INTA's President, Joe Montgomery, Director General of Regions and Communities, is appointed Chief Executive of the Thames Gateway. Joe Montgomery, who was an executive director for regeneration at Lewisham Council before joining the Government, will keep his seat in the Communities and Local Government Board while he takes up this new role.

Budiarsa Sastrawinata was elected President of INTA at the conclusion of the annual General Assembly convened on the 18th of November in Paris. Sastrawinata is to succeed Joe Montgomery, who served as President for the past two years. Sastrawinata's term will officially commence on the 1st of January 2008. Budiarsa Sastrawinata is Member of Parliament of Indonesia and President Director of PT Ciputra Residence, a Development Company with large scale projects in Indonesia, Hanoi (Vietnam), Kolkata (India) and Phnom Penh (Cambodia). He is also Chairman of the Indonesian New Town Forum and sits on the advisory Board of the Indonesian Real Estate Association.

The Housing Conference organised by INTA, in partnership with the RATP and subsidiaries SEDP and Logistransports and with the support of Eiffage Construction, Vinci Construction France and Alliade, took place on the 19th and 20th of November 2007. The Conference anticipated remarkably an important speech delivered by French President Sarkozy on the same issue only a few days later. Despite some difficulties with the public transport in Paris, which prevented many registered participants from attending, the meeting mobilised over 130 professionals and decision makers from 18 countries worldwide. Speakers and participants agreed to continue the high quality discussions in a new network on housing that was created at the end of the conference. This community of competences will work on the theme of housing as a leverage and management tool for a more balanced metropolitan equilibrium. This conference was thus the first in a series of events that will examine other situations in different countries and enrich the experiences and practices of INTA's members. If you are interested in this reflection, do not hesitate to contact the Secretariat. . Read more....

In the framework of an information and awareness raising campaign by the local authorities of La Reunion in the Indian Ocean, INTA has organised a series of activities in conjunction with the Island: an international conference on the integrated and sustainable development strategies for insular territories; an international advisory panel on the strategic vision for sustainable development of the Island; a study tour dedicated to light rail transportation systems in several German cities and finally another study tour for urban development practitioners to four European "eco-cities": Basel, Freiburg, Zurich and Winterthur, considered to be world leaders in sustainable development methods and policies. This includes mobility management (emphasising the connection between land use and public transport), renewable and clean energy production and use, low-energy housing and other environmental measures. Read more...

Michel Sudarskis, Secretary General of INTA, and Maurice Charrier, Mayor of Vaulx-en-Velin, Vice President of INTA, testified to the Parliamentary Audition on the Future of Metropolises chaired  by Dominique Perben, MP, former French Minister of Justice and of Development. Michel Sudarskis said that Metropolisation is both an institutional as well as a political answer to the challenges of our dynamic and interdependent societies that emerged with the globalization process and their problems of fragmenting institutions and human relations.  In order to remain competitive and to continue to attract new talented citizens and activities, cities and territories need to act collectively: their social, administrative, political and often spatial fragmentation limits their capabilities to build coalitions and mobilize the required resources for successful development and to gather enough political clout vis-a-vis those of the state. Maurice Charrier stressed the risks of spatial fragmentation and social and economic inequalities between the centres and the suburbs of agglomerations, calling for a new urbanism and new solidarity between territories.

INTA has particpated to the kick-off meeting of an international exchange project on Solid Waste Management in Europe and Asia. A first seminar was held in the city of Ipoh, Malaysia at the occassion of this meeting. In the framework of the EU-Asia Co-operation programme Eco-Pro, funded by the European Union, several EU partners have teamed up with the Perak State Government and several private sector stakeholders with the ambition to integrate good practices on solid waste management policies. The project aims to orgnise an international conference, scheduled for October 2008, a series of Capacity Building Programme's and a Business Match-making Event. INTA's Deputy Director, Steven Ongenaet, stressed in his presentation the need to contextualise waste management practices in an integrated urban develoment approach and the current debate on sustainable communities with its focus on energy effienciency and reduced environmental impacts. Read more...

 

Trevor Butler, BDP's Head of Sustainability, was voted Sustainable Champion of the Year at the 2007 Sustainability Awards held in London on 19 November (2007). These awards, organized by Building magazine, showcase environmental excellence in the construction industry and recognise outstanding sustainability achievement. The judging panel commenting on this closely fought award said that "in the end the winner proved himself by his allround capability including his natural leadership in low carbon design, his ability to communicate this to other design professionals and clients and his impressive dedication to raising the awareness of sustainability through talks and conferences. Read more...

Veolia Water North America - Central LLC, a Veolia Water subsidiary, has been selected by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) to manage a regional wastewater system serving the greater Milwaukee area, under a 10-year contract valued at approximately 273 million Euros ($400 million). This public-private partnership represents the United States' largest service contract ever to be concluded in the wastewater sector within the United States. Veolia Water North America now holds industry-leading partnerships as operator of the nation's largest drinking water partnership (Indianapolis), largest design-build-operate project (Tampa Bay Water's flagship surface water treatment facility), and largest wastewater partnership (Milwaukee). Read more...