Regions, cities, and rural areas across Europe and within countries are facing different challenges and opportunities concerning shrinkage. The diversity of processes that determine those challenges and opportunities, depends on the pathways of economic restructuring, local capacities, on the resilience of local public services and on local initiatives. For shrinking areas and rural regions, new opportunities can reshuffle the cards and some territorial disadvantages might be turned into assets.

The ESPON-TransNational Outreach programme is organising an online conference on the 16th of February 2022 to address the challenges of shrinking areas across Europe, and to define areas of potential development in line with the objectives of the Territorial Agenda 2030 and the ESPON2030 programme. In continuity with the ESPON ESCAPE project, this conference will look at some of the shrinking areas in Europe that were studied within the project, with the aim to present common trends and lines for future development. It will also be in line with the European Rural development initiative that is expected to “set out a vision for the future of rural areas by 2040 and […] will also explore innovative, inclusive and sustainable solutions in the light of climate and digital transformation and the COVID-19 crisis.”

Debates and presentations will result in recommendations on what actions and long-term strategies should be taken in these areas to become more resilient. Both structural and conjunctural aspects and trends will have to be explored both in terms of impacts and opportunities.

The conference will be held in English, with simultaneous translation to Hungarian.

Presentations

Hungarian Versions

Other relevant events

Online Roundtable: Migration

Online Roundtable: Climate change adaptation

Refugees integration in Sweden virtual peer-learning workshop

ESPON Peer Learning Workshop - The Future of Cruise Tourism in the Adriatic Sea

ESPON Peer Learning Workshop - ESPON and the Territorial Agenda inspiring the ÖREK-2030 process in Austria

ESPON Conference - Tourism and Cultural Heritage for regional development

ESPON SDG benchmarking tool online workshop

ESPON Peer Learning Workshop: The Role of Marine Spatial Planning in reducing Marine Pollution in the Black Sea

Landscape heritage and sustainable tourism in the post-COVID period Peer Learning Workshop

ESPON Peer Learning Workshop: Greening Tourism in Ireland

Online Roundtable: Quality of life in Slovenia

Online Workshop: Sustainable urbanisation strategies in the Netherlands

Online Workshop: Landscape transition in Portugal

Online workshop on Regions and structural change in the light of just transition and decarbonisation strategies - focus on Polish coal regions

Online Greek Conference on Blue Growth: from marine & maritime services towards new drivers for economic & territorial change

Online ESPON-AESOP Roundtable: Coastal Planning in the North – new governance and planning spaces for sustainable coastal development

ESPON Peer learning Workshop: The role of MSP-LSI in sustainable energy production in the Black Sea

Online ESPON Conference on Sustainable Development and Regional Restructuring in the Baltic Sea Region

ESPON Peer learning Workshop: Digital Spatial Planning

ESPON Peer learning Workshop: Post-COVID settlement patterns across urban and rural areas in Sweden

ESPON Roundtable on Sustainable Urbanisation and Land-use Practices

ESPON Peer Learning Workshop: How to reach no net land take by 2050?