ESPON Open Seminar
“Territorial Cooperation for growth and jobs”
Dublin - Ireland, 13 and 14 June 2013
ESPON recently held a two day Open Seminar on “Territorial Cooperation for growth and jobs”. The Seminar was organised in cooperation with the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union and took place at Dublin Castle in Dublin, Ireland on 13 and 14 June 2013.
225 people, including policy makers, practitioners, scientists and experts were welcomed by representatives of the Irish EU Presidency, Dublin City Council, ESPON Monitoring Committee and Managing Authority.
The Open Seminar addressed the main policy concerns in 2013, in particular the contribution of Territorial Cooperation towards recovery from the economic crisis as well as the development of Operational Programmes for the 2014-2020 period which is currently in a key moment. Its purpose was two-fold:
- Allow policy makers, practitioners and researchers to share concrete experiences, discuss the use of territorial evidence and to identify options relevant to the Seminar theme;
- Demonstrate the usefulness and capability of the ESPON knowledge base at this critical juncture between programming periods.
Welcome and Opening Speeches
The first day aimed at stimulating a thorough discussion of recovery and resilience concerning the economic crisis on the basis of territorial trends and supporting evidence from ESPON projects.
The representative of the Irish Presidency and TD Minister of State, Ms. Jan O’Sullivan, opened the session with a speech centered on the key role of Territorial Cooperation for restoring competitiveness and fostering sustainable development.
This was followed by opening speeches from Dick Gleeson from Dublin City Council, and ESPON representatives introducing the aim of the event and new European territorial evidence for the development of regions and cities.
Territorial outlook and new approaches for recovery and resilience
The Seminar began by examining the territorial outlook in the short and long term and new approaches from policymakers for recovery and resilience.
This plenary complemented by the parallel workshop sessions in which ESPON projects reflected on the impact of the last crisis and the patterns, challenges and opportunities emerging across different types of territories.
In addition, the Seminar offered a toolbox session which gave insight on the tools, indicators and data made available by ESPON.
Territorial Co-operation for cohesion 2014-2020
The second day was structured within the scope of territorial co-operation and the envisioned thematic objectives of the Common Strategic Framework.
The opening session highlighted the experiences of Territorial Cooperation programmes in responding to the effects of the economic crisis. A parallel workshop session provided evidence that can be used to identify opportunities and potentials to assist with operational programming processes.
The closing sessions of the Seminar saw a roundtable on general lessons concerning recovery and resilience and implications for the role of Territorial Cooperation programmes as well as the demands for territorial evidence from ESPON.
The Seminar concluded with presentations concerning ESPON 2013 and beyond, the intentions of the Lithuanian Presidency and finally a farewell from the Irish Presidency.
More information
Please find below the programme, the list of participants, the press releases and the presentations made during the event.
More photos are available in the next page.
Should you have questions please do not hesitate to contact the ESPON Coordination Unit at info@espon.eu
This event is organised within the framework of the ESPON 2013 Capitalisation Strategy
(Actions related to European Seminars and Workshops).
ESPON Open Seminar “Territorial co-operation for growth and jobs”
Dublin - Ireland, 13 an 14 June 2013
