Workshop at Open Days 2009 - ESPON 2013 Programme First Results

At the seventh edition of the Open Days in Brussels, ESPON participated with a Workshop on 7 October 2009 under the theme “Achieving results, looking ahead: EU Cohesion Policy’s evaluation and future prospects”.

With the aim to facilitate exchange, debate and networking among Europe’s experts and decision-makers in regional and local development, first results of the ESPON 2013 Programme have been discussed with about 80 participants. 

 

Natalija Kazlauskiene, from the European Commission - DG Regio, presented the policy demand for European territorial evidence from the perspective of the European Commission and the key role of ESPON in feeding the policy making process with sound and robust analysis. Peter Mehlbye, director of the ESPON Coordination Unit, gave an interesting overview of the development of the ESPON Programme and the running call for proposals and expression of interest.

Erik Gloersen, from Nordregio – Sweden, and Odd Godal, from the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development Norway, shared their experiences with ESPON Targeted Analyses by introducing the first results from Territorial Diversity (TeDi). They confirmed that the political relevance of “geographic specificity” does not in general stem from “laggardness” or from a low degree of economic performance, but should rather be approached in terms of improving the economic returns and creating the basis for a socially and ecologically sustainable development.

Andrew Copus, from UHI Millenium Institute – UK, lead partner of the Applied Research Project EDORA - European Development Opportunities in Rural Areas, provided first evidence on the development opportunities of diverse types of European rural areas.

The presentations from the Workshop at the OPEN DAYS are available below. Further information can be found on the OPEN DAYS 2009 website.