Introduction
The GEOSPECS project: Background, objectives
and setup
The ESPON 2013 Programme
Role in Structural Funds 2007-2013:
– Support EU Cohesion Policy development with panEuropean, comparable facts and evidence on Territorial
Structures, Trends, Perspectives and Policy Impacts,
revealing territorial capital, potentials and challenges.
Budget 2007-13:
– 47M Euro (ERDF 34M Euro, plus 13M Euro from 31
countries)
Programme Priorities:
– P 1: Applied Research
– P 2: Targeted Analyses based on Stakeholder interest
– P 3: Scientific Platform and Tools
– P 4: Capitalisation
Programme Delivery
Programme Implementation:
• 25 Applied Research projects
− 21 projects ongoing, final or just starting
− 4 additional Applied Research projects start primo 2012
• 23 Targeted Analyses (defined by stakeholder demand):
− 18 ongoing or closing
− 5 Targeted Analyses starting early 2012
• 10 larger projects under Scientific Platform and Tools:
− 4 larger projects ongoing/final
− 6 additional larger projects starting early 2012
• 6-7 Transnational Networking Activities:
– 5 projects ongoing
– 1-2 additional projects expected starting early 2012
Themes of ESPON Applied Research
Territorial Impact
Assessment
Urban
Agglomerations
Climate Change
Rural Areas
Growth poles
Migratory Flows
EU Directives
Attractiveness
Green Economy
Demography
Specific Types of
Territories
Regions
Innovation
Territorial
cooperation
Accessibility
Continental flows
Services of
General Interest
Cities
Land use
European Seas
Economy
Governance
Energy
Territorial
Scenarios
Expectations of GEOSPECS Applied Research Project
•
•
•
Explore how taking account of the diversity of
development preconditions linked to geographic
specificities could contribute to achieving national and
strategic EU targets
Address key policy and research questions
•
Current situation, trends, needs, drivers for development
•
Opportunities for development, partnership and co-operation
•
Development of reference frameworks
•
Options for addressing geographically specific vulnerabilities
Build on ESPON 2006 and 2013 results
•
For example, EDORA (P1) and in particular, ESPON TeDi (P2)
project on development opportunities in areas with geographic
specificities (initiated by national authorities of Norway, Finland,
Sweden, Cyprus, Switzerland, Romania and Malta)
Remaining major milestones
• 2nd March 2012: Draft final report
• 1st July 2012: Final report
• July to December 2012: ‘Official’ dissemination period
Geographic specificities
and development potentials in Europe
Regional policy as an instrument
to promote balanced, sustainable development
Territorial diversity as a factor that needs to be taken into account
- in regional development strategies
- in sectoral policies
The notion of “free and undistorted competition”: a vision of the mind?
But: Why should one maintain settlement patterns in areas where
economic activities are not competitive?
Is the objective competitiveness, or economic, social and ecological
sustainability?
Geographic specificities
and development potentials in Europe
Henrik Samuelsson
Northern Sweden: a place «with fewer and fewer people»,
«where only elderly people and drug addicts (sic!) live»
and «where houses and factories are slowly decaying»
Complex regional realities –
A challenge for policy makers?
Geographic specificities
and development potentials in Europe
Geographic specificities co-exist
and interact
Specific effects can be difficult to identify
Geographic specificities
and development potentials in Europe
Access to urban
areas with more
than 100,000
inhabitants
Making sense of the European territory
Development potentials are more difficult to map than disparities
 How can policy instruments and debates be based
on an evidence based that fits with their objectives?
Europe is not only made up of “NUTS regions”
Regional and local perceptions of territorial diversity cannot simply be
compiled at the European level
 A European geography of territorial diversity
needs to be constructed
Lead Partner: Department of Geography, University of Geneva
Mountain areas
Centre for Mountain Studies, Perth College UHI, UK
Islands
E-cubed consultants, MT
Sparsely populated
areas
Nordregio, SE
Coastal areas
Coastal and Marine Resources Centre,
University College Cork, IE
Inner periphery
Alterra, Wageningen University, NL
Outermost regions
Louis Lengrand & associés, FR
Border regions
Thomas Stumm, Eureconsult, LU
Metropolitan border
regions
New and old
external borders
CEPS/INSTEAD, LU
Leibniz-Institut für ökologische Raumentwicklung
Dresden (IÖR), DE
+ Umweltbundesamt/Federal Environment Agency, AT
Objectives for the day
Get your feedback on the framework we have set up to analyse and
understand geographic diversity across Europe
Establish whether there could be a European discourse on territorial
diversity.
- What would justify such a discourse?
- What would it focus on?
Discuss policy measures that are needed to promote balanced,
sustainable development in geographically specific areas?
 What is Europe’s role in this?