Vechtdal Countryside Exchange
Sponsored by the Province of Overijssel
October 27^t- November 4, 2007

Vechtdal is the name of the Vecht River Valley located the Netherlands in the province of Overijssel.  Known for its diversity and beautiful landscapes, it is primarily an agricultural area that consists mainly of dairy farms. Some farmers in the region are transitioning to organic milk production while others are transitioning to raising cattle for beef production.  A few farms are raising sheep, hogs and chickens for meat production.  Farmers are also expanding their on farm activities to include camp sites for tourists; opportunities for youth and people with mental disabilities to work on a farm; facilities for holding workshops; and small restaurants.   

Small scale recreational activities are also being developed along the Vecht River. These activities attract tourists, especially retired people who like to cycle and walk in the area.  Families with children also come to the area for camping. As a recreation area the Vechtdal has to compete with the nearby national park Hoge Veluwe. The regional tourist commission and the chamber of commerce are working to find ways to stimulate entrepreneurship along the river, revitalise local businesses, and generate cooperation among the local business leaders.  

The provincial government, which is sponsoring the Countryside Exchange, is now requiring communities in larger areas such as the Vechtdal to use a more participative community approach when developing their regional plans. The provincial government has also instituted new regulations relating to the integration of actions relating to the environment, agriculture, recreation and water management.   

Three municipalities in the Vechtdal area - Dalfsen, Ommen and Hardenberg - are the focus of the Exchange.  These communities are concerned with how to develop a regional plan that addresses the growing demands of agriculture (such as intensifying or diversifying current farm activities), while complying with government regulations relating to protection of the environment. 

2004 Countryside Exchange in North America:

The West Point Foundry Countryside Exchange.  In partnership with Scenic Hudson, we experimented with a new Exchange format.  The West Point Foundry Countryside Exchange focused on the future of one critical resource and engaged a smaller team for fewer days.  The team members, who were from England, Wales and the United States, concluded that the Foundry is worthy of recognition as World Heritage site and made recommendations for its development and management.  (For the Team's report, please visit the Resource Center.)

Ned Sullivan, President of Scenic Hudson, which owns the Foundry site, concluded that:  "The Countryside Exchange brought together the leading industrial archeologists in the world to help Scenic Hudson develop its vision for West Point Foundry.  Through it we gained the benefit of decades of experience in the development of heritage sites from around the world to help us advance this crucial project to its next stage of development."

Exchange Reports

Reports from the Countryside Exchange are located in the Resource Center, along with the anniversary report from the first ten years of the program.

Exchange Stories

Exchange weeks always come to an end—but the transformation of Exchange communities rarely does. Indeed, most communities experience the aftereffects for years to come, as they practice, day by day, the successful integration of conservation and economic development.

Along the way, many share their successes—and their setbacks—with us. Click on the links below to read news from the field.  If you have updates and news to share, please send it to info@glynwood.org.  We will pass it along.

Beacon, New York
Catskills, New York
Charlevoix, Quebec
Colonie, New York
Town of Highlands, New York (1999)
Port Gibson, Mississippi
Potomac International Urban Watershed Management Exchange
Prince Edward Island
South Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Southern Ulster Alliance, New York
Tamaqua, Pennsylvania

 

Beacon, New York (1999)

The Countryside Exchange that took place in Beacon in April of this year has already begun to pay dividends in the form of community involvement. After the team departed, a grass roots organization called the Beacon Community Exchange was formed. Its mission closely mirrors the key recommendations of the Team's report: promote pride of place, revitalize Main Street; ensure that development respects the Hudson River and Fishkill Creek; ensure that the Dia Museum and other projects benefit the community as a whole and don't take place in isolation; celebrate the city's diversity; encourage adaptive reuse of older industrial buildings and ensure that all projects are coordinated in a manner that benefits Beacon as a community. Four volunteer committees have been formed under the acronym "RAIL":

• Redevelopment & economic development,
• Attractive, clean & safe,
• Involving the community and,
• Linkages.

Catskills, New York (2003)

Following the Exchange, community members began to meet under the name "Farm Catskills!" to implement the team's recommendations and find ways to protect and promote agriculture in the region.  During 2004, Farm Catskills! created a regional "Pure Catskills" brand to promote local products; developed of the first "Down on the Farm" day in Delaware County; and published the 2004 Buy Local Guide for Delaware County.

