www.tocema-europe.com
Lead partner / Chef de File
Association du Management de Centre-Ville (AMCV)
27 Rue Samson
7000
BELGIUM
Contact person / Personne à contacter
Sevgi Tarlan
Tel: 003265885466
Fax: 003265318762
Email: sevgi.tarlan@amcv.be
Duration / Durée
March 2005 - June 2007
Total budget / Budget total (EUR): 1.326.817
ERDF contribution / Contribution FEDER (EUR): 779.022
TOCEMA EUROPE - TOwn CEntre MAnagement EUrope

Programme zone / Zone de programme :
West / Ouest

Type of operation / Type d'opération
Individual Project / projet individual

Topic for co-operation / Thème de coopération éligibles
URBAN

Background
The concept of Town Centre Management (TCM) was created to respond to the challenges of sustainable urban development and the need for town centres to remain attractive places to work and live. For some towns it remains a vague concept and in others it has developed, but with varying degrees of success. Many towns find it difficult to implement a solid action plan due to a lack of information, tools and expertise. Moreover, the creation and access to TCM networks is also limited and reduces the capacity of town centres to manage their own development.
Overall objective / Objectif général
TOCEMA EUROPE aims to create a pan-European network which will allow regions to exchange information on their own hands-on experience and to produce a catalogue of good practices. By designing a common identity and methodology for Town Centre Management, TOCEMA EUROPE intends to make European quality label which is internationally recognisable. The operation also seeks to encourage new projects in TCM associations (public and private partnership) by organising staff exchange trainings throughout Europe
Expected results / Résultats attendus
TOCEMA EUROPE is raising the profile of Town Centre Management to support the harmonious development of town centres and regions across the EU. This is being done via the exchange of knowledge, know-how, good practices and model implementation structures developed by the operation. This increases the interest in TCM in urban development which in turn stimulates the creation of new types of employment, and helps to manage the impact of factors affecting urban retail in the last decades. TOCEMA EUROPE is also paving the way for the creation of an Independent European Federation of Town Centre Management which encourages the development of new projects in this domain.
Activities include thematic workshops, staff exchanges and study visits, a web portal, and an EU symposium open to local and regional authorities outside the TOCEMA EUROPE partnership.
Partnership / Partenaires
Name of Institution, Town / Titre de l'institution, Ville Country / Pays Region / Région Contact information / Détails de contact
Piedmont region - Department for Commerce ans Crafts, Torino ITALY PIEMONTE Tel.: 00390114322357
Email: carlo.salvadore@regione.piemonte.it
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Lille, Lille FRANCE NORD - PAS-DE-CALAIS Tel.: 0033320367787
Email: e.seidlitz@lille.cci.fr
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Lyon, Lyon FRANCE RHÔNE-ALPES Tel.: 0033472405780
Email: jacquinot@lyon.cci.fr
Association of Town Center Management (ATCM), London UNITED KINGDOM LONDON Tel.: 00442072220120
Email: simon.quin@atcm.org
Belchatow Town Office, Belchatow POLAND LODZKIE Tel.: 0048447335137
Email: m.stanasiuk@um.belchatow.pl
Limerick Lodis Ltd. t/a Limerick Co-Ordination Office, Limerick IRELAND SOUTHERN AND EASTERN Tel.: 0035361400225
Email: info@limerick.ie
The Swedish Association of Town Centre Management, Orebro SWEDEN ÖSTRA MELLANSVERIGE Tel.: 0046196721830
Email: jeanette.berggren@svenskastadskarnor.se
Spanish Association for Town Centre Management (AGECU), Valencia SPAIN COMUNIDAD VALENCIANA Tel.: 0034963155870
Email: pateco@camarascv.org
Tourist association - Old town-quarter Salzburg, Salzburg AUSTRIA SALZBURG Tel.: 0043662845453
Email: office@salzburg-altstadt.at
Achievements so far
In June 2007, TOCEMA Europe‘s operation reached its objectives of building a strong network among its 10 partners, of developing common European guidelines for town centre management and of encouraging the development and quality of town centre management initiatives. The project started up in May 2005 with a kick off meeting in Mons (Belgium). The kick off meeting was followed by 7 thematic workshops of two days held in different regions, which contributed to the dissemination of the project. The first and the second workshops were conducted in Gothenburg (Sweden) in June 2005 and in Lyon (France) in September 2005 and resulted in the setting-up of the European definition of Town Centre Management. The third and fourth workshops were held in London (UK) and Salzburg (Austria) in December 2005 and March 2006.During these two meetings, the partners were able to set up common criteria for a three level European Quality Mark that will serve as reference in Europe and encourage town centre management initiatives to increase the quality of their services. In June and September 2006, two workshops in Cuneo (Italy) and Limerick (Ireland) were organized where exchanges of best practises and methodologies allowed the partners to prepare the redaction of a practical guide for town centre managers. This practical guide - available in 6 languages- is divided into 4 thematic chapters: 'partnership', 'vision and strategy', 'actions' and ' town centre managers'. It aims to guide and give tools to managers in order to enable them reach the different standards of the Quality Mark as well as to disseminate the concept of town centre management. A seventh workshop was organised in Belchatow (Poland) in December 2007 to disseminate the concept in Poland where town centre management has not been developed. The meeting also allowed partners to select initiatives that applied for the European Quality Mark – First level. The results of these seven workshops were presented to 296 persons from 11 EU countries during a symposium organised in February 2007 in Namur (Belgium). The event also displayed the first Quality Mark award ceremony (18 nominees). The project ended in Lille (France) with the signature of an agreement among partners that set the base of the European association of town centre management . During the whole project, 31 five-day staff exchanges were coordinated among managers during which they exchanged their day to day work methodology. The project steering committee met five times to discuss progress and administration of the project. The website www.tocema-europe.com, our partners’ website and newsletter as well as press releases sent before the symposium and each workshop contributed to the dissemination of the operation.