Communities of Competence

Since INTA's creation in the seventies, new challenges have emerged in urban and territorial development: the evolution of individual and collective values, lifestyles, security, green economy, technological risks, economic competition, segregation and integration, new mobility, entry of new players in urban development, etc.. Most responses to changes are now only of a technical nature. We build products (solar panels, computer networks, electric car, collecting data, etc..) while the political leader is awaiting strategic answers and integrated solutions to questions such as: urban development for whom, for what, at what cost and with whom?

With the purpose to help find solutions and clarify decisions for members, INTA has established the programme "Objective 2030". The programme is designed to help members identify levers of action to take today to ensure that the urban areas of tomorrow will be better controlled and more cohesive. This programme is implemented through several Communities of Competences that assemble members of INTA in thematic clusters.

INTA's Communities of Competences are practical cross-disciplinary working platforms addressing specific issues identified within the membership that most likely will have a significant impact on urban society and businesses. They foster new insights, tools and methods to improve decision-making and public action.


Themes

Communities are created at the request of members and therefore reflect the main present-day concerns of INTA members. Currently, 5 Communities of Competences are operational:

	Workspace urbanism - co-animated by Larry Barth (AA School of Architecture, London), Charles Lin (University NCU, Taiwan), Rémi Feredj (RATP, Paris). Read more
	Metropolisation - co-animated by Paul Gerretsen (DeltaMetropol, The Netherlands), Marek Bryx (University of Warsaw) and Abel Enguita (CEI, Madrid). Read more
	Innovation, Services and Territories with sub groups on Tourism, Health, Retail - co-animated by Pascal Carré, Christine Lor, Philippe Jean-Pierre, (University of La Réunion). Read more
	Tomorrow's Habitat - co-animated by Maurice Charrier (Vice President Grand Lyon, France), Joseph Tossavi (OGOLD, Benin). Read more
	Transmed - animated by Henry Chabert (France) Read more

Activities

Metropolisation

January 2011
Presentation of the conclusions of the Peer-to-Peer Panel on the Bordeaux Metropolitan Region in 2025 before elected representatives of the Urban District of Bordeaux.

March 2011
Meetings in Barcelona, Spain, on metropolization processes in the Mediterranean.

Roundtable in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on components and definition of metropoles with Association Deltametropolis. Read more

Meeting in Oujda, Morocco, to prepare a panel discussion on metropolization and rural hinterland.

May 2011
Lisbon. Open International Roundtable on "Reinventing centrality: urban regeneration and mobility".

November 2011
INTA35 World Urban Development Congress in Lyon and Grenoble. "Exit, Voice, Loyalty" Metropolises: development strategies and alliances

Workspace Urbanism

January 2011
Working meeting on the transformation of the Port of Passaia, Spain, which findings were used to prepare the peer-to-peer panel for the City of Le Port in La Réunion.

Meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, with City Government officials and representatives of the Community of Competence to develop the programme of the roundtable to be held in May on the theme "Rethinking Public Buildings".

March 2011
Preparatory meeting for the panel of the City of Port held in Paris

Meeting in London between core representatives of the Community of Competence

Roundtable on new industrial urbanism in the Nangang District, City of Taipei, Taiwan

April 2011
Peer-to-peer Panel on restructuring the industrial port of La Reunion. The panel's conclusions on Le Port provide content to other 3 Communities of Competence.

May 2011
Tallinn: Roundtable on "Rethinking Public Buildings for a New Civic Landscape: the City Hall as Headquarter for Intelligent Cities

September 2011
Warsaw. Roundtable on "Rethinking University Space: the SGH Redevelopment"

December 2011
Malmö. Participation in the 10th anniversary of the Malmo' Western Harbour. New drivers for urban development

Innovation, Services and Territories: Tourism, Health, Retail

Tourism
February 2011
Meeting in Lyon for the launch of the Community with Rhone Alpes Tourisme to co-construct both the programme of the Summer School to be held in the Azores in September and the workshop on Tourism to be held at the INTA35 Congress. 


March 2011
Meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, with the Tourism Observatory and the University of the Azores to develop the programme of the Summer School.

