Project coordinators: the CAUE du Nord Department

Initiator of the Septentrion project, the Council of Architecture, Town Planning and the Environment (CAUE) of the Nord is at the very origin of the maxim: « from fortified town to sustainable town ».

A departmental association set up on the initiative of the General Council of the Nord, the CAUE du Nord is in line with a public interest objective defined by the French law of 3rd January 1977 for the quality of way of life concerned permanently with adapting it to local particularities.

The CAUE du Nord's committment on urban issues corresponds to the strategic focus on « urban cultures » retained by the Council of Administration. The Council of Administration, comprising of representatives from local authorities, services to the State, from the professional environment, and members and qualified personalities, ensures the orientations in the scope of the missions defined by law.

The CAUE du Nord's committment in the Septentrion project meets the objectives of supporting authorities in their methods of project strategy, awareness raising, information and development of the general public's involvement, training and perfection of project management and professional environments.

The very essence of the project is supported by the four fundamental principles that constitute the actions of the CAUE: independence, innovation research, multidisciplinarity and partnership.

The concept of the Septentrion, founded on the principle of observation and exchange, has its origins in « The Workshop of urban culture » of the CAUE du Nord, bringing together elected representatives, academics (in history, geography, geology, social sciences etc...), managers of large administrative departments, and extends rapidly to the expertise identified through Belgian and Dutch partners.

The role of project animation assumed by the CAUE du Nord consists of being an engine for initiative and proposal in the construction of tools of observation, exchange methods and educational material for feeding information back to inhabitants.

President of the CAUE du Nord: Serge Van der Hoeven, General Advisor of the Nord Department.

Director: Benoît Poncelet, architect-town planner.

Contact: Fanny Frigout, architect-town planner, deputy director.

http://www.caue59.asso.fr/