MANAGE+ concerns itself with converting brownfields and historically significant buildings into tourism management centres in attractive tourist and local recreation areas. These are to be realised at the individual locations during the course of innovative pilot projects, and are designed to be sustainable from the social, economic, financial, ecological and operational points of view. As the project name suggests, sustainably viable "MANAGEment structures" are necessary to achieve this. To discover how these structures can be implemented to optimum effect, the partners involved in the project will subject their different conceptual approaches and procedures to practical tests and then share the results afterwards. Another goal is to trigger investments beyond the actual core of the project. This is intended to create sustainable jobs in the tourist sector. Fundamentally, it is planned to give the project a very broad foundation by integrating the economy and the population, and to optimise the individual concepts by means of special workshops involving external experts.
The partners
Six European partners from the Northwest Europe INTERREG IVB programme region have joined forces to realise this MANAGE+ project. The project's partners come from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Within the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region, together with the Rhine-Neckar Regional Association the city of Germersheim is also involved in the project. Following discussions with all the partners, the Ruhr Regional Association (RVR) will be taking over the coordination of the project as the so-called "lead partner".
The contribution from the region
Four thematic working packages were defined for realising the project, one of which has been taken over by the city of Germersheim. It will draw up a pilot project intended to safeguard economic sustainability by means of an innovative marketing strategy. In conjunction with this project, it is planned to rebuild and equip the "Weissenburg Gate" as a management centre. The VRRN is supporting the responsible parties based on its experiences with other INTERREG projects.
The added value
The added value from MANAGE+ for the project partners is derived from the economic revaluation of previously unused real estate and its transformation into attractive tourist destinations. New employment opportunities and sources of income are also being created, together with incentives for further developing the recreational area. The entire region will benefit from these activities and experiences. The MANAGE+ project, especially in conjunction with the tasks associated with promoting tourism and the Rhine-Neckar regional park or setting up regional park portals, is hugely significant to the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region. 50% of the costs of the project, scheduled at 5,994,984 euros, will be funded by the EU (i.e. 2,997,492 euros). The city of Germersheim will receive a subsidy of 690,000 euros for its activities.