Charlevoix, Quebec (1998)

A number of projects are underway in Charlevoix as a result of the 1998 Countryside Exchange. The Centre d'etudes collegiales, the local school board, is launching a heritage education program. The initiative will focus on the importance of preserving the region's natural landscape and cultural heritage and is the first such program in the Province of Quebec to be developed for the primary grades. A long term project to document, inventory and describe the important heritage buildings in the region will get underway in November. The purpose of this effort is to develop a display that will tour museums in the region. It is also intended to focus attention and instill pride in "unimproved" buildings and to encourage historically sensitive restoration practices. It is expected that national and provincial agencies will finance the project, along with Quebec foundations. An 800 acre tract of forest surrounding part of Baie Chafaux aux Basques is being protected as parkland and will be accessible for public use. A street festival was held in Baie-St-Paul. It was organized to bring residents and visitors together and to promote the creative talents of local artists.

Colonie, New York (2003)

The Mohawk River Community Partners (MRCP), which grew out of the Exchange organizing committee, is working with the Town Board to initiate a building moratorium on development along the Mohawk River and seeking funding to implement several of the team's recommendation including the redevelopment of an old waterworks building as a museum and interpretative center.

Town of Highlands, New York (1999)

Vision 2002 is a community-based organization that evolved from the Local Organizing Committee in the Town of Highlands after the Exchange team's visit in the fall of 1999. It has a 12-member steering committee and three subcommittees, two of which are particularly active - tourism and mainstreet revitalization - with anywhere from 15 to 30 people attending meetings. But like many community development efforts, there just never seems to be enough hands to make light work. So, the steering committee brainstormed ways to increase membership. They decided to initiate a membership drive. Existing and new members would be asked to contribute a token 98 cents for yearly dues and issued a membership card. Bobbi Polak, a local store owner and chair of the mainstreet revitalization committee, came up with a niftily slogan for the membership drive - "Give us one dollar and we'll give you CHANGE!"

Port Gibson, Mississippi (1996)

Three years ago the Countryside Exchange team recommended that a key historic building in this small Mississippi city be restored and interpreted to the public. Recently the Shaifer House, which was used by both Union and Confederate armies during the battle of Port Gibson, received a grant of $812,000.00 to do just that. In addition, the Exchange drew attention to the largely unrecognized role that the city's First Baptist Church had played during the civil rights movement of the 1960's. A historic marker was recently erected which highlights the importance of that site to the city's and the nation's history. The entire north end of the city has also been nominated for inclusion on the National Register of historic places. It is no secret that race and race relations are an integral part of the cultural fabric of Port Gibson. At times that fabric has been strained, to say the least. Local organizers of the Countryside Exchange point to a recent event that indicates how the Exchange process helped ease some of those tensions. In its recommendations, the team emphasized the need to hire a qualified planner for the county. Since then, the County legislature, whose membership is all African American, hired a white planner. This action was a significant event and a very positive indication of how the Exchange helped foster better communications within the community. As one local organizer put it, "The Exchange started some terrific conversations that have developed into the longest, sustained dialogue this community has ever known".

Potomac International Urban Watershed Management Exchange (2002)

In 2001, Glynwood Center joined in a partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of International Activities and the National Park Service (NPS), National Capital Region to conduct an urban watershed management program for professionals in the Potomac River Region.  The Potomac International Urban Watershed Management Exchange was designed to engage watershed professionals from the Potomac Region and Germany in a contextual learning process both home and abroad.  In June 2002, eight professionals from the Potomac region traveled to Germany to visit leaders and projects related to watershed restoration and urban retrofit strategies, and large scale development projects.

The following are highlights of the results of the Exchange, as of early 2005:

• In January 2003 the U.S. team members described what they learned in Germany to more than 120 public and private leaders from Metropolitan Washington, DC at a forum at the German Embassy.  A technical report, prepared by the team and the Glynwood Center was provided to the audience as well as a regional mailing list.  The U.S. presentations were supplemented by presentations from 3 experts from Germany.
   
