SmartLIFE: sustainable construction on the agenda

SmartLIFE is an Interreg IIIB Project which will develop and implement an innovative approach towards sustainable communities in the North Sea Region by focusing on the issues of sustainable construction. It brings together educators and planners to challenge traditional (national) methods of construction by demonstrating successful transnational approaches.

In concrete terms, the project aims to:

• 1.

  Develop a coherent and coordinated approach to sustainable growth area management.

• 2.

  Establish a transnational network of SmartLIFE business centres that will act as European delivery and dissemination hubs for the project.

• 3.

  Provide environmental, technical support and financial advice to local people who are engaged in community self-build and in sustainable approaches to construction.

• 4.

  Increase skills and capacity in the local construction workforce by developing and implementing transnational programmes that provide training in modern methods of construction, thus contributing to the reduction of unemployment in the partner regions.

• 5.

  Utilise transnational experience in various aspects of training,construction and development to promote the adoption of best practice among the partners.

• 6.

  Design an effective communications campaign to promote and disseminate the SmartLIFE approach, the cross-sectoral partnership and the Interreg programme.

• 7.

  Develop a comprehensive strategy for fortifying and extending SmartLIFE beyond its lifespan.

It is often emphasized that sustainability is best delivered by involving the various stakeholders (e.g. public offices, universities, NGOs, companies)who have an interest in a particular issue or who may be motivated to work towards solving a given problem. This premise has been taken seriously in the context of SmartLIFE. The partnership is composed of the following agencies:Cambridgeshire County Council (UK); TuTech, G19 (Gewerbeschule 19), Institute for Construction Training (Germany); City of Malmö and Sustainable Business Hub (Sweden). Further details on the project are available at: www.smartlife.project.net