The HQE²R Toolkit
Within the HQE²R project and the HQE²R approach the term “tool” is used to describe a result of the research, development and demonstration works that should be of help for practitioners in neighbourhood regeneration processes towards sustainability. Within HQE²R different types of tools were developed as for example:
- Methods/Approaches like the shared diagnosis method,
- Recommendations, about participation for example
- Check lists,
- Guidelines, - Analytical grids,
- Evaluation schemes and models
The HQE²R guidebook was prepared to give a quick access to the tools but also to the main findings and results of the overall project.
2. How to use this HQE²R toolkit ?
This toolkit description is intended primarily for the people who manage neighbourhood regeneration projects. These may be local council planners, community groups or regeneration specialists. The aim of the toolkit is to help you ensure that sustainable development is a core element of your regeneration process. It aims to do this by identifying the key points in the regeneration and planning process where an intervention must be made to ensure that sustainable development is put on the agenda, that it stays there, and that good intentions are put into action. Where the key points for intervention are identified, we propose the use of several tools that have been developed by ‘HQE²R’, a project funded by the European Union.
This toolkit acts as an introduction to the HQE²R tools. If you decide to use any of them, we recommend that you refer to the more detailed documents that the project has produced. These are sign-posted throughout the document, and many of them are available via the internet. The companion publication to the toolkit is a CD ROM entitled ‘The HQE²R regeneration approach in 14 neighbourhood regeneration projects’. This CD ROM presents examples of the application of the HQE²R tools in the HQE²R neighbourhoods projects (demonstration part of the HQE²R project).
HQE²R is an operational approach for including sustainable development in neighbourhood regeneration projects. To achieve maximum effectiveness, it will be used alongside the development of a regeneration project, guiding it towards a greater consideration of sustainability criteria.
Most regeneration initiatives start with the selection of a neighbourhood, and lead to the implementation of projects designed to improve the quality of life for its residents. HQE²R works on the assumption that, in between these two points, a number of decisions are taken about which interventions will be of most benefit to the neighbourhood. The goal of the HQE²R approach is to support these decisions in a way that they take full account of the concept of sustainable development.
We have thus identified four phases in the regeneration process. The HQE²R Toolkit Parts 1 to 4 are each attached to one of these phases; they are designed to help guide that part of decision-making towards sustainability. The four phases and the different parts of the toolkit are described in the rest of this chapter.
At the end of the description of each phase we sign-post the resources produced by the HQE²R project that you can access for further information, as well as the relevant example from our case studies from the companion CD ROM.
The four decision-making phases are representative of the decisions involved in implementing a regeneration initiative. In your context the process might be simpler, or more complex. There may not be a clear division between the decision phases, or the point in time when they occur. We recognise that decisions rarely follow a strict sequence, and some important decisions will affect the entire regeneration process, so they are not time limited (particularly Phase 1 decisions about the priority given to sustainable development, or participation). To help you recognise how the phases fit into your context, examples are included of how practice in different European countries reflects these decision-making phases.
Figure 1 -
The process steps stressed by the HQE2R® approach
for a sustainable neighbourhood regeneration project (click
to open)
Figure 2 - The HQE²R Toolkit (click to open each phase)
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