Dr.-Ing. Joachim THOMAS
ABSTRACT
Since the conference of the United Nations for Enviroment and Development (UNCED) we notice again that sustainable development in the world can only be reached under consideration of interrelations of economical, ecological and social aims. Positiv developments in rural regions of Germany can be effectivly influenced by instruments of land regulation and village renewal, especially. Thereby participation of people in rural regions is of crucial importance. A statement like that has organizational conclusions for the realization of these concepts.
RESUMÉ
Par la conférence de les Nations Unie pour Environnement et Développement (UNCED) est de nouveau porter au grand jour que un développement persistant en le monde est accessible seulement en considération de la relation réciproque des objects économiques, écologiques et sociales. Un développement avec des perspectives d'avenir en les régions rurales allemandes peut influer efficacement spécialement avec les instruments de la régulation foncière et du renovation des villages. A cette occasion la participation des hommes en la région rurale, joue un rôle central. Une pièce ajoutée telle élargie a aussi déductions organisatrice pour la réalisation des brouillons.
ZUSAMMENFASSUNG
Durch die Konferenz der Vereinten Nationen für Umwelt und Entwicklung (UNCED) ist wieder in den Blick gerückt, daß eine nachhaltige Entwicklung in der Welt nur unter Berücksichtigung der Wechselbeziehung von ökonomischen, ökologischen und sozialen Zielen erreichbar ist. Eine zukunftsfähige Entwicklung in den ländlichen Regionen Deutschlands kann insbesondere mit den Instrumenten der Bodenordnung und Dorferneuerung wirksam beeinflußt werden. Dabei spielt die Partizipation der Menschen im ländlichen Raum eine zentrale Rolle. Ein derartig verbreiterter Ansatz hat auch organisatorische Folgerungen für die Umsetzung der Konzepte.
1. INTRODUCTION
The current situation in land use of industrial regions and of land use policy in Western Europe is the result of an historical process beginning last century. The development was starting with local conservation of nature and passed over national conservation of species to worldwide environmental protection. At the first time, global approaches were published 1972 from Club of Rome in the studies "limits of growth". Since the conference of the United Nations for environment and development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 now we search new regional concepts for a sustainable development.
Thereby "sustainability" means an ethic concept as a matter of priority (WERNER 1995); sustainability is the result of weighting against each other of different socially wanted aims of environmental qualities. At first sustainable development demands the orientation of all economic managing on workable limits of nature. After Rio ecological and social dimensions are taken into account equally: protection of natural conditions of life (ecological aims), economic efficiency (economic aims) and social responsibility (socio-cultural aims) belong together (UMWELTBUNDESAMT 1997).
Ecological aims contents
Economic aims pursue
Social and cultural aims keep an eye on
Such a policy is decentral and in respect to the regions. It opens the possibility of extensive participation of all relevant people in the decision process. It requires also sense and understanding, responsibility and willingness to acceptability. In rural regions that policy demands an integration of agricultural policy, environmental policy and policy for rural development with possibilities of forming by the regions. In Germany important contributions are made to them by instruments of land regulation and village renewal.
2. INSTRUMENTS FOR NON-POLLUTING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
While the instruments of land regulation are more than 100 years old, instruments of village renewal are from the eighties of this century. Both instruments are orientated towards participation of participants (see chapter 3).
2.1 Instruments of Land Regulation
Land regulation refers to the package of concrete measures serving to align land ownership, land procession and land utilization status (subjective legal status) with the private and public claims relating to land utilization as set out in the land utilization plans (objective planning targets) and to eliminate any disruptive elements in plan-related utilization (SEELE 1992). We have to distinguish between voluntary land regulation and sovereign land regulation (THOMAS 1995).
The sovereign land regulation occurs on the basis of the Land Consolidation Act (FLURBG 1976).
Under the provisions of this Act (§ 1) agricultural land holdings may be rearranged with a view to improving the production and working conditions in agriculture and forestry as well as promoting the general use and development of land (land consilodation - Flurbereinigung). Thereby improving the production and working conditions in agriculture and forestry are to be orientated to economic viability and ability to competition.
General use of land encloses all measures to improvement of agricultural structures and to landscape conservation with consideration of ecological functions of the rural regions.
Land development means planning, preparing and realization of all measures, which are able to preserve and improve the economic functions, residential functions and recreation functions of rural regions (WEISS 1991).
