The “Arnsberg Baukultur Model”

The objective of the “Arnsberg Baukultur Model” is to engage with the subject of Baukultur and to increase the awareness of various stakeholders in the private and public spheres of their responsibilities relating to Baukultur (citizens, investors and building owners, politicians, opinion-makers, the media and administration). At the same time it is intended to continue to develop and promote Arnsberg as a place to live and work, and to contribute to the promotion of Southern Westphalia as a region.

As one of eight municipalities, between 2012 and 2014 Arnsberg was able to participate in the nationwide ExWoSt (experimental housing and urban design) research area called “Baukultur in Practice”, and to try out a number of modules intended to lead to the implementation of the stated objectives. These include advice appropriate to the respective target groups (e.g. “Design and Building Advice” and “Advisory Council for Urban Design”), the development and involvement of a forward-looking cooperative approach (e.g. “Werdener Hof Construction Group” and “Workshop Procedures”) and projects (e.g. renaturation of the River Ruhr, citizen’s gardens, cloister bridge, plan for the maintenance of historic monuments, and an open Wi-Fi network), and the presentation of and information about the projects and aims of the “Arnsberg Baukultur Model” using suitable media (e.g. publication of books, www.baukultur-arnsberg.de, sight-running).

The successes and results already achieved during the duration of the research project have shown that Baukultur has to be understood as a non-tangible asset of the town and as an ongoing task needing the involvement of many stakeholders. Furthermore, as partner of the “Alliance for Regional Baukultur in Westphalia”, Arnsberg is able to pass on its experience and thereby contribute to strengthening the town and region.

This project was presented as part of the 2015 Baukultur Workshops in Frankfurt.