ESPON 2013 Programme Newsletter No 4/2008

Welcome to the forth electronic ESPON 2013 Newsletter. It offers information on the latest developments of ESPON.

MESSAGE FROM ESPON Coordination Unit

“On 6 October 2008 the European Commission adopted the Green Paper on Territorial Cohesion. The document is for debate aiming at achieving a better and shared understanding of territorial cohesion and its implications for the future of EU Cohesion Policy. A major consultation with regional and local authorities, associations, NGOs, civil society and other organizations is launched. An evidence based approach has been applied with an analytical staff working document related to Green Paper which partly has been inspired by results from ESPON. The consultation is open until 28 February 2009. Visit the consultation website.

The expected consolidation of the policy concept “Territorial Cohesion” seems increasingly to strengthen the demand for analytical territorial information in support of this policy process. The ESPON 2013 Programme will contribute to meeting this demand. The role of the Programme is to deliver territorial evidence, knowledge and indicators covering the European territory, its regions and cities. As the themes explored by ESPON applied research and analysis will be defined by policy makers responsible for the implementation of territorial cohesion in the Union, the Programme results should become well targeted support the actual policy demand for territorial evidence.

Taking up the territorial challenge of the ageing of the European population, this November ESPON will present the latest territorial trends related to the development of the natural population and migration flows. The trends will show for each region within EU 27 (plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) their latest development towards or away from a sustainable demographic development path. The trends will be presented in the first number of the ESPON Territorial Observations that will be made available on the ESPON Website.

This new series of ESPON publications aims at giving policy makers and practitioners short and precise information on important new evidence related European territorial dynamics. By publishing several issues of Territorial Observations per year, ESPON will promote its role as provider of comparable fact and evidence in support of EC Cohesion Policy.” 

Peter Mehlbye
Director ESPON Coordination Unit

Workshop on Monitoring Territorial Dynamics

EU Cohesion Policy requires continuous monitoring and assessment of territorial development dynamics in relation to policy objectives. The ESPON 2013 Programme has been requested to build up a Territorial Monitoring System at European level covering EU 27 plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The workshop aims at exchanging experience and ideas between National Territorial Observatories, the European Commission as well as international and European institutions (OECD, JRC, EEA, EUROSTAT and Kopernikus), all working with methods related to this field.
The workshop will be held in Esch sur Alzette - Luxembourg, on 12 November 2008.

ESPON Calls

The ESPON 2013 Programme is in motion with several projects being implementated and further calls either ongoing or under preparation.
The first call for proposals is under implementation, the project status on themes is as following:

  • Cities and Urban Agglomerations/Functionality and development opportunities for European competitiveness and cohesion
  • Development Opportunities in different types of Rural Areas
  • Demography and Migratory Flows affecting European regions and cities
  • Effects of Rising Energy Prices on Regional Competitiveness
  • Territorial Impact Assessment of Policies (exploratory)
  • ESPON 2013 Database

At the end of contracting process the relevant information about the projects will be made available on the ESPON website.
The deadline for submitting proposals for the second round of calls expired on 15 October 2008. Submitted proposals will be evaluated after the deadline. The Monitoring Committee will select one proposal per project in December 2008. All applicants will be informed about the outcome of the selection procedure in December 2008/January 2009.

ESPON Map on EU energy prices and self-sufficiency

This month ESPON presents insights in the sensibility of regions to variation in energy prices and energy self-sufficiency. The rationale behind the map is that achieving a higher degree of self sufficiency has a price tag on it. Energy could become more expensive if less obvious energy sources are used. But the less self-sufficient a country is, the more costly the change could be. The main question is: What are the costs and benefits of a higher degree of energy self-sufficiency? More here.

ESPON Tender -Typology Compilation-

The call for tenders aims at selecting a tenderer who will carry out the work of defining and compiling a set of operational typologies of regions that can reflect the types of territories that currently are of particular concern by European policy makers. Tender shall be delivered at the latest by 26 November 2008 by 14h00. More

ESPON Partner Café

24 institutions from 12 European countries have already taken the opportunity to be included in the overview compiled by ESPON. The overview is available here.
Join the ESPON Partner Café! Share your interest and point of view with the aim to build partnership of expertise and submit proposals for ESPON projects. 

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