Look back at the 7th Loire Valley Rendezvous

Over 400 Loire Valley – World Heritage professionals flocked to these Rendez-vous on Tuesday, 15th December 2009 in Tours. The morning was a chance for everyone to review how the development of a management plan for the listed site was coming along. The afternoon forum, a new event for 2009, was particularly popular with the participants who were able to discuss their activities, practices and projects together.

 

Find all the presentations  of the morning session and the conferences of the afternoon session on the Loire Valley Rendezvous website.

 

 

 

 

Drawing up the management plan

 

Development of the management plan, a complete common reference standard for shared management of the Loire Valley - World Heritage, is continuing with a discussion stage among local authorities in each of the counties under the aegis of the prefecture.

 

Bernard Fragneau, prefect of the Centre region, would like the management plan to be complete by the end of 2010 and as many local representatives to become involved as possible. This framework management document will apply throughout the site, and not just to the symbolic sites, and should enable the controversial matters to be resolved. During the transition period before it is implemented, Bernard Fragneau has tasked Jean-Pierre Tressard, the deputy prefect of Chinon, with harmonising the doctrine of government departments at site level in the answers given and the choices made .

Nicolas Foray, from the Centre Regional Directorate for the Environment, outlined the first draft of the management plan , drawn up by the government departments with input from the Val de Loire Mission.

 

François Bonneau, President of the Centre Region and Val de Loire Mission, reiterated the commitment of the Centre and Pays de la Loire regions to protect and promote the Loire Valley through their inter-regional policies, in particular the Loire à Vélo cycle path.

Sophie Saramito, regional advisor for the Pays de la Loire, announced that the Regional Council of the Pays de la Loire had voted in early December for the implementation of a specific regional policy for towns and villages in the World Heritage site (outside the scope of the Loire Anjou Touraine Regional Natural Park which already benefits from subsidised regional-focused contracts [CTUs]). This will see extra funds being earmarked for the projects selected.

 

 

Information campaign on the Loire Valley landscapes

 

Over the coming months, the organisation of the 2009-2010 information campaign on the Loire Valley - World Heritage landscapes is one of the key initiatives of the Val de Loire Mission, an operational tool of the Centre and Pays de la Loire regions .

 

It seeks to get everyone associated with the Loire, inhabitants and tourists, local representatives, economic stakeholders and association volunteers, involved in this major theme at the heart of the UNESCO listing .

 

By taking the scale of the river, the buildings along the river and the wider landscape as the key focus points, the aim is to:

• teach about the landscape identity of the Loire Valley - World Heritage
• identify the threats to these landscapes because of recent changes
• share recommendations enabling each of us to act so as to ensure that this heritage is passed on by promoting best practices in urban and landscape development.

 

As part of this campaign, various events, debates and "landscape encounters" will be held throughout 2010, thought up by local stakeholders (local authorities, institutions, associations) and assisted by the Val de Loire Mission.

Information and awareness-raising tools - website (updated constantly with the landscape encounters diary), brochure, video, exhibition - made available to them by the Val de Loire mission focus on the necessary educational aspects of the initiative under way, through diagrams and countless photos. These will help to spread the word about the challenges of the UNESCO listing and sustainable development of the region.

 

Campaign website: www.paysagesduvaldeloire.fr