Updates & Highlights from the past 6 months
In a recent online meeting, partners from across the SIRR project shared updates on their local hubs, discussing recent progress, ongoing goals, challenges, and insights gained from the project. Each partner presented highlights from the past six months, focusing on their efforts toward achieving their hub’s vision, and addressing both challenges and successes.
(All presentations are collected and can be downloaded – please find the link at the bottom of the page)
These conversations offered an invaluable exchange of experiences, providing new perspectives and ways for partners to support one another. A shared theme of "hub thinking" emerged, with partners expressing the importance of creating strong, local identities and using storytelling to connect with their communities. There was also a focus on aligning with political frameworks, remodeling business models, and fostering social entrepreneurship to build life skills and engage local ambassadors.
Community of Communes of the Pays de Lumbres (CCPL) and Agency for Urban Planning, Development, and Heritage of the Saint-Omer Region (AUD) provided an update on the challenges they have faced due to severe flooding that occurred between late 2023 and mid-2024. This environmental disaster deeply affected local communities and changed regional priorities. The flooding underscored the urgent need for sustainable territorial planning, which is now a primary focus. CCPL and AUD aim to involve local citizens in developing resilience strategies, fostering community engagement, and rebuilding trust between residents and local authorities.
CCPL is working on climate adaptation strategies by collaborating with farmers, in partnership with the regional Chamber of Agriculture. This includes encouraging the planting of hedges to control water runoff and support flood management. In a further commitment to sustainability, CCPL will purchase hedge trimmings to fuel a local swimming pool’s biomass boiler, and it plans to increase grants to new farmers who engage in sustainable practices.
The meeting concluded with partners expressing a shared commitment to support each other in these efforts, as we continue to explore opportunities for mutual learning and collaboration to achieve the broader goals of the SIRR project.