Stakeholder Consultation
From 16 June - 25 July 2008 the ESPON 2013 Programme conducted a survey among European stakeholders to identify their demand for applied research projects on territorial development, competitiveness and cohesion. The survey was made publicly available via the ESPON website to all interested stakeholders being involved in territorial development at European, national, transnational, cross-border, regional and local levels.
The results of the survey constituted a good basis for determining new themes for applied research projects. In fact, they were used by the ESPON Concertation Committee in their deliberation on advice to the ESPON Monitoring Committee concerning themes for new applied research under Priority 1 of the ESPON 2013 Programme. In this regard, this first round of screening the demand of stakeholders for territorial knowledge and evidence is considered as an important contribution to supporting the value and usefulness of future applied research projects.
The report available below and compiled by the ESPON Coordination Unit is an interpretation of the responses received in the framework of the first survey. They reflect the opinion of the individual respondents. The report can therefore neither be taken as a formal response from the stakeholder institutions involved nor as reflecting the opinion of the ESPON Monitoring Committee.
In spring 2009 the ESPON CU will carry out a second survey among European stakeholders to identify their demand for applied research projects on territorial development, competitiveness and cohesion. As with the first survey conducted in summer 2008, this screening of user demand shall be based on an online-survey that is made publicly available via the ESPON website to all interested stakeholders being involved in territorial development at European, national, transnational, cross-border, regional and local levels. The results of this screening exercise will be published on the ESPON website. They will feed into the discussion of possible new themes for applied research projects with both, the Concertation Committee and the Monitoring Committee.
Due to the fact that the network around ESPON is continuously increasing, the spread of this second screening will become wider than the first one. In addition, special effort will be made to involve non-territorial policy makers in making their priorities visible.
Please find below the first stakeholder survey report.
