IMPETUS First Interregional Thematic Seminar in Riga

The Riga City Council will host the First Interregional Thematic Seminar (ITS) of the IMPETUS project on November 14th and 15th.

IMPETUS aims to transform the way cities and regions design policies to support a sustainable and just transition for European cities. Among the several available trajectories and features for urban and territorial regeneration, IMPETUS has a specific focus on the role of temporary uses for abandoned or underutilised spaces. The ITS will bring together experts, practitioners, policymakers, and stakeholders from Latvia, Spain, Romania, Italy, France and Poland to explore ‘Alternatives and approaches to the regulation of temporary uses at regional and urban levels’.

‘Similar to many cities in Europe, there is a lack of common understanding regarding a unified
temporary building and environmental usage policy in Riga. Renovation of degraded buildings is a
time and resource-intensive endeavour, which is why often owners are unable to restore them alone, leaving these buildings unused and abandoned for years. The same applies to abandoned land and degraded infrastructure. The new use of abandoned objects is recognized as one of the tools that allows the city to easily adapt to changes and empower citizens to implement their own initiatives. Furthermore, degraded and abandoned objects can become a good place to experiment with various innovative and unexpected solutions that may not be ready to implement in new construction projects’ explains Dagnis Samausks, Head of Project Management Board of the Riga City Council City Development Department.

Riga City Council is one of the partners of the project, and participates with the aim of improving 'Riga Development Programme 2022-2027' to be the main normative framework supporting temporary uses and intervention in the baltic Capital.

Beyond Riga, during the Seminar, each IMPETUS partner will present some selected good practices involving temporary uses gathered during the regional stakeholder group meetings that take place periodically throughout the duration of the project in every Region involved. The term 'good practices' refers to successful and innovative policies that have adopted approaches, methods or strategies tested and applied in public interventions on urban and territorial planning and management, specifically focusing on urban regeneration projects. These practices must have demonstrated their effectiveness in addressing the challenges of urban regeneration and must have the potential to be transferred and adapted to other regions or contexts.

The selected good practices will provide the basis for the 1st Interregional Policy Brokerage
(IPB), which is the next event on the agenda of the IMPETUS partners and will be held in Lille in the coming months.