Reports from ESPON Seminars

(1) Opportunities and threats for territorial cohesion: Blue Growth and Urban Poverty

SE Report

Report from the ESPON Open Seminar in Nafplion - Greece, 4 and 5 June 2014

ESPON, in cooperation with the Hellenic Presidency of the Council of the European Union, organised a two day Open Seminar in Nafplion, Greece, on the 4th and 5th of June 2014.

The seminar theme was “Opportunities and threats for territorial cohesion: Blue Growth and Urban Poverty”. The theme reflects two priorities of the Hellenic Presidency, namely Blue Growth and urban poverty in the context of the current economic crisis.

Around 220 participants, including policy makers, practitioners, and researchers from ESPON projects, representatives from ESPON Contact Points, as well as stakeholders and practitioners had the opportunity to share experiences, discuss the use of territorial evidence and identify development options relevant to the two themes, and also to realise the usefulness and capability of the ESPON knowledge base.

This report is based on the two key seminar topics that were addressed in presentations and discussions during the event. It includes some of the key ESPON findings as well as the main issues discussed at the seminar and in its various workshops. The report is divided into two main parts, which reflect the two topics of the seminar and two priorities of the Hellenic Presidency.

The first part addresses the Blue Growth opportunities of the European regions. The second part focuses on urban poverty.

Download the report below

(2) Europe’s Neighbourhood from a Territorial Perspective

CY ReportReport from the ESPON Internal Seminar on 5-6 December 2012 in Paphos - Cyprus

22 February 2013 - To further explore the neighbourhood dimension of European territorial development, ESPON organised a seminar in Cyprus in cooperation with the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The seminar theme was “Territorial Development Opportunities in Europe and its neighbourhood to Foster Global Competitiveness”.

With around 200 participants, including researchers from ESPON projects, policy makers from the ESPON Monitoring Committee, representatives from ESPON Contact Points, as well as stakeholders and practitioners active in the neighbourhood, the seminar explored ESPON knowledge for better understanding the role, position and influence of European regions, cities and its neighbourhood in the global economy. The seminar offered a good opportunity for a dialogue between policy makers, practitioners and researchers on territorial development opportunities and strategic options, including co-operation activities that could promote Europe’s competitiveness and territorial integration in the long term.

The report is based on the presentations and discussions during the seminar. It presents some of the main ESPON findings in the field and the main issues discussed at the seminar and in its various workshops. The factsheet in the beginning of the report presents some comparable facts and figures on neighbouring countries. The first chapter sets the scene by looking at EU neighbourhood policies and different understandings and definitions of the European neighbourhood. The second chapter highlights ESPON findings that are relevant for discussing the neighbourhood. The third chapter provides a summary of the main territorial dimensions of the neighbourhood developments discussed in Paphos. Each sub-chapter of the third chapter ends with a text box highlighting some statements or questions raised by participants during the seminar.

Download the report below

(3) Regional Use of ESPON Knowledge. Inspiration for Researchers and Practitioners involved in Regional Territorial Analysis and Policy Development

SE ReportReport from the internal ESPON Seminar on 3-4 December 2009 in Malmö - Sweden

April 2010 - The ESPON Internal Seminar in Malmö - Sweden, which was organised in cooperation with the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, closed with new ideas which will improve the ability of our Programme to provide useful facts and evidence, and increase the knowledge about territorial structures, trends and policy impacts in Europe's regions and cities.

It was a pleasure to observe 150 researchers, stakeholders and policymakers use to the maximum this opportunity to communicate, to exchange ideas on new ESPON findings, to network and discuss how regional territorial analysis and policymaking can be given added value by using European wide territorial information from the ESPON knowledge.

This Internal ESPON Seminar was strongly related to the new findings from the ongoing ESPON Projects, namely how they can provide for inspiration and a debate on potential use of results from the ESPON Programme. In many workshops, the exchange was (1) about the opportunities that ESPON Applied Research and the ESPON Scientific Platform offer for regional analysis and policymaking, (2) the research approaches and techniques that can be used to make the European knowledge base operational for regional territorial analyses, and (3) ESPON Targeted Analyses as good examples of making the European knowledge of the ESPON base operational for regions.

The report takes stock of the Malmö Seminar’s outputs and puts forward concrete orientations towards increasing the effectiveness of ESPON in supporting policy development by providing analyses of territorial trends. The seminar report can be read as a “cookbook” bringing together interesting “recipes and tips” for researchers and practitioners involved in projects introducing the European perspective in regional territorial development.

The report also provides a basis for the discussion on the future contributions of the ESPON 2013 knowledge base to future policy development, at all levels of government, and in particular in bringing European wide information to the regional/local level.

Download the report below

Further Information

  • ESPON Internal Seminar "Territorial Development Opportunities in Europe and its Neighbourhood - Fostering Global Competitiveness" in Paphos, Cyprus. 5 - 6 December 2012 LINK
  • ESPON Internal Seminar "The ESPON Knowledge Base as Potential for Territorial Analysis and Policymaking at Regional Level" in Malmö, Sweden. 02 - 03 December 2009 LINK

 

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