Culture & Tourism Group

ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Chair of the group: Mr Laus Coppoolse, from Euregio Scheldemond (until XIX Meeting)

Vice-Chair: Baroness Ros Scott, from Suffolk CC (Acting chair at XX Meeting)

Co-ordinator: Mr Geir Sør-Reime, from Rogaland CC

Meetings in 2002: Two (XVIII in Ribe, Denmark 14-17 March, XIX in Bruges, Flanders 3-6 October)

Meeting in 2003 (so far): One (XX in Sogndal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway 8-11 May). Next meeting (XXI) is planned for 2-5 October 2003 in Middelburg, Zeeland, The Netherlands.

Delegates attending: XVIII in Ribe: 18; XIX Bruges: 20, XX Sogndal: 20 (the total number of members appointed by member regions is approx. 33).

Items on the agenda (except technical items like minutes etc.): XVIII (Ribe): 11; XIX (Bruges): 7, XX (Sogndal): 4.

Main items:

North Sea Festival of Youth, held in Kristianssand (Vest-Agder, Norway) between 4-8 September 2002 with 250 youth attending, including 17 from the Netherlands, 29 from Belgium and 5 from Denmark, the rest from Norway. The other NSC countries experienced various difficulties and did not attend. NSC contributed DKK 45.000 of a total cost of NOK 750.000, with the host region, Vest-Agder, contributing NOK 450.000. The lack of sufficient NSC funds to finance initiatives like this is a major problem for any follow-up actions of this highly successful event.

Seminar on Cultural Heritage and Business Development in conjunction with NSC General Assembly, Norwich 2002

The group had the main responsibility for this very successful seminar, attended by approx.62 people.

Interreg North Sea programme. The group has discussed the problems many authorities experience in coping with the complex application procedures and requirements for the Interreg II/III programmes. The group has also discussed the future of Interreg programmes and has suggested a more community development approach in the future. Both the CPMR and the NSC has been asked to forward these views in the relevant forums.

A recurring item on all group meetings is discussions on Interreg project proposals, ongoing projects on culture, cultural heritage and tourism, and reports and evolutions of concluded projects. In 2002, these discussions have been centred round the following projects:

Waves of Culture, NAVE nortrail, cycle route, Vikings, Origins of North Sea Identity, Mare Frisianum, North Sea (Maritime) Heritage (heritage boats); and Tourism for the Disabled.

The group has experienced several problems for project proposals based on cultural heritage, and especially intangible cultural heritage, and has decided to raise some of these problems with the Executive Committee of the programme.

NSC Vision Document. The group has discussed the NSC Vision Document thoroughly and has come up with a number of suggestions for possible political actions in the fields of culture and tourism for the NSC Executive Committee. Our document is entitled "Culture and Growth" and underlines the role of culture and heritage in community development.

Culture 2000 programme. At several meetings, the EU Frame programme for culture, called Culture 2000, has been discussed. At the XX Meeting, the Norwegian contact point for Culture 2000, Mr Jean-Yves Gallardo was invited to give a presentation of the project and its priorities for the coming years. The group intends to follow up the programme with suggestions for future projects.