April 2011
Isle of La Réunion; Project Launch Tourism Roundtable and territorial policy

September 2011
Summer Course 4 in the Azores, Portugal 


November 2011
INTA35 World Urban Development Congress in Lyon and Grenoble. "Exit, Voice, Loyalty" Metropolises: development strategies and alliances.
Urban conference on metropolitan tourism

Reunion Island. International roundtable on tourism and regional economic policy

Health 


April 2011
Roundtable on Health, Ageing, Innovation and Territory in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France

Retail

October
Netherlands. Panel discussion on "Liberalisation of Retail Planning Within The Scope of the EU services directive"



Objectives

INTA's Communities of Competences aim to identify priority issues for sustainable urban development. The purpose is to transfer know-how, compare challenges faced by different territorial scales, confront strategies and test innovative solutions to enhance the adaptability of territories to future changes.

The tasks of each Community are:

• to identify common challenges and explore adapted solutions among members of the CC's
• to invite members and partners to address the challenges and to propose their own solutions (validated through a referential framework developed within INTA)
• to share international experience among members of the CC and between CCs at the occasion of roundtables
• to seize every opportunity of INTA activities to increase interactions between CCs
• to publicise the work of the CC on the INTA website and through social networks and to contribute to the general programmes of the Association

The added value of the CC lies in the capacity to become a test ground for innovative solutions (technical, social, or institutional) as it will foster interactions between:

• Hightech or service-oriented companies that can test their solutions to a wide audience of interest: government officials, local authorities, technicians, developers, practitioners, academics, local community and customers worldwide;
• Policy-leaders at national and regional levels who can assess what the urban consequences of these innovations can be, in addition to showing the other partners how these innovations can be linked to their metropolitan agendas;
• Professionals like planners, architects, developers who can explore and review solutions before investment and implementation;
• Academics who can associate their own research to the exchange process.

Representatives of the CCs attend the World Urban Development Council and the Annual Congress, which is where the work of the different CCs is made available to a larger audience.

Each Community of Competences (CC) is a learning place, where, in a neutral and inspiring environment, the dialogue becomes part of the larger urban design and development process, allowing stakeholders to review their current situation and assess their future position. Members of the CCs voluntarily transfer their successes and failures, and receive operational feedback on their own projects.

Present-day and future urban challenges and opportunities can only be anticipated and confronted if a truly interdisciplinary and cross-sector approach is in place.


Participants

Each Community of Competence is composed of the following partners:

Animator
Each Community of Competences is led by an animator, member of INTA. The animator can receive suppoort from the International Secretariat to diffuse information and work in progress within the community and within the INTA network. The animator leads the Community, propose a programme of activities, in interaction with INTA's  Secretariat and the other Communities of Competence.

Members
The Communities of Competence are composed of INTA members (associates and full members). Members contribute to the Communities by sharing their experiences on a continuous basis and at the occasion of the activities of the Communities or at other INTA activities. The Communities of Competences accumulate this input, allowing a larger continuity of the contribution of each member.

Strategic partners
The Community of Competence is supported by one or more Strategic Partners: leading companies that produce products or provide services in the CC’s area of interest. Strategic Partners will evaluate the CC’s programme of activities and be the main recipients of its outputs.
Read more on the benefits for Strategic Partners


Output

The expected output of the Community of Competence is a programme of activities spread over several years hosted by INTA members worldwide and publications at each step contributing to a global INTA publication on the future of urban development.

The activities can be of different nature, each of them following the main objective, which is to directly transfer know-how between professionals, stimulate the dialogue between stakeholders and construct new solutions and methods for sustainable metropolitan cooperation and governance.

Potential Activities:

• Future-oriented roundtables; for a constructive dialogue between national and international practitioners on anticipated changes in a particular urban development field
• Peer-to-peer panels; bringing together experienced practitioners to directly transfer their expertise to specific urban situation that deserve close attention
• Training programmes (tailor-made training seminars, crash courses, internships, contribution to the Annual INTA Summer Course) to sharpen the skills of urban development professionals and enhance their adaptability to change
• Yearly meeting at INTA's World Urban Development Congress, where each Community reports on their progress and interacts with the other CC's and members.