SCALES - Breakdown and capitalisation of ESPON results on different scales
Aim
Disseminating ESPON results goes along with several challenges with regard to scales. Especially stakeholders from the sub-national level often question the relevance of ESPON for their purposes. The aim of this project is to develop strategies to deal with the challenges of scales within the capitalisation of ESPON results.
Starting point for the development of ‘scale-sensible dissemination’ are the following strategies:
- ‘Zooming in’ – This strategy is the most obvious strategy, but in many cases this is only possible by linking ESPON results to domestic data.
- ‘European Comparison’ – Comparing the local, regional or national position with a larger space is often more promising: using European averages, European trends, multinational constellations etc. offer a variety of quite ‘didactic’ approaches.
- ‘Bi/multi-lateral comparison’ – Comparisons on (multi-) local, regional, national level are most promising: identifying groups of areas with similar challenges or profiles can be of high interest to political decision makers. These areas can be neighbouring but also dispersed. These comparisons can both feed the debate on Territorial Cohesion (regions with particular challenges) but also help establishing groups of stakeholders with regard to Priority-2-consortiums.
Main results in terms of capitalisation
A manual will be developed, bringing together the results of the seminars. The manual will provide advice on how to handle the problem of scale and how to use ESPON results on different levels.
By structuring the manual in two parts, the manual will target two complementary user groups:
- The manual will provide guidelines to facilitate the presentation of ESPON results at different scales depending on the involved countries. It will handle the variety of ESPON results from the more local scale to the more European and global scale
- The manual will also provide thematic guidelines dedicated to specific European challenges and focussing on the themes of the seminars. It will focus on the scales challenges are comparable when talking about urban functions, transport and economy.
Main activities envisaged
- Seminar: cities, regional development and planning, Luxembourg (Sept-Oct 2011)
- Seminar: urban-rural relations, Hungary (Sept-Oct 2011)
- Seminar: economy, innovation and accessibility, Switzerland (March 2012)
- Seminar: risk management, climate change and culture, Austria (March 2012)
- Final seminar: SCALES–ESPON results in transnational and national focus, Germany (Sept 2012)
Lead Partner
Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR), DE
Detailed information on the contracted project team can be found under Transnational Project Groups.
Budget: € 337.790,00
Project’s lifetime: 30 September 2010 – 30 April 2013
Delivery of Reports
Draft Final Report: 31 January 2013
Final Report: 30 April 2013
More information
Please contact the Project Expert at the ESPON Coordination Unit:
Marjan VAN HERWIJNEN, e-mail: marjan.vanherwijnen@espon.eu
