Regensburg was support by my person in the development of their preservation and development strategy for their Old Town. The result was the integrated World heritage management plan for the Old Town with Stadtamhof.
At international level for example I co-wrote the strategy for the integrated urban development of Bytom, Chorzów, Ruda Śląska and Świętochłowice, Poland. My tasks was the analysis and strategic reflection of the integrated urban development involving four bordering districts of neighbouring municipalities in the Upper Silesian region and elaborating the final report with recommendation for integrated actions dealing with the identified problems and opportunities encountered.
Theme / Policy:
Local Governance
Summary Thematic expertise:
Supporting cities in Germany, as for example Fürstenwalde and Bad Belzig, Germany, in their integrated urban renewal attempts, local governance is always an issue, in particular the horizontal integration of stakeholders and building of governance structures in the city administration.
Governance was also an issue in the development of the Regensburg World heritage management plan, which I elaborated. In the management plan organisational structures and procedures are elaborated which ensure the preservation of the Old Town and the implementation of the management plan with its action plan. This is framed by a monitoring system.
At international level I supported the URBACT ESIMeC network by giving a presentation about Governance, adapting municipal structures for effective integrated Local Action Plan implementation. At the URBACT Summer festival in 2015 I gave a presentation about Governance for the sustainable city.
Theme / Policy:
Environmental Issues
Summary Thematic expertise:
Within the field of environmental issues I focus currently on the elaboration of strategies for urban areas to reduce CO2 emissions, to increase the use of renewable energies and improve the energy efficiency. For the municipalities of Wustermark and Bad Oldesloe I developed with partners the integrated climate protection concept, for the city of Fürstenberg/Havel the energy efficiency concept for the neighbourhoods “Altstadt and Zehdenicker Straße“ and for the region of Niederoderbruch-Oberbarnim the energy concept. My tasks are in general the analysis of the current situation, the identification of improvement needs and needs for action, the development of the action plan, the engagement of the stakeholder and co-writing the entire concept.
At international level I supported the INTERREG IV B Baltic Sea project “Urb.Energy”. I gave content support for the Urb.Energy manuals and policy recommendations regarding “Integrated urban development approaches targeting energy efficient residential areas” and “Holistic strategies for energy efficient refurbishment of the housing stock and renewal of the energy supply system”.
Theme / Policy:
Sustainable Food
Theme / Policy:
Arts and Culture
Summary Thematic expertise:
Within culture I was involved in projects about the promotion of building culture and the preservation of built cultural heritage. For the city of Regensburg I developed the integrated world heritage management plan, which was about the preservation and sustainable use of the world heritage assets. For the city of Berlin I evaluated the projects of the international building exhibition of 1987 for the identification of building culture and developing tools to safeguard and further develop the building culture of these projects. For one demonstration area I developed a showcase strategy for the safeguarding of the built heritage through publicity and awareness raising activities.
At international level I was the lead expert of the URBACT HerO network, which was about Sustainable Management Strategies for Vital Historic Urban Landscapes”. Within the network a new management approach designed to enable cultural heritage to act as a catalyst for sustainable development through the preparation of 'Integrated Cultural Heritage Management Plans' was developed.
I also participated at the INTERREG B project Hist.Urban, which was about the revitalisation of small and medium sized historic towns to promote a sustainable urban development. Here I moderated and gave expert advice for the Planning and Management of Integrated and Implementation-oriented Urban Development Processes under consideration of built-cultural heritage.
Expertise support to local authorities and other stakeholders in designing & delivering integrated and participatory policies
E.1. Knowledge on participatory methods and tools for co-production and implementation of local polices :
Exemplary I present three supervised projects by my person that have involved at different levels stakeholders.
URBACT Hero
Within the URBACT HerO project the approach of ULSG was applied. Each partner had to install a ULSG and involve it in the development of the LAP. My role was to demonstrate what all a LSG could be, how it could function and how it could be integrated in the development of the LAP. In this context, stakeholder analysis were performed and other methods involving stakeholders were demonstrated such as activating interviews, walking tours, interactive city models, opinion polls, debates in public space.
