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Green transitions
From bricks to bonds: Throwback to Build UP
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Spirits were high among North Sea project partners in Billund, using LEGO to bond, build ideas and kick-start conversations.
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On the chilly morning of 22 October, over 100 people from our Interreg North Sea project community convened in Billund, Denmark, for our Build UP seminar. The aim was to empower and equip (lead) partners to confidently execute their projects.
Building the vibe
In true Interreg style, the day began with a challenge requiring cooperation: Build something tall and beautiful together around each table. However, that something must also be resilient to change and disruption! Here is a glimpse of how it went:
The participants were clearly eager to share and collect tips and ideas for successful project execution. A walk-through of the main pitfalls received plenty of comments and inputs from the audience.
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The first day included a rundown of project implementation pitfalls and how to avoid them - from copyrights to State aid.
Sharing success and synergies
To capitalise on project work, engaging with "takers" - stakeholders who may adopt the project's work - is crucial. People in the room were keen to discuss ideas on how to do that.
Participants also shared with each other how they are tackling joint territorial challenges. People were seated according to themes so that they could easily relate to a common challenge. Using Lego and drawings, participants visualised their approaches and drew lines showing links and possible synergies.
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Project-to-project learning
On the second day of Build UP, seven projects - Blue Transition, SIRR, TREASURE, Norsaic, MANABAS COAST, LIHYP and MoLo Hubs - kindly took the lead in hosting short mini-sessions.
Covering topics like partner involvement, indicator reporting, engaging with users and communicating strategically, these sessions were designed for participants to exchange. Each mini-session drew an interested audience with a great desire to share and discuss.
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"Remember to ask the non-users!" Thomas Brauner of Logistics Initiative Hamburg shared the approaches of the project MoLo Hubs as part of a session on how to engage with users.
See you next time
It was a fantastic pleasure for us to witness so many North Sea enthusiasts with such a drive to share and cooperate above and beyond their individual projects. A big thank you to everyone present in Billund for their enthusiasm!
Browse the slideshow below to get a glimpse or relive the event. To download presentations and see more images, go to our Build UP event page.
And do not miss our next events coming up in 2025! Our third TakeUP event (focusing on capitalisation) will take place in Copenhagen on 21 January. You can learn more about TakeUP 3 here. Watch this space or subscribe to our newsletter to be on top of our events calendar.
Find resources from Build UP
To download presentations from the event, go to our Build UP event page.
To see more images, visit our Flickr album.
About the author
Sofie Forfang is a Communications Advisor at the Interreg North Sea Programme.
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