The land consolidation area shall be reshaped with due regard for the respective structure of the landscape to serve the interests of the parties concerned as weighed against each other, to further the general use and development of the land and to benefit the general public. The area in question shall be rearranged and scattered or uneconomically shaped parcels shall be consolidated to meet modern managerial requirements and reshaped to obtain units of a more favourable location, shape and size; ways, roads, water bodies and other common facilities shall be provided, soil-conserving, soil improving and land-scaping measures shall be taken as well as any other measures improving the basic conditions of the farming enterprises, reducing the amount of work and facilitating farm management. Village renewal measures may be taken; building plans and similar plans shall not prevent the built-up area of a village from being included in a Land Consolidation Plan. The legal situation shall be cleared (§ 37 (1) FlurbG).
In carrying out the measures stipulated in Subsection (1), the consolidation authority shall safeguard public interests and especially take into account the requirements of physical planning on a federal LAND level, and of a controlled urban development, of protection of the environment, of the conservation of nature and for landscape conservation, of the preservation of buildings of special architectural or historic interest, recreational requirements, the requirement of water resources management including water supply and sewage disposal, of fishery and hunting, of energy supply, of public transport, of rural settlements, part-time farming settlements and allotment gardens, and of the shaping of the external appearance of the village and landscape, of possible mining operations and the conservation and safeguarding of mineral resources (§ 37 (2) FlurbG).
A Simplified Land Consolidation Procedure may be opened in order
All aims pursued by land consolidation content economic, ecological and social aspects. The legal procedural regulations guarantee a properly balance of the partly conflicting aims; thereby great significance must be attached to the landscape development, long since (THOMAS 1994).
If special planning, for instance in traffic management, water resources management, energy supply, nature protection and so on, acquires land by compulsory purchase, it may be initiated a land consolidation procedure. If, for special reasons, it is permissible to acquire land by compulsory purchase and if such a measure would affect agricultural land on a large scale, the authority responsible for the compulsory acquisition may apply for the initiation of a land consolidation procedure, if the loss of land to be incurred by the parties concerned is to be apportioned among a large number of owners or if disadvantages that the project may bring about for the general use of land are to be avoided (§ 87 (1) FlurbG). That land consolidation procedure shall avoid a full expropriation, eliminate disadvantages for the general use of land, minimise the consumption of land and optimize ecological compensation measures, occurring by interventions of the project in nature and landscape (THOMAS 1992b, 1995).
Hunting the idea of sustainability agricultural areas are recultivated in Germany, and real estate is restituted: in Northrhine-Westfalia and in Eastern Germany there are brown-coal-minings; after exploitation of coal that area is to be developed to a new cultural landscape. Owners and proprietors get back their parcels by land consolidation (ELLSIEPEN 1997, THOMAS 1998b). These measures have economic, ecological and above all social reasons.
Sovereign land regulation is characterized by a superior / inferior status of government and citizens, in spite of an extensive participation of all participants in planning and realization of land development measures.
In voluntary land regulation, the project agency and land owner are equal-ranking contracting partners. In free agreement public optioned land use and indemnity, being to be paid by government, are arranged:
For conservation of special forms of cultural landscape and for optimizing of the ecological value of protection areas, different programs are carried out; extensivation program, program for natural rebuilding of water courses and moor, changing of fields to greenland, planting of hedges and trees in the fields and forestry programs. These programs - partly from the countries partly from the communities set up - offer to produce ecological services to farmers in detail. The remuneration of the farmers depends on the kind of services and size of areas. Money is coming from countries, communities and partly from the European Union.
Land managing contracts are partly combined with other instruments, especially with purchase, lease or voluntary land exchange (§ 103a FlurbG). So, voluntary land regulation serves not only conservation of nature and landscape; but also it gives financial incentives to farmers to maintain agricultural production in disadvantaged areas, too. With them farms and jobs are preserved in rural regions. The payment of ecological output by taxes is a justified royalty by society (SACHVERSTÄNDIGENRAT 1996).
2.2 Village Renewal / Village Development
Measures of village renewal and village development have a look for circumstances of people; village renewal is unrenouncable for conservation of economical, ecological, social and cultural basis in rural regions (LÄPPLE/LENK 1995). Today villages are not only place of residence and work; attractive villages are important for farmers, other people not involved with agriculture, other enterprises and as reconciliation for urban areas and tourism.
Village renewal has to moderate or remove negative results of change of structures and to escort these changes. Thereby it is to take into account the peculiarity of the villages as a part of rural culture without neglecting future development.
Financial promoting of special measures is based on MELF 1987. That kind of promoting should effect that the peculiarity of rural settlements can be survived and formed with response to the current and future requirements. Preservation, repair and designing of agricultural and former agricultural buildings can be promoted, if the buildings have an typical character. Greenary in public areas of the village and greenary at boaders of village and for connection of village and surrounding areas can be also promoted. After all, repair, improved guidance of traffic through the village and building of places, footpaths and other paths can be supported by public money.