• In September 2003 at the request of the Regional Director of the NPS, National Capital Region, one of the U.S. Exchange team members, was requested to prepare a conceptual report describing the alternatives for the installation of a functional extensive green roof at the National Park Service - Center for Urban Ecology (CUE).
  
  In 2004, in response to the report, the Center, with the help of another Exchange team member created a 7,200 square-foot lightweight green roof has been installed for its ability to capture stormwater, improve insulation properties, conserve energy, prolong roof life, reduce ambient air temperatures, and provide habitat for birds, bees and butterflies.  This is the first green roof to be installed on any National Park Service facility, is the largest green roof in the District of Columbia, and is a showcase to advocate green roof technology nationally.
   
• In November 2004 leaders from the Exchange and members of the team held a public workshop on "The Story of Water" at Great Falls Park in Virginia.  The workshop was attended by 70 NPS and partner leaders and featured design experts Herbert Dreiseitl, Atelier Dreiseitl, Ueberlingen, Germany; and Katrin Scholz-Barth, Scholz-Barth Consulting, Washington DC.  The workshop included discussion of the interpretation, planning, conservation and management of water at the Great Falls Park visitor center.  Specific low impact development actions were identified by the speakers and participants to better manage water problems and interpret the Potomac River in the park. Ideas from the meeting were incorporated into NPS plans for the park, and are being used to shape a private fundraising strategy.
   
• Another member of the Exchange team used the experience and contacts to help communities in Northern Virginia secure a contract with Herbert Dreiseitl, a world renown sculpture, artist, and interdisciplinary planner from Germany-and a speaker from the 2003 German Embassy Forum, to help design a process to create a Master Plan for the lower section of Four Mile Run.  The community-based planning and design process begins in February 2005.
   
• Four members of the U.S. Exchange team have helped the District of Columbia to design and organize a national conference on "Green Rooftops for Sustainable Communities" in Washington, DC on May 4-6, 2005.  This is the third national conference to be held in the U.S. on green roofs and its attracting considerable interest from businesses,  governments and water quality management interests.
  
  Elizabeth Berry, of the Mayor's Office in the District of Columbia, reported:  "I was so pleased to have participated in the EPA/Glynwood exchange with Germany, and I'm very pleased to let you all know that DC will host the Third Annual Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference, Awards & Trade Show!  The green roofs we saw in Germany planted the seed that is at last beginning to take root.  In addition to hosting this conference, DC government has plans already in the pipeline for green roofs to be built on future DC government buildings."

Prince Edward Island (1991)

The notion of planting ideas as seeds in communities is at the core of the Countryside Exchange. In 1991, the Countryside Exchange team that visited St. Peter's Bay, along the north shore of Prince Edward Island, recommended that a beach and sand dune complex be protected as public parkland. These lands, which front on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, are noted internationally as a significant natural area and archaeological site. Glynwood Center received word in 1999 that this land, known as Greenwich Dunes, has been designated as a National Park and is scheduled to open in 2000. The community is inviting the entire Exchange Team and representatives of Glynwood Center to the event.

South Anne Arundel County, Maryland (1998)

Last year, the Exchange team identified the need for South County to develop its own community identity that embraced its heritage and vision for the future. The community certainly took that comment to heart.

The South County Exchange, a non profit organization, was formed to help strengthen the area's sense of community and several new projects are already underway. The Patuxent River Greenway, a coalition of citizens, businesses and government, has been convened to develop an effective planning and implementation process to develop and link trails in the region. The Exchange has applied for an EPA Sustainable Challenge Grant in the amount of $192,000 to finance the creation of the trail. Major partners, including the Departments of Planning and Code Enforcement, Parks and Recreation, Trust for Public Land and the Forestry Conservation District Board, have agreed to contribute proportionate matching shares. The EPA has committed funding for several initiatives including financing the creation of a representative steering committee to work on Greenway issues. Funds are also being sought to involve students in Greenway projects.

The South County Photography Project is a partnership between the Exchange and the local High School, which involves twenty students and community volunteers. The group is creating a photo collection to be published in a book depicting "South County for all Seasons".

