RISE - Identifying and Exchanging Best Practices in Developing Regional Integrated Strategies in Europe

Thematic scope

Regional approaches to strategic planning across Europe are changing and Regional Integrated Strategies (RIS) are emerging as a way for regions to focus on cohesion and integrated sustainable development. Although RIS are emerging all across the EU, there is no single model of RIS. Instead they consist of a combination of several core thematic and spatial topics, which vary depending on the regional contexts. Nevertheless, the methodological challenges in developing and implementing a RIS remain similar and RIS can be used as a valuable tool for regeneration. Despite their growing importance, little collective or stored knowledge on RIS exists and the topic requires further investigation. The RISE project focuses on four different European regions: Randstad (NL), Zealand (DK), Västerbotten (SE) and the West Midlands (UK)

Please read more about the main areas of analysis and main results envisaged.

Stakeholders

• Birmingham City Council, United Kingdom (Lead Stakeholder)
• Regional Council of Västerbotten, Sweden
• Region Zealand, Denmark
• Randstad Region, Brussels office, the Netherlands

Lead Partner

University of Birmingham - Centre for Urban and Regional Studies (CURS), UK

Detailed information on the contracted project team can be found under Transnational Project Groups.

Budget : € 350 000.00

Project’s lifetime: September 2010 – May 2012

Delivery of Reports

Inception Report: 2 March 2011
Interim Report: 30 September 2011
Draft Final Report: 30 March 2012
Final Report: 31 May 2012

Publishing

Reports will be published once they are approved by the ESPON Monitoring Committee

More information

Please contact the Project Expert at the ESPON Coordination Unit:

Marjan VAN HERWIJNEN, e-mail: [email protected]

Main areas of analysis

• Investigating the state of play of the RIS amongst the four RISE regions
• Studying the compatibility between sectoral and territorial policies within a RIS
• Identifying the core indicators needed to measure the degree of integration of a RIS
• Studying how monitoring and evaluation indicators and methodologies can be used to enhance the development of a RIS
• Assessing how different financing instruments can be enhanced in preparing an integrated strategy
• Identifying different types of stakeholder engagement in the four regions and how these models can assist in the delivery of the strategy

Main results envisaged

• A report on the state of play of the regional integrated strategies of the four RISE regions
• Evidence of the relationship between sectoral and territorial policies on a RIS
• A RISE toolkit containing policy recommendations, a set of integration indicators as well as monitoring and evaluation indicators, an overview of different financial models applied within RIS and a model of different types of stakeholder engagement
• Data to the ESPON 2013 database
• Analytical input to territorial visions, strategies and scenarios