LandLuft
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Project Description
LandLuft is a non-profit association based in Austria that has promoted building culture as Baukultur in rural areas in German-speaking Europe since 1999. To communicate the complexity of Baukultur breathtakingly simple, we rely on the role model effect of exemplary municipalities that we find within our prize "LandLuft Baukulturgemeinde-Preis”. To widely share the exemplary communities’ experiences and approaches we highlight them in an exhibition, study trips, workshops and lectures.
Project Region
EU Programme or fund
Description of the project
Summary
LandLuft is a non-profit association based in Austria that has promoted building culture as Baukultur in rural areas in the German-speaking region of Europe since 1999. We understand building culture as a catalyst and dynamo for positive and future-compliant community development. Our main project is the "LandLuft Baukulturgemeinde-Preis", a prize that is awarded every three to five years at the local government level to recognise exemplary communities in Austria for exceptional Baukultur at the municipality level. Under the concept of Baukultur, we do not only include high-quality building projects, but also (and more importantly) public participation and communication, strategic development and process design at a community level and, last but not least, the people who stand behind the projects. To widely share the exemplary communities’ experiences and approaches they are highlighted in an exhibition, study trips, workshops and lectures. We also carry out research activities. Our work focuses on small and medium-sized towns as well as villages and communities in rural areas.
LandLuft is organised as an association and therefore is extremely flexible and agile in its activities. Great attention has always been paid to having an interdisciplinary team as well as a lean structure. The association has an executive board (currently ten members), an expert advisory board, which inputs its expertise on specific issues (currently 30 members), an organisational team, including the management, and a large, steadily growing circle of friends who represent the comprehensive network of LandLuft at home and abroad.
Key objectives for sustainability
LandLuft has built its activities on its “13 Baukultur theses” for many years, they are the key objectives within all of our work. They have been met in all aspects within our prize, our award-winning Baukultur municipalities, our communication (publications, exhibition, etc.) and research activities and are passed on to as many people as possible in every move we make.
Baukultur pays off: Baukultur pays off in diverse ways. Based on a smart analysis of future utilization patterns and well-conceived spatial organization, construction costs can be reduced through savings effects. Thorough planning and high technical building standards ensure that future operating costs will be lower than for conventional buildings. Moreover, Baukultur results in an added value that is difficult to quantify in financial terms as it gives rise to additional utilization possibilities or indirect benefits related to PR and marketing effects as well as a higher quality of stays in buildings and public spaces.
Baukultur results in climate fitness: Baukultur incidentally takes account of many aspects of climate protection. For example, minimised sealing of the soil, greened buildings and well-conceived public spaces create a liveable microclimate in villages and cities. Without additional financial burdens, the right selection of locations, the innovative revitalisation of centres and new mobility concepts translate into measures preparing villages and cities for the challenges of the changing climate.
Baukultur fosters regional value creation: Baukultur taps the know-how and the craft potential of the region more than would be the case for standard solutions. Baukultur also makes stronger reference to regional craft traditions and building techniques.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
Continuation of LandLuft's “13 Baukultur theses” (see above):
Baukultur creates value: Baukultur creates value – at the material and immaterial level alike. In material terms, Baukultur leads to a higher quality of buildings, spaces and places, which results in a longer useful life, less modification activities and reduced maintenance efforts. In immaterial terms, Baukultur makes an impact as citizens use spaces, buildings and places more frequently and in a more motivated way, benefit from emerging utilization possibilities and better identify with their built environment and, accordingly, integrate it more intensively into their everyday lives.
Baukultur raises the quality of living: The high quality that Baukultur brings about in the design of your own living environment has a positive impact on the citizens' subjective perception of the quality of living. Participation in decision-making and design processes reinforces this feeling.
Baukultur brings joy: Successfully implemented, Baukultur brings joy to the people involved in the development process as well as to the users. Positive external and internal feedback, awards, prizes and media reports normally result in a feeling of pride that also contributes to a stronger identification with and approval of the place where you live.
Baukultur is tailor-made: Baukultur creates solutions that respond to user needs individually and have strong roots in the regional environment and local traditions. Baukultur re-interprets existing structures and addresses the (global) present.
Curiosity produces/enables Baukultur: Baukultur requires curiosity, Baukultur results in curiosity.
Key objectives for inclusion
Continuation of LandLuft's “13 Baukultur theses” (see above):
Baukultur is created by people like you and me: Baukultur is not a high-flown ideal pursued by experts but develops where people actively shape the space where they live – ideally, project teams are set up that are made up of stakeholders, experts and policy-makers who, taken together, have a high level of problem-solving expertise for the issues arising in the design of their own environment.
