<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif;"><strong>ICLRD Fourth Annual Conference: <em>Achieving Balanced Regional Development: Dynamic Regions, Spatial Strategies and Collaboration</em></strong>
</span><a href="/pages/A4gallery.html"><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif;"><strong>Click here to see pictures from the conference</strong></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif; ;">
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</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif; ">In January the ICLRD held its annual conference in Letterkenny, Co Donegal under the title <em>Achieving Balanced Regional Development: Dynamic Regions, Spatial Strategies and Collaboration</em>. Letterkenny was chosen as the venue in order to highlight the ongoing efforts with Derry/Londonderry to develop the cross-border Northwest Gateway. The conference was attended by over 130 delegates, speakers and chairs from the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England, Hungary, Germany, the Skane Region in Sweden, and the states of Massachusetts, Maryland and Virginia in the United States. Mr. Michael Kitt, T.D., Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, and Mr. Conor Murphy, MLA, Minister for Regional Development in Northern Ireland addressed this major cross-border planning conference.</span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif;">Keynote speakers from overseas included Steve Quartermain, Chief Planning Officer in the Department for Communities and Local Government in London; Jim MacKinnon, Director for the Built Environment in the Scottish Government; Grant Duncan, Head of the Sustainable Futures Division in the Welsh Assembly Government; Dr Gabor Novotny, from the European Commission’s DG Regio (Urban Development and Territorial Cohesion); Dr Rupert Kawka from the German Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning; and Professor Gerrit Knapp, Director, National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education, University of Maryland.</span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif; ">The conference – especially the address by both Ministers Kitt and Murphy – was timely, given that the plenary session of the North-South Ministerial Council focusing on cross-border initiatives was held in Magee Campus, Derry on Friday January 23. In the coming months there are various cross-border policy initiatives scheduled to launch, including the Collaborative Framework for Spatial Planning on the Island of Ireland, the Northwest Gateway Initiative and an ICLRD report on the Newry-Dundalk Twin City Region. Launching these three-initiatives will represent significant milestones in cross-border cooperation on the Island of Ireland.</span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif; ;">The conference delegates represented a mix of academics, students, practitioners, Ministers, Councilors, officials from central and local government, and representatives from cross-border bodies and the private sector. Organized across two days, there was ample time for debate, networking and cross-learning on the themes of inter-jurisdictional collaboration in spatial planning and local and regional development.</span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif; ">The first day focused on issues of strategic territorial planning through specific examples: EU territorial cohesion policies, international experiences from the State of Maryland (US) as well as Germany to encourage balanced regional growth, and on spatial planning experiences of our neighbours in Scotland, Wales and England. We closed the afternoon with presentations by Michael Kitt, T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Minister Conor Murphy, MLA, Minister for Regional Development on the current efforts by both Governments to establish a collaborative framework for spatial planning on the island of Ireland.</span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif; ">The presentations on the second day concentrated on balanced regional development through designated gateways on the Island of Ireland, including those that cross borders and jurisdictions: the Northwest Gateway, the Newry-Dundalk Twin City, the Atlantic Gateway and the Cork Gateway. Furthermore, presentations from the Department for Regional Development, Northern Ireland and the Department of the Environment, Heritage &amp; local Government, Ireland discussed the opportunities that are emerging for inter-jurisdictional cooperation and the role of gateways and regions within and between the respective spatial strategies. Closing breakout sessions offered conference participants an opportunity to discuss and debate the presentations and present questions to a panel representing the County and Council Executives and Central government departments.</span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif; ">We were pleased to continue our collaboration with InterTradeIreland, with its sponsorship of the Day 2 session on Achieving Balanced Regional Development—Learning from Each Other.</span>