One of the most direct results of the Countryside Exchange has been the increased understanding of community issues and improved communications among those who served on the LOC. The two Small Area Planning Committees in South County are now chaired by former LOC members and another five LOC members serve as committee members. As a result of the Countryside Exchange, the name of the region's Heritage Area has been changed to include South County and the actual area expanded to encompass the western portion of South County along the Patuxent River.

The South County Exchange has partnered with Anne Arundel County to identify and inventory sites of historic interest. Twenty seven thousand dollars has been designated in the Heritage Area budget specifically to deal with South County issues. The South County Exchange office is also doing its part to bring the community together. The Exchange office is now available to community groups at no charge. It also houses a tremendous amount of community information gathered for and since the Countryside Exchange. Finally, South Anne Arundel County was named winner of the Governor's "Smart Growth Award" as a direct result of its participation in the 1998 Countryside Exchange.

On the Lighter Side: The Empire Strikes Back - Southern Ulster, New York (1999)

There was a noticeable tension in the air at the public forum on agricultural issues held as part of the 1999 Countryside Exchange in Southern Ulster County, New York. Some of the farmers in attendance were less than happy with the discussion. After all, what need was there to talk about purchasing development rights as a means of protecting farmland when there was no development pressure on agricultural land in the area? The fact that some of the ideas were coming from Team members with strange accents made the concepts seem even more foreign, if not downright alien. One of the team members took great pains to describe the tour of orchards that they taken earlier that same day. "The Team was very impressed with the variety of apples that this region produces" he said. "Macintosh, Northern Spy, Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Empire...." He was suddenly interrupted by an older, gravelly voiced farmer. "Empire!" the incredulous farmer shouted. "Do you have even the remotest idea of what an Empire is?" he asked. Without a moment's hesitation, one of the British team members responded emphatically, "Yes, we used to have one!". The tension in the room disappeared.

The Southern Ulster Alliance, which was a Countryside Exchange community in 1999, has produced "Southern Ulster County - the Crossroads of the Hudson Valley".  This guide to attractions in the area contains valuable information in an easy to use format.  For more information, contact the Regional Visitor's Center at 845-255-0243.

Tamaqua, Pennsylvania

From October 9th to the 14th, 2004, five of the seven team members who participated in the 1995 Countryside Exchange to Tamaqua (Schuylkill County), PA came back to help the community celebrate their accomplishments and plan a course of action for the next ten years.  The Tamaqua Area 2004 Partnership has been hard at work implementing the report recommendations since the team left, work summarized in a document entitled "A Decade of Accomplishment and New Beginnings".

This is the first time an Exchange team has been invited to revisit a community and provide further feedback.  While it is not uncommon for one or two team members to stay in touch and visit their host community from time to time, this is the first time that a team has been brought back in a comprehensive programmatic initiative, which was in many ways very similar to their first visit, but shorter.  For the revisit, team members arrived on Sunday, October 10th, to experience Harvest Festival, an annual community festival which had been the result of one of the team's earlier recommendations.  The celebration now draws thousands of people into Tamaqua for a day of community events and fun.

On Monday and Tuesday, the team met with various interest groups and visited different sites around town, to see what had been done and what was left to do.  On Tuesday evening, they facilitated a community visioning session, not unlike the one that was part of their first visit.  Wednesday brought more meetings and a shopping trip to a nearby crafts fair.  On Thursday, after 4.5 days of intense meetings and discussions, the team presented their findings at a public meeting, which was attended by approximately 30 people.

The team was quick to point out that the community had achieved great success  in some areas, but recognized that they had not been invited back "to simply pat the community on the back".  They dubbed themselves the community's "critical friends" and set upon the task of helping the Tamaqua Area 2004 Partnership sharpen its focus for the future.

At the end of the team's presentation, State Representative David Argall reflected on the team's visit.  He thanked Glynwood Center for its support in 1995 and in the years since.  He commented that in 1995, the Countryside Exchange program helped them develop a vision and in supporting their efforts confirmed that "they weren't crazy".  It also helped them move ahead faster, by avoiding the mistakes that other communities have made.  Addressing the team, Rep. Argall stated, "What you did nine years ago was wonderful; your coming back was incredible.  Your interest and dedication to Tamaqua is outstanding and inspires us all."