Newsletter 112 from 07/01/2009

Internationale Bauausstellung (IBA) Fürst-Pückler-Land

1. Award: Federal Minister Tiefensee recognises the work of the IBA
2. Presentation: Agenda set for the IBA Conference in September
3. Agreement: Tourism association and IBA sign cooperation agreement
4. Recommendation: 3rd Film Nights event attracts visitors to the bed of Lake Ilse
5. Exchange: “Olympic Village” experience promoting tolerance on the IBA Terraces
6. Visit: African economic development support delegation visits the IBA

(1) Award:

Federal Minister Tiefensee recognises the work of the IBA

The 55 prize-winners in the competition organised by the Federal Ministry of Building “Urban building. Urban living” were announced at the German National Congress on “National Urban Development” in Essen. One of them was the IBA. Federal Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee presented Project Manager Brigitte Scholz and René Gottschalk with the “National Prize for Integrated Urban Development and Building Infrastructure” in the category “Integrated and regional planning - urban, regional and landscape development”. “This is an honour in recognition of the work of IBA over what is now approaching the past 10 years”, said IBA Director Rolf Kuhn. “Our perseverance in working towards new and novel solutions has paid off, with long-term regional developments and high architectural standards in building projects like the floating houses, the landmark, the IBA Terraces and the plans for Senftenberg town harbour.” There were 430 entries altogether from 221 towns and villages all over Germany. The search was on for outstanding projects and exemplary initiatives with an excellent track record over the past 10 years in terms of making an innovative contribution to sustainable urban and regional development and delivering high standards of quality in the built environment. Competition “Urban building. Urban living".

(2) Presentation:

Agenda set for the IBA Conference in September

The IBA Terraces will host an international conference from 15 to 17 September entitled “Opportunity: Post-Mining Landscape” where the discussion will centre on the potential opportunities and problems in developing post-mining landscapes and the approach to stewardship of the countryside. The conference programme has now been fixed and 24 speakers from various mining regions and networks have announced their intention to attend, including Prof. Jiang Chang from the China University of Mining and Caroline Digby of the Post-Mining Alliance.
The main theme for the first day of the conference will be “Regions in flux” and there will be a general introduction to the problems, areas of potential and strategies in dealing with the legacy of pollution from mining and the rehabilitation of the landscape and in capitalising on its natural resources with a focus on China, Portugal, South Africa, Chile, the USA, the Czech Republic and France. Three parallel colloquia will be run on the second day - “Strategies and instruments”, “Transformation of identity” and “New land uses” - with speakers from Switzerland, Sweden and the Netherlands. A seven-hour excursion to “Lusatia: New Frontiers” is the next item on the agenda and one which will clearly illustrate the transformation in the region. All the threads will be pulled together on the third day when the comments on the ten theses and the feedback from the colloquia will be brought to the table for the final panel discussion at which one of the contributors will be Maguelonne Déjeant-Pons, representative of the Council of Europe. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker and IBA Director Rolf Kuhn will look ahead to the prospects for 2050 in terms of sustainable development and the post-IBA era in Lusatia. The conference is aimed at experts from various disciplines and costs EUR 180. The deadline for registrations is 31 August. Programme

(3) Agreement:

Tourism association and IBA sign cooperation agreement

The Lusatian Lakeland Tourist Board (Tourismusverein Lausitzer Seen e.V.) and the IBA have signed a cooperation agreement setting out the staffing arrangements and the specific terms on which the two associations will collaborate closely in running the visitor centre (building 1) with integrated tourist information centre on the IBA Terraces in Großräschen. The cooperation agreement will run until December 2010. “This agreement marks an important step towards the post-IBA future“, said IBA Director Rolf Kuhn. “The IBA visitor centre has long been on the map as a good source of information in the Lusatian Lakeland”, Kuhn continued, “and the integration of the tourist board in the IBA’s operations will safeguard the quality of the tourist information services developed by the IBA in recent years and will continue to do so beyond the IBA era”. The range of services has also been extended. The visitor centre now also has a ticket office and an accommodation service and sells tourist packages and modules. Two new members of staff will be joining the team.

(4) Recommendation:

3rd Film Nights event attracts visitors to the bed of Lake Ilse

Motion pictures against the backdrop of a bizarre open-cast mining landscape - not an everyday occurrence. The Cottbus Film Festival and the IBA are combining a unique open-air setting on the bed of Lake Ilse with a great film programme in the 3rd Film Nights event from 9 to 11 July. Movie fans will be able to experience a cinematic journey extraordinaire through Latvia, Kazakhstan and Germany at around 21:00 hrs. at the foot of the IBA Terraces. The Latvian summer comedy “Midsummer Madness”, the formidable piece of celluloid “Tulpan” from Kazakhstan, and Andreas Dresden’s erotic drama “Cloud 9" will be showing on the giant screen under a starry sky. The stars of the unusual love story “Wolke 9”, Ursula Werner and Horst Westpfahl, will be at the film review and the showing on the Saturday and will be talking about the challenges and messages of the film. The summer beach atmosphere will be in full swing before the film with music, cocktail bar and deckchairs. Film fans who want to leave their cars behind can come on the free shuttle bus which departs from Cottbus every three days and heads for the IBA Terraces in Großräschen or the one from Senftenberg on 9 July. Kerstin Noack is taking reservations by telephone on 035753-26118 and by email at noack@iba-see.de.

(5) Exchange:

“Olympic Village” experience promoting tolerance on the IBA Terraces

The initiative entitled “Youth and democracy in Europe - Olympic Games promoting openness, tolerance and equal opportunities” saw the IBA Terraces transformed for five days into the “Olympic Village”. The Wirtschaftentwicklungs- und Qualifizierungsgesellschaft [Economic Development and Qualification Company] and the Entwicklungsgesellschaft Energiepark Lausitz [Development Association of the Lusatia Energy Park] put on a Youth Olympic Games on the Terraces as part of the Xenos project “Integration and diversity“. 50 trainees working towards different careers and qualifications in Greece, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, the Netherlands, Turkey and Germany met in Großräschen to get to know one another, compare notes, to take an entirely pragmatic approach to working on the common vision for a tolerant and diverse Europe rich in job prospects, and to learn more about opportunities on the European job market. The programme included sessions on democracy, conflict management and cross-cultural communication, an EU simulation game and excursions to the mining landscape and the high ropes adventure park. A media workshop provided an opportunity for the young people to express their thoughts and impressions and to present them on the IBA Terraces. The leader of the SPD, Franz Müntefering, also stopped by in the “Olympic Village” and was visibly inspired by what he saw.

(6) Visit:

African economic development support delegation visits the IBA

26 representatives of the Local Economic Development in South Africa made a trip to Germany in mid-June with the aim of finding out more about the strategies and initiatives adopted in the regional and economic development programme, about the creation of a propitious basic framework and about collaboration in German networks. The delegation, which included members from Nigeria and South Africa, also stopped at the IBA in Großräschen and in Cottbus to find out about the structural transformation and the challenges which go hand in hand with it, and about the ambitious initiatives. The South African decision-makers from politics, business and tourism were particularly interested in the learning processes, the opportunities born out of crisis and in the main success factors for the future. In addition to the IBA Terraces, the group also visited the Lauchhammer bio-towers, the F60 visitor mine, the floating holiday home, the landmark and Welzow open-cast mine.