<a href="../../documents/4th%20Annual%20Conf%202009%20Jan%2022-23/4th%20annual%20conf%20programme.pdf"><strong>Conference Programme</strong></a>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif; "><strong>Conference Report</strong> (forthcoming)
<strong>Conference Audio</strong> (forthcoming)</span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif; color: #57683b; "><strong>Day 1
</strong></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif; "><a href="/documents/4th%20Annual%20Conf%202009%20Jan%2022-23/Day%201/Driscoll_Opening%20and%20ICLRD.pdf"><strong>Opening Remarks</strong></a> - John Driscoll
<a href="/documents/4th%20Annual%20Conf%202009%20Jan%2022-23/Day%201/Novotny_Balanced%20Regional%20Development.pdf"><strong>Balanced Regionl Development and Territorial Competitiveness</strong></a> - Gabor Novotny
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; color: #000000;"><strong><a href="/documents/4th%20Annual%20Conf%202009%20Jan%2022-23/Day%201/novotny_the%20green%20paper%20annex.pdf">The Green Paper on Territorial Cohesion-Annex for Discussion</a></strong></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif;"> - Gabor Novotny
</span><a href="/documents/4th%20Annual%20Conf%202009%20Jan%2022-23/Day%201/Knaap_Advancing%20the%20Land%20Use%20Agenda%20in%20Maryland.pdf"><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif; "><strong>Advancing the Land Use Agenda In Maryland</strong></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif; color: blue; "><strong>:</strong></span><span style="font-family: Arial; color: blue;"><span style="font-size: normal"><strong> Analysis, Policy, and Public Participation</strong></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif; "> - Gerrit Knaap
<a href="/documents/4th%20Annual%20Conf%202009%20Jan%2022-23/Day%201/Kawka_Regional%20Policy%20in%20Germany.pdf"><strong>Achieving Balanced Regional Policy in Germany: The Role of Urban-Rural Partnerships</strong></a> - Rupert Kawka
<a href="../../documents/4th%20Annual%20Conf%202009%20Jan%2022-23/Day%201/Duncan_Wales%20Spatial%20Plan.pdf"><strong>People, Places, Futures: The Wales Spatial Plan</strong></a> - Grant Duncan
<a href="/documents/4th%20Annual%20Conf%202009%20Jan%2022-23/Day%201/Mackinnon_Spatial%20Planning%20in%20Scotland.pdf"><strong>Spatial Planning at the National Level: Scotland's Experience</strong></a> - Jim Mackinnon
<a href="/documents/4th%20Annual%20Conf%202009%20Jan%2022-23/Day%201/Quartermain_Spatial%20Planning%20in%20England.pdf"><strong>Spatial Planning in England</strong></a> - Steve Quartermain
<a href="/documents/4th%20Annual%20Conf%202009%20Jan%2022-23/Day%201/Kitt_Address.pdf"><strong>Address to the ICLRD Annual Conference</strong></a> - Minister Michael Kitt, TD
<a href="/documents/4th%20Annual%20Conf%202009%20Jan%2022-23/Day%201/Murphy_Address.pdf"><strong>Address to the ICLRD Annual Conference</strong></a> - Minister Conor Murphy, MLA
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</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif; color: #57683b;"><strong>Day 2
</strong></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif; "><a href="../../documents/4th%20Annual%20Conf%202009%20Jan%2022-23/Day%201/Thompson_Review%20of%20the%20RDS.pdf"><strong>Review of the Regional Development Strategy</strong></a> - Mike Thompson
<a href="../../documents/4th%20Annual%20Conf%202009%20Jan%2022-23/Day%202/Cussen_Refreshing%20the%20NSS.pdf"><strong>Refreshing the National Spacial Strategy and the Framework for Collaboration</strong></a> - Niall Cussen
<a href="../../documents/4th%20Annual%20Conf%202009%20Jan%2022-23/Day%202/Callanan_NSS.pdf"><strong>The Atlantic Gateway</strong></a> - Brian Callanan
</span> <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif;"><a href="../../documents/4th%20Annual%20Conf%202009%20Jan%2022-23/Day%202/Terry_Cork%20Gateway%20and%20Balanced%20Regional%20Development.pdf"><strong>The Role of the Cork Gateway in Achieving Balanced Regional Development</strong></a> - Kevin Terry
<strong><a href="../../documents/4th%20Annual%20Conf%202009%20Jan%2022-23/Day%202/Murray%20and%20McCall_Delivering%20a%20Sustainable%20Future.pdf">The Newry-Dundalk Gateway</a></strong> - Conn Murray and Tom McCall
<a href="../../documents/4th%20Annual%20Conf%202009%20Jan%2022-23/Day%202/McLoone_A%20Role%20for%20Gateways.pdf"><strong>The Letterkenny Derry/Londonderry Gateway</strong></a> - Michael McLoone, John Meehan</span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif; color: #57683b; font-size: small;"><strong>Conference Summary Report
</strong></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif; "><a href="../../documents/4th%20Annual%20Conf%202009%20Jan%2022-23/Letterkenny-conference-report.pdf"><strong>Achieving Balanced Regional Development</strong></a> - Cliff Hague</span>