Brussels, 20 October 2011

Timing: 9h30 - 17h00

Context

Regional indicators for territorial cohesion, smart, inclusive and sustainable growth are increasingly in demand. While current debates on the understanding of Territorial Cohesion do not lead to definitive answers on how this should be achieved, they contribute to the formulation of a policy agenda and help raising awareness of the variety of approaches of this subject across Europe.

However, these discussions are hampered by lack of available evidence. In many ways, European territorial policy community is facing a “Catch 22”-situation in which the lack of a shared understanding of territorial cohesion makes it difficult to propose corresponding indicators, while the lack of indicators limits the advances of debates over this issue.

At this workshop we will debate which concrete indicators can be used to better understand and illustrate different facets of territorial cohesion. The workshop will help you to make better use of indicators and ESPON results, when discussing territorial cohesion related issues.

The workshop is organised in cooperation with the ESPON project INTERCO regarding Indicators of Territorial Cohesion.

At this workshop the ESPON INTERCO team offers you first hand insights on their preliminary results, which will be presented in their Draft Final Report in the end of 2011. The remarks and reflections voiced during the workshop will be taken on board when finalising the project work. Therefore, your participation can make a difference for the final selection of Territorial Cohesion indicators.

Aim

The aim of the workshop is to:

• Acquaint the participants with the proposal of main indicators which can be used for different facets of territorial cohesion;
• Explore which indicators are most useful, relevant and meaningful for policy making;
• Identify key indicators which can be symbolic for certain facets of territorial cohesion;
• Discuss how these indicators can be used in practice.

Different facets of territorial cohesion

The five different facets of territorial cohesion that have been distinguished by the INTERCO project and for which the usefulness, relevance and meaningfulness of the presented indicators will be discussed are the following:

• Smart growth in a competitive and polycentric Europe;
• Inclusive, balanced development and fair access to services;
• Local development conditions and geographical specificities;
• Environmental dimension and sustainable development;
• Governance, coordination of policies and territorial impacts.

Target Groups

The workshop is open for all interested people and will in particular welcome a mix of policy makers, regional practitioners and scientists from Europe and neighbouring countries.

A maximum of 50 participants can be hosted. The workshop is free of charge.

When and Where

The workshop will take place on 20 October 2011 in Brussels.

Venue:

European Commission - DG Regio
Rue Père de Deken 23
Brussels, Belgium
CSM 1 building, room SDR1 (00/152)

Registration and further information

The registration closed on 14 October 2011 at 15h00. 

Please find below the draft programme of the Workshop. The final programme will be distributed to the registered participants by 17 October 2011. 

More info: contact the ESPON Coordination Unit at info@espon.eu

This Workshop is organised within the framework of the ESPON 2013 Capitalisation Strategy
(Actions related to European Seminars and Workshops).