The ESPON EGTC is pleased to announce that the next cut-off date for the submission of proposals for Targeted Analyses is on 28 June 2019.

UPDATE: ESPON received 8 proposals for this call. They will be evaluated and by the end of August 4 of them will be selected. The list of proposals is available below; the list includes only the information and the proposals that the stakeholders have agreed to publish at the ESPON Website.

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Policy makers may sometimes think that their territorial peculiarities prevent them from benefitting from the experience of others, facing similar challenges in different countries or different territorial and political contexts. Comparative studies to develop evidence-based policy recommendations may not be a first priority and the process may seem overly complicated.

The ESPON Targeted Analyses have changed this!

Since 2007, this ESPON offer has been supporting territorial development processes at local, regional and national levels in Europe by bringing together policy makers who share the same kinds of challenges and who are looking for new territorial evidence and a European perspective. Applying sound methodologies and providing scientific expertise, ESPON Targeted Analyses deliver demand-driven and tailor-made analytical studies in support of territorial decision-making.

Cross-border public services, strategic planning in metropolitan areas, perspectives for the Alpine Space or the Baltic Sea, cultural heritage as a strategic territorial resource, the potentials of big data for integrated territorial development, the challenges of ageing population are among the latest issues raised by national or regional stakeholders and supported throughout ESPON Targeted Analyses.

Whether you are a national, regional or local authority, represent a major city or local rural community, a Managing Authority or a territorial cooperation body, ESPON can select and fully finance the experts to carry out the analytical work to provide territorial evidence tailored to your needs.

Within one year, you will be offered the following support solutions:

• Administrative and technical support to design Terms of Reference directly related to your questions and in accordance with the ESPON Cooperation Programme
• Permanent technical support from ESPON’s expert team to ensure the progress of the activity and the quality of the deliverables
• A dedicated budget, typically around EUR 250,000, to finance a high-level study led by carefully selected experts from all over Europe (through public procurement procedures)
• ESPON tools and a database with European-wide indicators
• Opportunities to learn with your peers and share evidence and experiences with other stakeholders
• Participation at ESPON events, typically organised in cooperation with EU Presidencies, to network with an international community of policy makers and experts

How does it work?

Stakeholders develop their project proposal and submit it to the ESPON EGTC by filling in a digital application form (see below). In their proposal, stakeholders outline the policy issues that they would like to have addressed by an ESPON Targeted Analysis. When doing that, stakeholders need to make sure that their proposal:

• Relates to their specific territorial context and the policy opportunities and challenges there;
• Reflects a wider European perspective;
• Relates to existing territorial evidence produced by ESPON.

Selected stakeholder proposals are implemented in close cooperation between academic experts, carrying through the analysis, stakeholders and the ESPON EGTC. For a smooth implementation process, stakeholders need to consider the following in the development of their proposal:

• The analysis needs to be feasible in terms of methodology, indicators and data provision;
• Active stakeholder involvement is key throughout the entire implementation process to receive meaningful and useful results.

Finally, concerning the follow-up of a Targeted Analysis, stakeholders also need to be aware of the following points when drafting their proposal:

• The use of the analytical results in their policy-making processes;
• The added value of their project idea for themselves as well as for stakeholders in other countries, regions or cities.

The process of developing and implementing an ESPON Targeted Analysis is visualised in the figure below.

How to apply?

Proposals can be submitted by groups of stakeholders sharing a common analytical need as well as by individual stakeholders. It is also possible to include relevant umbrella organisations from European, national or regional level in the steering of a Targeted Analysis.

Stakeholder proposals must be submitted electronically with a digital application form (see below). The application form includes information on how and to whom the stakeholder proposal needs to be sent to and which documents need to be enclosed. A guidance document is available below for download to support stakeholders in preparing their proposals.

Stakeholder proposals for ESPON Targeted Analyses can be submitted at any time. The ESPON EGTC evaluates twice per year all stakeholder proposals received by certain cut-off dates.

The next cut-off date for the submission of stakeholder proposals is on 28 June 2019.

How will stakeholder proposals be selected?

It is important that applicants carefully consider their project proposal in the context of the selection and eligibility criteria and complete the application form in full. The eligibility and selection criteria are outlined in the guidance document available below.

If a proposal is not selected, stakeholders have a possibility to improve their proposals and resubmit them at a later stage.

Are you looking for partners? 

Share ideas for ESPON Targeted Analyses in the dedicated LinkedIn group "ESPON stakeholders" This group is designed to facilitate the exchange amongst policy makers on their needs for territorial evidence that can streamline multiple policy processes in a joint effort.

Who to contact for further advice?

Staff at the ESPON EGTC is available to field queries on developing stakeholder proposals. Please email any queries you may have to application@espon.eu.