Leith tour with German students

Hello again everyone,

On Thursday (4/8/16), Katie and I had the pleasure of co-ordinating and hosting a tour of Leith Waterfront at the request of a group of students from Rurh University in Bochum, Germany. They are going to be doing a project comparing significant, up-and-coming waterfront locations in the UK against European examples, studying the different approaches to waterfront development, as well as the challenges of the different locations and lessons to be learned from each city.

When they contacted us with the request, Katie and I agreed we would rise to the challenge and take on this great opportunity. We spent time doing our ‘homework’ on the area; we went on site, read development plans, articles, and conversed with folk to get a feel for the area from a local’s perspective. We learnt a lot, and it was interesting to review plans for the waterfront and the challenges it has faced over the past decade.

Nervous is an understatement as to how we were feeling as we walked to meet the students, however, they were great – so friendly and eager to learn. The tour went really well; we took them round Western Harbour, across to Ocean Terminal and finished on the top level of the car park, you could say we finished on a ‘high note’. The group spoke very positively about Edinburgh and presented Katie and I with little gifts all the way from Bochum. We wish them all the best for their project, future studies and who knows we may meet again in the future as the upcoming generation of planners in our countries.

Such a joy, thank-you to the group, it was our pleasure.

Katie and Luke.