Registration closes on 20 June for Connecting Urban and Rural, the dissemination conference of the Sustainable Urban Fringes (SURF) Project.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

The Conference, set to take place on the 28 June 2012 in Aberdeen will bring together practitioners, politicians, researchers and interested stakeholders to share experiences and find out more about the current situation and potential for the urban fringe.

The morning programme will include presentations from key experts examining the urban fringe from EU, national and local perspectives. Confirmed speakers include:

• Sabrina Lucatelli - Policy Development Direcorate, European Commission, DG REGIO.
• Reinhard Henke - Senior Policy Advisor and a Technical Representative of his region in both the METREX and PURPLE networks.
• Rachel Smith - Analyst, Centre for Cities (UK)
• Gordon McIntosh – Director of Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure, Aberdeen City Council
• Dr Alister Scott - RELU Programme & Professor of Spatial Planning and Governance, Birmingham City University.
• Jon Jordan - UK JTS Contact

The event will include an expert panel session which aims to:

• Reveal urban fringe policy recommendations.
• Examine successful approaches to urban fringe management.
• Share thoughts on governance approaches.
• Highlight a new urban fringe toolkit.

An optional study tour is planned for the afternoon, where there will be the opportunity to find out more about recent urban fringe developments along Aberdeen’s River Don Corridor.

To find out more about the event visit the project website, www.sustainablefringes.eu