N-Power

N-POWER (Neighbourhood Empowerment) aims at supporting innovative neighbourhood development policies, allowing cities of the Euregio Maas Rhein (EMR) to integrate deprived neighbourhoods and their communities into a positive urban dynamic.

Neighbourhood development policies based on expensive remodelling of neighbourhoods are not always effective over the long term. Furthermore, the public funds available for these types of plans are growing increasingly limited.

The N-POWER project will develop and test co-constructed approaches that are co-managed with the local communities through an empowerment approach. The aim is to help reduce the environmental inequalities between neighbourhoods and to support their economic revitalization while contributing to their social development. Improving social integration, social cohesion, and collective organizing capacity will in turn result in the creation of new activities and jobs. Specific goals of the project are:

1. To organize training for public officers and develop a ‘training pack’ including guidance and online courses;
2. To implement empowerment methods through the organization of pilot projects in neighborhoods chosen by partner cities;
3. To search for alternative financing methods to support this type of project.

N-POWER is based on a partnership between all regions of the EMR, involving local public authorities (principal and secondary cities of the EMR) and key actors in research and education.

LEMA (Local Environment Management and Analysis) is the coordinator of the project. The cities of Liège, Seraing, Verviers, Eupen, Genk (Belgium), Heerlen (Netherlands), and Aachen (Germany) are the local operational partners, enabling the implementation of pilot projects. The University of Hasselt and the Hogeschool Zuyd serve as academic support.

Supervisors: Prof. Jacques Teller, Dr. Christine Ruelle Ph.D.

Researchers: Stéphanie Van Doosselaere, Mohamed El Boujjoufi, Bertrand Riquet

Funding: The total budget of the project is € 3,996,147. The INTERREG VA program finances it, the partner regions (Wallonia, the Belgian and Dutch provinces of Limburg, and the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia) and the partners themselves.

Total project duration: 36 months

Project start date: June 2018

Official N-POWER Website: www.n-powerinterreg.eu