Urban Performance: The Role of Small Towns in Achieving Territorial Cohesion
The Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration, as the ESPON National Authority, ESPON National Contact Point, and Urban Contact Point for the European Urban Initiative (EUI), organized an online event on December 16, 2024, dedicated to small towns in Romania. The main objective of the event was to facilitate communication among stakeholders involved in the development and implementation of sustainable urban development policies, with a view to strengthening the role of small towns.
M-INSULAR – The Economic Costs of Malta’s Insularity
This territorial study was requested by the Maltese Government to assess the economic impact of Malta’s insularity as a small island state at the periphery of the EU. It aims to provide new territorial evidence to support policy development in areas such as cohesion policy, economic competitiveness, infrastructure investment and resilience to external shocks.
[TNCOOP] - Interreg Transnational Programmes: needs and opportunities for the future cooperation
For more than 25 years, Interreg transnational cooperation programmes have played a key role within EU Cohesion Policy, contributing to broader EU priorities such as innovation, climate action, digital connectivity, sustainable transport, social inclusion, capacity building, and governance. These programmes support cooperation among stakeholders across EU Member States, while also engaging non-EU, enlargement, and neighbourhood countries.
Regional planning in Europe - cases from Finland
On June 5, 2025, Tillväxtverket hosted a digital seminar in cooperation with ESPON, focusing on regional spatial planning in Sweden. The seminar aimed to enhance understanding and exchange experiences between Swedish and Finnish planning practitioners and academics, with a focus on strategic, institutional, and implementational aspects.
Info Day ESPON 2030 in Florence
On Wednesday 4 December 2024, from 10 a.m. to 1.30 p.m., the national info day for the ESPON 2030 programme was held at the Palazzina Reale - Piazza della Stazione, Florence: The title is: What Opportunities for Territories.
Info Day ESPON 2030 in Milan
On Tuesday 18 June 2024, from 10 a.m. to 1.30 p.m., the national ESPON programme info day was held in the Biagi room of Palazzo Lombardia in Milan, organised by the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Lombardy Region, entitled: Opportunities for the territories.
Info Day ESPON 2030 in Bergamo
On Friday 24 March 2023, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the national info day of the ESPON 2030 Programme was held at the University of Bergamo, organised by the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Lombardy Region, entitled: 7 NEW CALLS FOR TENDERS – for European research territorial studies.
Better facts and statistics for small islands and archipelagos (slides available)
A conclusion from a previous ESPON seminar on archipelagos and small islands in Sweden was that there is a great need for reliable statistics and facts. OECD also points this out in connection with a European project where Gotland and Öckerö participated. Unfortunately, relevant data with sufficiently high resolution is often lacking. To promote cooperation and collaboration between different societal levels and stakeholders and to ensure well-founded decisions affecting islands, the factual basis needs to be improved.
