Since 2009, the Mayors and Presidents of the Le Havre conurbation, Rouen and Paris have worked together to promote the Seine Valley as a territory of industrial revival and economic reflation in the dynamics of Grand Paris.
Two conferences have already been held : 4th May 2010 in Le Havre and 23rd May 2011 in Rouen. It is Paris' turn now to host the third meeting.
The urbanism agencies of the territory, Apur, AURH (Le Havre), AURBSE (Rouen and Boucles de Seine et Eure), AUDAS (Seine Aval), AUCAME (Caen) and IAU-Île-de-France have accompanied the municipalities since the beginning of the project, following their partnership work, and collaborating in preparation for the conference. They have also organised workshops with the aim of facilitating the emergence of a common vision and concrete propositions which will be presented and debated at the conference in Paris.
Since 2009 the Seine Valley development project has progressed as a result of numerous work projects and initiatives carried out by the different stakeholders: the government, local authorities, the ports, the urbanism agencies, economic stakeholders and the Chambers of Commerce and Industry. It seems important at this stage of the project to have these diverse initiatives converge. The workshops are an opportunity to establish dialogue and a cross acculturation among all the stakeholders.
There are almost 150 participants made up mainly of government and local authority representatives as well as port and economic stakeholders who have worked on the following issues in the workshops:
- The workshop “Constructing a port and logistics system to reinforce territorial dynamics", was presided over by the two Deputy Mayors of Paris, Christian Sautter and Pierre Mansat and organised by the Apur – AUDAS two-agency-team. It met twice, on the 26th June and 17th September 2012 at the Pavillon de l'Arsenal in Paris.
- The workshop “Re-industrialise the Seine Valley: with new industries and the one renovated”, was presided over by Frédéric Sanchez, President of the CREA and Guillaume Bachelay, Vice-President the Regional Council of Haute-Normandie, and was organised by the AURBSE – IAU-IdF two-agency-team. It met on 6th July at the CREA premises and on 18th September 2012 at the INSA in Rouen.
- The workshop “Developing a highly attractive area: tourism, the tertiary industry, the quality of life”, was presided over by the Deputy Mayor of Le Havre, Jean-Baptiste Gastinne and Colin Sueur, Vice-President of the Community of Caen la mer conurbation, and organised by the AURH – AUCAME two-agency-team. It met on 28th June at the Villa du Cercle in Deauville and 25th September at the Versaille Chanber of Commerce and Industry.
The conference in Paris will reconstitute this collective work and present the directions to be pursued for the project's continuation: development strategies and cooperation. It will be held on 22nd November 2012 at Hôtel de Ville, the Paris City Hall.
The previous works carried out by the six urbanism agencies of the territory have already appeared in a publication which was intended to throw light on the risks and challenges of the Seine Valley projects for policy makers and also to instigate forward looking reflection to nourish the contents of the major project.
