Good Practice
Using less soil
Puy-Saint-André in the French Alps has reduced the buildable municipal area by confiscating "ownerless" land, is saving space thanks to community housing projects and promoting the supply of local food by means of pasture associations.
The best idea wins
Kindergarten, after-school care, flats for senior citizens, surgeries, village shop and family café: how the German municipality of Schwabsoien revived a vacant inn in the village centre with an urban development competition.
Stop to second homes
The Swiss popular initiative "Stop the rampant construction of second homes!" limits the proportion of second homes in municipalities in order to curb urban sprawl.
Shaping the community together
The German municipality of Ingenried shows how local residents and young people in particular can work together to develop a concept for village development.
Roads on a diet
Carinthia/A relies on unsealing and is narrowing kilometres of federal roads. Now they are flanked by green strips and cycle paths.
Remain rural and affordable
How the German municipality of Weyarn, close to the city, protects its soil, promotes affordable housing and creates a higher quality of life.
Rebuild instead of build
The Austrian municipality of Zwischenwasser on the edge of the Rhine valley is rebuilding instead of building – and doing so at the highest architectural level.
Making vacancies visible
The "Plattform Land" draws attention to vacancies in South Tyrolean pilot communities and shows how they can make good use of empty properties.
Lively mountain village
The village of Valendas in the Swiss canton of Graubünden shows how citizens can revive their village architecturally and culturally.
Ecological and community areas
With its ecological commons zone (“Zone d'écologie communale”, ZEC), the Free Quarter of Lentillères in Dijon/F invents a legal tool to legalise land occupation and thus prevent construction.
Climate-fit mountain regions
The "AdaPT Mont-Blanc" project uses a digital toolbox to show what measures are available for adapting to climate change at the spatial planning level.
Affordable primary residences
Second homes notwithstanding, the municipality of Zermatt/CH wants to secure affordable housing for the local population.
Urban life in the countryside
A drive-in cinema, indoor cycling, workshops – the “BASIS Vinschgau Venosta” project aims to create an inspiring venue in the northern Italian municipality of Schlanders, South Tyrol.
Picnic at the construction site
How a disused construction site in the middle of the Slovenian capital is becoming a popular meeting place.
Keeping free spaces free
How an association in Vorarlberg, Austria came up with the idea of buying land in order to save it from being built on.