Addressing the divide between EU indications and their practical implementation in the green construction and eco-social re-qualification of residential areas in South East Europe regions

WHY ARE SEE CITIES SO FAR FROM SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DESPITE EU INDICATIONS ? WHY DO URBAN PLANNING AND RESIDENTIAL AREAS LACK A TRUE GREEN APPROACH? "BUILD SEE" answers these questions. It supplies public administrations, enterprises and citizens with practical tools, recommendations and action plans (from SEE local country case-studies) to bridge the gap to achieve low environmental impact and become eco-friendly. The project treats of the residential sector and mostly urban re-generation, new building and residential suburb planning. BUILD SEE's twofold innovation comes as an INTEGRATED approach to urban sustainability and a QUALITY GOVERNANCE MODEL of shared responsibility and city planning vision. Both the processes and product innovation dimensions aim to bridge the gap between EU policy and SEE country practices, mindful of new aspects like social issues (swift urbanization & its social problems, disadvantaged group inclusion, participation); new green urban technologies (for policies reaching EU targets on energy consumption, waste management etc) and new methodology: fresh citizenship methods/models, enterprise/stakeholder involvement, participated urban planning processes. "BUILD SEE" promotes joint public/private sector action and develops environmental, economic and social benefits, offering a ready answer to sustainable building & residential questions. "BUILD SEE" aims to enhance innovation in a multilevel cross-sector approach and participated methodologies primed to impact at government and local level with clear outcomes, qualified results and possible performance gauging, with new technologies & IT, fostering content and funding viability to increase social cohesion and inject skills and positive financial/social returns in the territories, all serving sustainability/transferability. "BUILD SEE" emphasizes joint transnational management, smart/detailed planning, extensive communication, transferability and reproducibility of project findings, outcomes, products and results, creation of an in/formal network on project priorities at national/international level, in the industry itself or via trans-professional groups. The project aims to create tool kits and actions to develop a "green building" management city, area and suburb, for new sustainable urban building and requalification, fresh citizen participation and a network of stakeholders work with local government. The partnership totals 13 from 9 different SEE states in a vast part of the SEE area and, as per project aims, offers an array of institutional, government and technical representatives and territorial networks in a winning mix of vertical/technical representatives. It has actors with extensive topic and area expertise and others among national, regional and local authorities to link project results and recommendations and outcome transferral. It also involves specific partners and local stakeholders: region, ministry, enterprises, professional groups, agencies and educational institutions, environmental and cultural groups. Also, respecting policy, programme and project synergies, the "BUILD SEE" proposal fits : EUROPE 2020 (EU strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth for economic, social and territorial cohesion regarding smart growth for developing an economy based on knowledge/innovation and sustainable growth for a more resource-efficient, green and competitive economy) as the EU STRATEGY FOR THE DANUBE REGION on environmental sustainability, the EU Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) supporting a balanced polycentric, urban system and promoting resource-efficient settlement patterns to minimise land-take and urban sprawl. Build SEE answers indications of the "5th Cohesion Report on economic, social and territorial cohesion", considering innovation transfer between public/private organisations and an innovative ecosystem touching suburbs and citizen participation in eco-sustainable building.