The promotion requires that the measures are realised on the basis of a plan (agriculture development plan, village development concept or plan, village improvement plan, common building plan).
Since 1997 the change in use of agricultural buildings and their promotion will have influence in village development. Out of change in use additional possibilities for income arise to farmers, new work-places for other enterprises are possible (LÖBF/LAfAO 1997).
With the concept "Regional Marketing" (MURL 1996) a rural development policy intents to give incentives for non-polluting production of fruits. It includes the consumers and their demands on more transparence about production and origin food. The concept is based in direct-marketing and direct-selling of regional conventionally or ecologically produced food by farmers at the farm or in farmerstores in the village (KALKKUHL/HUBERNAGEL 1997). Necessary investments in and at buildings and improvement of infrastructure in connection with these marketing and selling measures are supported by MELF 1987 and by instruments of land regulation and land consolidation (see chapter 2.1).
So called village development procedures are carried out, when it is necessary to solve functional and structural problems comprehensively. By integrated planning and realization a new development is to be introduced (DEISENHOFER 1996). Village development procedures are carried out on the rules of the Land Consolidation Act (FLURBG 1976); the aims are:
3. PARTICIPATION AND EDUCATION OF AWARENESS
The conference of the United Nations for environment and development in Rio de Janeiro has not only emphasized the interrelation of economic, ecological and social development and demonstrated all policies in this matter in "AGENDA 21", but in chapter 28 "Initiatives of communities supporting AGENDA 21" are formulated, the "LOCAL AGENDA 21". "LOCAL AGENDA" means a change of perspectives on local level and put on willingness for cooperation and social consense. Sustainable development will be possible only with people and not against people. So, also social groupings concerned are to be participated on analysing, planning and executing / realizing, early and comprehensively. In land consolidation and village renewal this kind of participation is laid down by legal instructions:
In sovereign land regulation on the basis of FLURBG 1976 the procedure is to be carried out "in cooperation with all land owners concerned ..." (§ 2 FlurbG). The land owners shall be the Body of Participants; it shall be a body corporate (§ 16 FlurbG). The Body of Participants shall attend to the common facilities; it is legal developer.
The Body of Participants is represented by a board; after conferring with the board the plan covering the common and public facilities will be drawn up. It is the plan for a future and sustainable development in a special region with economical, ecological and social aims of environmental qualities.
The complexity and directness of this task shall be clear in village renewal. In a "Workshop on Future" or at a "Round Table" or in the board of Body of Participants future respectives for the village are worked out. The longdated economical, ecological, social and cultural development aspires to
A voluntary land regulation, village renewal measures and change in use the aims of environmental qualities are to be "negotiated". Immediate contacts and dialogs between agency and citizen hasn't only influence on acceptance of measures, but above all influence on environmental awareness. That effects responsibility of citizen to environment (THOMAS 1992b).
Environmental education in rural regions is also the aim of so called "Village-Action-Days", executed country-wide since 1996. These events, including the whole village, should take influence to the behaviour of people.
4. ORGANIZATIONAL CONCLUSIONS
Non-polluting land use and sustainable development in rural regions demand for effective measures
With the Landesanstalt für Ökologie, Bodenordnung und Forsten / Landesamt für Agrarordnung (LÖBF/LAfAO) and 8 subordinated Ämter für Agrarordnung (ÄfAO) in Northrhine-Westfalia an institution was built, which fulfils these requests: that institution has 3 scientific departments worked on ecology, forestry, hunting and fishery and their basic datas.
The department 2 (Agrarordnung) is upper Land Consolidation Authority and has the instruments of sovereign and voluntary land regulation and for village renewal at one's disposal. The Academy for Nature and Environmental Protection NRW (NUA) under the roof of the same institution does education on environment; because education on environment is preventing environmental protection!
So, sustainable development in rural regions in Northrhine-Westfalia is based on 3 columns (THOMAS 1998a):
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Table. 1: Three columns of a sustainable development
The conclusion and bundling of administrative resources allow effective actions:
not only scientific and administrative know-how and instruments are bundled in the LÖBF/LAfAO; but also financial resources are coordinated and bundled.
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Table 2: Conclusion of instruments and financial resources
In the department Agrarordnung finances of European Union, Federal Republic of Germany, Northrhine-Westfalia, communities and of participants are coordinated and combined with response to the projects. The Landesamt für Agrarordnung is "EG-Zahlstelle".
In many countries of Europe and also within Germany integrated concepts for a sustainable development in rural regions are formulated only programmatically; the regularly realization of these aims occurs in different authorities / institutions and resorts. In Northrhine-Westfalia also the realization occurs in an integrated organization model. Advantages should be apparent by the results.
5. BIBLIOGRAPHY
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