Workshop & Events

The call for abstracts is now open for the upcoming NICOLE Fall Workshop, which will take place on the 21st and 22nd of November 2024, in Bilbao, Spain, hosted by IDOM.

The theme of the Fall Workshop is:

Successful Legacy Site Revitalization
Governance, Risk Mitigation, and Circular Solutions
 

Revitalization of legacy sites is key in moving towards the 2030 EU soil strategy objectives. Significant portions of our cities have drastically changed in the last decades. Former industrial sites have been converted into business parks or startup incubation zones, as well as urban redevelopment for city expansion fostering innovation and economic growth. Bilbao, our host city, is a vibrant testimony to the successful revitalization of legacy areas, and its Guggenheim museum and metropolitan area shine as a world example of regeneration of degraded industrial sites.

But the work is not complete and many legacy sites in Europe are still looking for a future: they may be former mining or industrial sites; they are located in a large variety of settings, from urban to rural; and they have a very diverse market potential and community value. Revitalizing sites requires a complex strategy, which encompasses the business model, governance of the process, mitigation of business risks, and nowadays requires the use of circular solutions during remediation, redevelopment and the planned future use.

The workshop will focus on five key topics:

1. Business models in revitalizing legacy sites
2. Stakeholder engagement and governance in legacy site transformation
3. Project risk management in the revitalization of legacy sites
4. Innovating with nature-based solutions for site remediation
5. Increasing circularity: from legacy site to land stewardship

Please find a detailed description of the key topics in the call for abstracts below:

We invite you to submit your abstracts by August 30, 2024. Abstracts should be a maximum two pages or your alternative/pitch sent by e-mail to Chayenne van Dijk. Afterward the organizing committee will evaluate the abstracts. The authors of the abstracts will be notified if they have been selected by Friday the 19th of September.