Baukultur makes friends: Baukultur is created in decision-making processes among the parties involved, which requires a high quality of discussions. Discussions, the formation of a common will and the reconciliation of interests triggered by Baukultur projects create a good atmosphere in a village based on a higher intensity of dialogue among citizens.
Baukultur opens up perspectives for the future: Baukultur projects make room for the future by allowing for more utilization and development possibilities and by stimulating innovation. The improved networking of citizens and an open discussion culture increase the likelihood of new, innovative paths toward the future.
Baukultur makes sense: Baukultur projects as well as implemented Baukultur structures give meaning and identity because they form part of the community owing to the process in which they are developed or they become part of the village identity thanks to their individual consideration of user needs and the resulting intensified utilisation.
Baukultur does not fall into your lap: Baukultur is the outcome of public participation and the involvement of experts in political decision-making processes and results in a certain "effort" due to its process-like approach. The opposite of this is a non-transparent decision, a project planned behind closed doors.
Results in relation to category
The overarching objective of LandLuft is to address and strengthen rural areas. Meanwhile, LandLuft has become a well-established and important partner serving as a role model for Baukultur dissemniation activities in rural areas of Austria and beyond.
The prize “LandLuft Baukulturgemeinde-Preis” is awarded every three to five years at local government level and recognises exemplary communities in Austria for exceptional Baukultur at the municipality level. Under the concept of Baukultur we do not only include high-quality building projects, but also (and more importantly) public participation and communication, strategic development and process design at a community level and, last but not least, the people who stand behind the projects. To widely share the exemplary communities’ experiences and approaches they are highlighted in an exhibition, study trips, workshops and lectures. We also carry out research activities. Our work focuses on small and medium-sized towns as well as villages and communities in rural areas.
The prize covers all aspects of innovative Baukultur in Austrian municipalities. The focus of the prize is on the processes conducive to the development of outstanding Baukultur and, hence, living spaces and on the people who are the driving forces behind it. It is an analysis of the conditions under which Baukultur can develop and, at the same time, an attempt to showcase successful implementation strategies.
Since 2009, 128 municipalities have submitted candidacies for the "LandLuft Baukulturgemeinde-Preis", and 32 of them have been recognised as Baukultur municipalities. In a traveling exhibition presenting the award-winning municipalities and the people behind this success has already been shown in more than 100 places in Austria and beyond. We sold more than 15.000 accompanying books. In two major nation-wide research projects implemented in Germany, the existing network of exemplary municipalities has been expanded.
How Citizens benefit
The prize initially served for researching the "best of" municipalities and laid the foundation for the actual work of Landluft: the ongoing dissemination of award-winning success stories and information on the persons involved to other stakeholders in policy-making, administration, planning and the general public. By means of a comprehensive manual, a traveling exhibition, study visits to the model municipalities and thematic events, the protagonists from the municipalities pass on their know-how in a clear and vivid way, which inspires others to follow their example. Regularly, mayors or other players from the award-winning municipalities are invited to give presentations in municipalities interested in Austria and abroad.
For other ways citizens benefit from our activities and our promotion of Baukultur in general, please see our "13 Baukultur theses” in the three fields above.
Innovative character
Innovation within the structure of the association LandLuft:
The association LandLuft can be classified as grassroot initiative and is independent in political and financial terms, which is particularly important for its work. LandLuft is made up of an interdisciplinary group of people who develop all the activities themselves – from the idea to implementation and on to follow-up. The disciplines of architecture, spatial planning, landscape architecture, municipal policy, administration, cultural management, communication, participation, etc., are covered within the association. In recent years, the association has increasingly addressed young people and the average age of the executive board members has markedly decreased as well. Women are well represented, in particular in leadership given that the president and two co-managing directors are female.
LandLuft is a well-established and important partner serving as a role model in the dissemination of Baukultur in rural areas in Austria and beyond. Its development has been extremely successful over more than 20 years. The association is professionally prepared for the future. There are projects, ideas and visions aplenty.
Innovation within LandLuft's activites and projects:
The concept of the prize “LandLuft Baukulturgemeinde-Preis” is unique within - at least - german speaking Europe: no other prize focuses on the overall Baukultur development on municipality level and additionally presents the exemplary communities’ experiences and approaches in such an extensive way with the overarching objective to address and strengthen rural areas. We constantly develop new ideas, projekts and tools that add to this objective.
