CANAL LINK - New Opportunities for Inland Waterways Across the North Sea
Overview
Background & policy context:
Rivers, lakes and canals have played a major role in transport throughout the North Sea region for many thousands of years. During the industrial revolution, canals were constructed for freight traffic, while today recreational and tourism usage of canals and the surrounding land are increasingly popular. The aim of Canal Link is to investigate how the region's network of navigable waterways can be developed further on the basis of the cultural and environmental heritage of the waterways, while ensuring that recreation and tourism are not in conflict with other canal users.
Objectives:
The project sought to investigate how the waterway network in the North Sea region can be developed and promoted further. Activities include promoting tourism linkages, developing the inland waterway network and developing the relationship between the waterways and their surroundings (local communities and businesses, natural and cultural heritage). The project aimed to lead to improvements in the viability and use of the waterways and in tourism and economic development along the waterways.
Although the project focused on recreation and tourism, these aspects complement the transport function of inland waterways, in the context of the multi-functional use of water. Canal Link had the objective of establishing a recognised network of tourism and recreational waterways in the North Sea Region to compliment the ECMT network of freight transport waterways.
Other outcomes include the development of tourism links between waterways, the improvement of canal accessibility for tourists through the development of promotional packages and material and better links between waterways and the local business community. Finally, the project involved an investigation of the feasibility of establishing a permanent tourism promotion structure for inland waterways.
Methodology:
Canal Link was divided into three specific actions:
- North Sea Links - to undertake a number of analyses (e.g. market potential, constraints and the needs of boat owners) for promoting tourism links across the North Sea and to create a website and investigate the establishment of a permanent structure for the development of the Canal Link network after the end of Interreg funding.
- Strategic Development of the Waterway Network - to implement projects including: the classification of tourism waterways; identification of missing links and bottlenecks in the region's inland waterway network; an investigation into the impacts of waste water from boats; and extensions and improvements to the waterway network in Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK.
- Entrepreneurship, Business and Community Development - to carry out a number of projects to: estimate the economic and social impacts of waterways and waterway projects; establish networks of local businesses to stimulate activity through the exchange of ideas, both locally and overseas; and develop centre-based multi-activity tourism 'packages' and self-drive boating holidays. The project aimed to pilot information systems on waterway banks to inform boaters of the services and facilities established.
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