ENCOURAGE

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This French led project brings together 9 partners from France, the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands and represents five new towns, a school of architecture and research institutions. Focused particularly on business parks, the project addresses the issue of reinforcing green infrastructures, reducing the ecological footprint and developing common approaches to urban planning and sustainable development issues. The objectives of the project are to promote environmental management practices particularly through public/private partnerships between local authorities and businesses located in new town business parks. Four cross-disciplinary themes are addressed through 4 pilot actions and 8 investments: integrated actions and project management; environmentally-friendly land development in business parks; an awareness raising campaign to encourage businesses to take on board environmental practices as a means of improving their image; this, in turn, should increase environmental awareness amongst their customers and employees. The project will encourage a knock-on effect by demonstrating that the environmental action taken is reproducible and transferable, and that the adoption of new practices can contribute effectively to social cohesion as well as to the economic development of NWE. The European New Town Platform (set up under IIC) will provide the backbone for disseminating the results of the project and undertaking training actions at transnational level to implement best practices in other new towns.

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