Beyond MALPE Cordination (International Reference Group)

BEMINE (Beyond MALPE-coordination: Integrative Envisioning) aims to enhance the integrative capacities for urban planning in Finland in order to develop not only new tools and better evidence bases, but also more usable, democratic, and effective concepts and practices. In close collaboration with stakeholders and local actors, BEMINE aims to provide a deeper understanding of the ambiguities and dynamics of Finnish urbanization, as well as visionary and anticipatory strategic planning.

BeMInE’s international reference group (IRG) acts as a networking platform and brings
together a small group of key academics with expertise of urban policy across northern Europe. The IRG meets on a regular basis during the lifetime of the BeMInE project in order to advance and strengthen the project’s theoretical and practical breakthrough by providing international comparative reflection. BeMInE’s main goals for scientific breakthroughs will serve as the IRG’s thematic axes. The IRG's activities will provide an important way of promoting and delivering the project’s fundamental objective of enhancing the integrative capacity of the Finnish MALPE approach.

During the period 2016-2019, IRG networking activities will be organized in close connection with BeMInE’s co-creation workshops. The key deliverables of the IRG will include workshops and seminars aimed at synthesising and disseminating comparative theoretical and empirical evidence related to the five thematic axes from different northern European contexts. These activities will be carried out through interaction between the IRG members and the Finnish research community involved in the project. At the same time, the IRG will also advance the development of theory and
methods by developing joint scientific publications in collaboration with the Finnish researchers involved in the project.