ESPON Open Seminar

"European Territorial Evidence for EU Cohesion Policy and Programming"

 

Aalborg, Denmark 13 and 14 June 2012

ESPON organised in cooperation with the Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union a two days Open Seminar on “European Territorial Evidence for EU Cohesion Policy and Programming”. The Seminar took place at Nordkraft Cultural Centre in Aalborg, Denmark on 13 and 14 June 2012 and brought together 227 participants from 32 countries representing European Institutions, national governments, research institutions and universities.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

  

The event took into account the ongoing intense policy process and negotiations for the future Structural Funds and corresponding programmes as outlined in the Common Strategic Framework by the European Commission. The purpose of the Seminar was two-fold:

• Address the use of territorial evidence in relation to the thematic objectives of the Common Strategic Framework opting at growth and jobs, and the ESPON tools that can support a territorial dimension in the programming within future EU Cohesion Policy.
• Allow policy makers and practitioners to share concrete experience, discuss the use of territorial evidence and to approach new options for developing Creative Regions of Innovation and Knowledge.

Welcome and Opening Speeches

The participants to the Open Seminar were welcomed by high-level representatives from the City of Aalborg, the Northern Denmark Region and the Chancellor of Aalborg University, as well as by the Danish EU Presidency and the ESPON Managing Authority in Luxembourg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was followed by opening speeches from the European Commission, DG Regio, concerning “Common Strategic Framework and Territorial Cohesion, and the ESPON CU presenting new European territorial evidence for the development of regions and cities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creating attractive regions contributing to growth and jobs

Under this headline the first day contained a mixture of plenary sessions and parallel workshops. Four key-note speeches set the stage by providing concrete examples from cities and regions throughout Europe, including North Denmark Region, Greater Manchester, the Balearic Islands and rural regions in Latvia. Guided by a facilitator, four members of the ESPON Monitoring Committee took part in a panel discussion on the presentations addressing the question how policy-making at different levels can support regional development based on innovation, knowledge and creative economy.

The themes addressed in the key note speeches and the panel discussion where subsequently discussed in parallel workshops, where 12 ESPON projects presented territorial evidence related to the various themes. The day closed with a second plenary session, where the presentations and discussions of the day fed into a debate concerning new options for the shaping creative and attractive regions for growth and jobs around Europe and the role of policy-making in this process.

 

 

 

 

 

Territorial Evidence for future EU Cohesion Policy

The second day of the Seminar contained opened with a parallel workshop session where 14 ESPON projects presented territorial evidence related to specific thematic objectives envisaged in the Common Strategic Framework outlined by the European Commission. The contribution of ESPON was also the focus for the following parallel workshop in which 9 additional ESPON projects demonstrated the potential use of ESPON, including capitalisation in transnational contexts, ESPON tools and territorial impact assessment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Open Seminar closed with a plenary session, where the ESPON project “Territorial Scenarios and Visions for Europe - ET2050” presented some key findings and invited the audience to to discuss some critical questions of significance to the further development of the project. The closing session provided information on the future activities of ESPON and on the plans of the upcoming Cyprus EU Presidency. In closing, the Danish EU Presidency thanked all participants for their active contribution to making the Seminar a success.

 

 

 

 

 

More information

Please find below the programme, the list of participants, the press releases and the presentations made during the event.

More photos are available in the next page.

Should you have questions please do not hesitate to contact the ESPON Coordination Unit at [email protected]

 

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

Open Seminar "European Territorial Evidence for EU Cohesion Policy and Programming"

Photos

Aalborg, Denmark 13 and 14 June 2012