A workshop aimed at discussing the future of the Baltic Sea Region took place on 5 March 2020 at Nordregio,  in Stockholm.

The impact of the pandemic made borders in Europe visible again, sometimes even within the same country. But interesting examples from the Interreg Central Europe Programme show that transnational cooperation is central for regions and cities to become more resilient and to find common solutions that can benefit citizens all over central Europe, especially when facing an imminent crisis like the pandemic.

The city of Athens’ Reception and Solidarity Center shared with ESPON its initiatives to protect the homeless, the city’s most vulnerable group during the pandemic of COVID19.

Another interesting case study from ESPON Project URRUC comes from Valle Arroscia, a territory that is located on the Alpi Marittime mountains, in the Northern part of the Province of Imperia. Read about urban-rural linkages and challenges in the area and the recommendations of the project to overcome them. 

Mountain and coastal areas, islands and sparsely populated areas face several challenges related to their development. According to ESPON project BRIDGES, these challenges are similar and interlinked for all the areas the Territories with Geographical Specificities (TGS) and have concrete implications to all the five Policy Objectives of Cohesion Policy

Urban-rural linkages contribute to integrating rural and urban areas into a more functional territory. These linkages aim at improving access to public services within functional areas, as well as increasing the residential and economic attractiveness of the rural areas, among others. In this article an interesting case study of Scarborough Borough, in the UK, provided by the ESPON project, URRUC

Until 1990 only a few CPS were established. Since the beginning of the 21st century, CPS establishment has accelerated.

National local authorities in France took measures and initiatives to support their citizens during the COVID-19 crisis. These measures focused wither on supporting fragile population, pupils, care-workers or the local economy. Journalist Caroline Garcia summarises them in this article written for ESPON. 

A new ESPON project, "Interregional relations in Europe" (IRiE) launched yesterday. The general objective of the project is to analyze inter-regional flows, design actions that reduce barriers and include information on flows within the regional Smart Specialization Strategies. Different types of emergency scenarios, such as the COVID-19 pandemic will be analyzed.

The municipality of Sintra (PT) shared with ESPON their actions and initiatives in order to support citizens and local businesses during the crisis.