The winners of the main competition in the City-Surrounding Area Competition were announced at a press conference on March 23, 2016. EBP provided technical support to five of the selected regions in developing strategies and competition documents and coordinated this process.

The aim of the competition, which was launched by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Planning (MIL), and the subsequent implementation phase is to further expand functional links between cities and their surrounding areas. Existing resources are to be pooled in order to further develop and better exploit potential. The competition entry required the development of a tailor-made portfolio of measures for the respective cooperation area.

Jointly developed strategies and measures should take into account the specific challenges facing the state of Brandenburg (demographic developments, economic structural change, climate change, and sustainable energy supply, etc.).

The measures cover a wide range of topics, including ensuring sustainable public services, promoting economic development, safeguarding and creating an intact environment, expanding needs-based and sustainable mobility options, and ensuring that all population groups can participate equally in economic, social, and cultural life.

The implementation phase is now underway: until 2020, the partnerships will be able to carry out projects with priority funding from the European Structural Funds ERDF, EAFRD, and ESF.

Further information on the procedure is available at
www.stadt-umland-wettbewerb.brandenburg.de