The ViTo project, which has been running from September 2009 until August 2012, focuses on the promotion of transnational urban governance structures and implementation of pilot measures to have tangible results which improve the attractiveness of towns and thus foster their economic development in SEE. Its main objective is joint development of integrated urban development strategies for small and medium sized towns based on their cultural heritage. The transnational partnership includes 11 partners from South East Europe. The participating towns have a long tradition as regional centres and service providers for their region. They are now facing similar problems due to the demographic and social change; however, there are also crucial differences that encourage learning from each other.

 

As the project is coming to an end this year we are organizing ViTo Final Conference, which will take place on 30^th May 2012 in the Slovenian oldest town Ptuj - the lead partner of this project - at Grand Hotel Primus, Terme Ptuj, Pot v toplice 9, 2250 Ptuj, Slovenia.

 

We will discuss future tasks of, and opportunities and challenges for small and medium sized cities from the European, national and the local viewpoint. Therefore experts of the European Commission's Directorate General for Regional Policy, representatives of the Slovenian Ministry of Infrastructure and Spatial Planning and other experts are the invited speakers. Participants will have a chance to discuss challenges and opportunities for the upcoming programming period 2014 – 2020.

Furthermore results of the SEE project ViTo will be presented and discussed with project partners and local decision makers of the involved municipalities. Within this framework the partners will present their experiences and results of three years working with integrated revitalisation approaches. After the official program and during the breaks there will be enough time to exchange experiences and information.

Conference will be held in English and Slovenian language.

 

We hope that you will be able to join us at this conference and give us the benefit of your experience and expertise. Please confirm intended attendance at the conference by 4^th May 2012 by sending us a registration form on email address julija.potisk@bistra.si.

 

ViTo FINAL CONFERENCE in Ptuj (Slovenia)

Wednesday, 30^th May 2012

Venue: Grand Hotel Primus, Terme Ptuj, Pot v toplice 9, 2250 Ptuj, Slovenia.

 

PROGRAMME

 

09:00	Registration
10:00 – 10:15	Welcome by hosting partner City Municipality Ptuj	Mr. Stefan Celan, Sc.D. Mayor of Ptuj
10:15 – 11:00	Opportunities and challenges for historic small and medium sized cities	Mr. Iván Illés, PhD Budapest University of Economic and Technical Sciences
11:00 – 11:30	Coffee break
11:30 – 12:00	Presentation of the project ViTo	Mrs. Simona Kašman City Municipality Ptuj Member of Scientific Advisory Board
12:00 – 12:30	Scenario: Future position and tasks of small and medium sized towns from the European viewpoint	Mr. Wladyslaw Piskorz Head of Unit Urban Development and Territorial Cohesion, Directorate General for Regional Policy
12:30 – 14:00	Press Conference
	Lunch break

 

14:00 – 14:30	Scenario: Future position and tasks of small and medium sized towns from the national viewpoint	A representative of the Ministry of the Infrastructure and Spatial Planning, Slovenia
14:30 – 15:00	Scenario: Future position and tasks of small and medium sized towns from the local viewpoint	A representative of Arad
15:00 – 16:00	Panel discussion with chosen project partners of ViTo “From idea to reality: Contribution of integrated urban development to enhance the position of historic towns as regional centres”	Vito partners: Arad, CRS, Graz, Ptuj, Chisinau, Banska Stiavnica
16:00 – 16:30	Closing and invitation to the poster presentation
16:30 – 17:15	Social event and poster presentation
17:15-19:00	Free time for visiting Ptuj’s old town or hotel Spa
19:00	Dinner