Summer University "URBACT Local Support Group" in Dublin
During the 3-day "Summer University ULSG " in Dublin, I was responsible to explain to the participants in interactive sessions techniques and methods for applying the "Participative Local Action Planning" approach. Instruments like stakeholder analysis, problem and solution tree, OPERA, STOP START CONTINUE method were applied
Management plan for the Old Town of Regensburg
As part of the development of the management plan Regensburg I was in charge of moderating the management plan working group. Through workshops, meetings and on-site inspections, the content of the management plan were jointly developed, discussed and defined. Also the (temporary) involvement of further stakeholder groups via questionnaires, interviews, walks, public events, dialogues, thematic workshops have been practiced
E.2. Knowledge on integrated approach for the design, delivering, monitoring and evaluation of urban strategies/policies:
I support municipalities in Germany in implementing urban and heritage regeneration programs. In this framework monitoring takes place to demonstrate the grantor what has been done with the funds and what has been achieved with regard to the defined objectives for the urban regeneration. I am responsible for collecting the necessary information / data for the monitoring and fill out the monitoring form.
Another example for the design of a monitoring tool is the world heritage management plan of Regensburg. The management plan contains a design of a monitoring system, which is to be carried out in five steps: 1. Data recording; 2. Data analysis; 3. Discussion of results; 4. World heritage monitoring report; 5. Updating the world heritage management plan. Indicators were defined to assist in measuring and verifying the achievement of the objectives. A target range should was defined for each of the indicators, which should allow to check the performance and to ascertain if there has been a positive change compared to the previous year or the previous two years. Depending on the results the indicator will be marked in red, yellow or green according to a traffic light.
Within the URBACT HerO network in the final output (guidebook on integrated cultural heritage management plans) I described the monitoring for the cultural heritage and the implementation of the Integrated Cultural Heritage Management Plan (p. 53-56).
E.3. Awareness of the main policy and funding schemes for sustainable urban development at EU and national level:
As my daily business is sustainable urban development I keep up to date through my job; beyond that I take part at conferences on that issue, I receive newsletters and I exchange and discuss with colleagues about this issue.
E.4. Ability to understand specific local situations and adapt tools and content to different local realities:
Due to my work for many different municipalities in Germany and abroad, giving advice, developing concepts and helping municipalities to implement strategies I am used and very experienced in developing and implementing strategies and projects. As my approach is to involve local stakeholders, I always have to adapt strategies, concepts, instruments, etc. to be applicable to the local situation.
Listening to the partners, trying to understand the local situation and together to think about how this could work and be applied to the local situation is typical for my work. This only works together with the partner as they know the local situations much better than a person from outside. But the external view can help to find new solutions and approaches and with the professional experience how to apply them.
So for example within the development of the Regensburg management plan together with local stakeholders, policies, concepts and projects that are based on local needs and opportunities and build on existing structures and potentials, have been developed so that they become realizable and manageable.
Summary Expertise:
Since 2003 I support municipalities in developing integrated as well as thematic policies, strategies, concepts and action plans. For example for the city of Fürstenwalde, Germany, I support the update of the integrated urban development plan or the development of the strategy and action plan to combat social challenges. All this is always embedded in a participative approach. Regensburg is another example, for which I developed the integrated world heritage management plan. This was the preservation and development strategy and action plan for the Old Town. Also here the involvement of stakeholders was one of my main tasks.
I support also municipalities in implementing such policies, strategies, concepts and action plans, too. For example the city of Belzig, Germany, is supported through my person to implement their regeneration strategy for the inner city. Here my tasks are the project management of the urban renewal and the public redevelopment funds, to give advice on and support for public and private rehabilitation and redevelopment actions and the mobilisation and participation of stakeholders.
Informations
Residence location:
Germany
Languages:
German - Mother tongue
Foreign Languages level:
Foreign languages:
Foreign Languages level:
Foreign languages:
Email:
scheffler@urbanexpert.net
Unavailable - already performing the role of Lead Expert for an URBACT network