ASSET (Action to Strengthen Small European Towns)
Project Description
ACTIONS AND TIMING
16. In the preparatory phase to 2008, meetings of the Organising Group of Partners have been held: in Brussels in September 2006; in Lisbon in March 2007; in Brussels in July 2007 and in St Veit an der Glan, Austria in September 2007.
In July 2008 the OG met in Hamburg, and in March 2009 the meeting was in Leeds, UK.
17. In 2008 there was intensive activity by ASSET to gather partners for a bid INTERREG IVC a pan-European project. The Lead Partner in Italy was unable to submit by the deadline. As a result several partners, under a Lead Partner in Malta, made a bid to INTERREG IVB, Mediterranean, under the acronym ‘TOWNES’. ECOVAST (Croatia) and ASSET are non-financial partners in this project, if approved, and will join in events and seminars.
Other work by ASSET is envisaged to:
Through a questionnaire to contacts in a number of European countries, work is advanced in establishing a database of support agencies and regional contacts in the EU and beyond (e.g. the Accession states, Russia and Macedonia) to map and record existing networks, and to establish how to link and develop exchanges.
18. The ASSET Project is expected to continue until the end of 2011. If (as we expect) the exchanges and networking generated by the project prove to have a longer-term value, then a structure will be formed to sustain that activity beyond the project period. As the exchanges, networking and other benefits develop then we intend to initiate a review process to ensure that the lessons learned are addressed, either in a continuation of the programme or its integration into another programme or programmes. Also at that stage a succession strategy will be devised.
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