INESC Porto supports the development of PROTs

INESC Porto developed a Collaborative Platform in 2006 for the elaboration and public discussion of the Planos Regionais de Ordenamento do Território - PROT (Regional Plans for Town and Country Planning). This platform is currently being used for the PROTs in the Western, Tejo Valley, Central and Northern Portuguese regions. The first PROTs are reaching the stage of public discussion and it is already possible to assess the design stage.

The establishment of a PROT is a slow process that usually lasts 18 months. At the same time, this is a complex process that involves actors that are relevant for each region, whether they are from the Local Public Administration, from the Deconcentrated Central Administration, from the Central Administration itself or even, of course, relevant private entities, such as Business Associations.

Then, the design team, set up by elements from the Commission for Regional Coordination and Development, and other experts, will join these actors, in a process that usually involves 300 entities.

It is important to remember that a PROT is a regional and physical planning instrument that will condition instruments from a lower level, such as the Municipal Master Plans.

In the past, the whole process was developed traditionally since the documents under discussion were sent by mail and usually received 10 days before the meeting where they would be discussed. A possible delay could make the meeting with hundreds of participants impracticable and a new meeting would have to be rescheduled, usually a few weeks later.

Currently, the documentation is placed on an electronic repository and the members of the work groups are notified by email when the documents are available. The whole process of meeting notification and scheduling is electronic, as are the several contributions for the meetings. The existence of a repository with such documentary history, available via web at any time, is an investment that yields considerably and speeds the whole process, thus reducing costs significantly.

This platform is based on the Plone content management system. This system was developed to meet the demands that this kind of activity entails. At the same time, some additional functionalities were developed and shared with the Plone community.

The team responsible for the adaptation works was set up by elements of the Information and Communication Systems Unit (USIC) and by the Information Management Service (SIG), coordinated by Mário Jorge Leitão.

For more information on PROTs, please go to:
http://protovt.inescporto.pt
http://protc.inescporto.pt
http://protn.inescporto.pt