Different regions of Europe have been affected by the pandemic at different times and to different degrees. During the first three waves of the pandemic, a spatial shift from the European centres to the peripheries took place. 

While diverse administrative, economic and political events throughout history have had an influence on the movement of people around the world, none of them had a bigger impact on the number of people crossing the European Union’s (EU) eastern border than the current COVID-19 pandemic. But how has this actually fared on tourism, the labour market and student flows?

Large lake regions are confronted with a challenging situation: while the lake and surrounding areas would benefit from integrated management, they are often shared between regions or countries. Stakeholders from large lake regions have therefore developed a great variety of governance arrangements and initiatives to overcome challenges arising from fragmentation.

Disconnected from the mainland, urban-maritime regions that are island face different challenges than regions situated on the mainland. This also goes for Malta and Crete, two of the stakeholder regions that were part of the ERMES project. This article discusses the downsides and benefits of insular regions in relation to eco-cluster development.

Research conducted for ESPON has identified four global trends that will significantly change the way European seaports operate in 10 years from now. These trends will not only influence the seaports themselves but will also provide opportunities and challenges for the urban-maritime region where they are located.

Increasing Europe’s competitiveness through innovation stimulates the creation of new jobs. In this context, a more skilled workforce capable of contributing and adjusting to technological developments is needed. But the KE is also a driver of highly skilled migration and the pandemic accelerated the demand for digital skills.

The 4.0 technological transformation has an impact on regional labour markets; however, the aggregate impact is difficult to be grasped as it depends on the type of sectors involved (and therefore on the type of transformation), on the type of technology adopted, and on the occupations considered.

Results from the ESPON ESCAPE project highlight that the impacts and implications of shrinkage vary from region to region and, indeed, within regions. In order to develop effective responses to specific local or regional challenges associated with shrinkage, supports are required that foster and build leadership capacity.

ESPON BusDev case study research in EU external border regions in Latvia, Lithuania and Romania depicted possibilities to promote business development at EU external borders. Place-based policies focusing on border realities can help them to enhance business development.

ESPON research highlights the need for specified approaches to support business development effectively in external border regions. Despite the commonality of the border location, these places differ in many respects. This asks for place-based business support policies looking at internal and cross-border opportunities