ESPON TeDi

Territorial Diversity in the European and national perspective

Suceava 21st of July 2010Senior Adviser Odd Godal

Erik Gløersen

The project rationale

• The Territorial Agenda stressed that policy orientations and actions should contribute towards overall policy goals like Gothenburg and Lisbon strategy.

• All types of regions through out Europe contribute towards common goals like sustainable growth, employment etc

• But challenges and opportunities differ from region to region

• In order to contribute to overall goals regions need to develop strategies based on their comparative advantages

Erik Gløersen

Thematic scope for the targeted analysis

• It is often assumed that only metropolitan areas and major urban areas can significantly contribute towards overall policy goals

• A comprehensive territorial cohesion policy should not only take account of territorial cohesion but also take account of territorial diversity

• In this respect there is a need to develop differentiated regional and spatial policies which fit the potentials present in the individual region or areas

• Questions we would like to see addressed where how to ensure a sustainable development based on regional comparative advantages, improve the foundation of development and develop actions that enable the targeted regions

Erik Gløersen

Stakeholders

• Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Norway (Lead Stakeholder)

• Ministry for Regional Development and Tourism Romania• Ministry of Employment and Economy, Finland • Swiss Federal Office for Spatial Development ARE,

Switzerland • Department of Town Planning and Housing, Ministry of

the Interior, Cyprus • National Rural Development Agency, Sweden • Malta Environment & Planning, Malta

Erik Gløersen

The ESPON TeDi project team

- Island Consulting Services, Malta- University of Akureyri, Iceland

Erik Gløersen

Demographic trends

Erik Gløersen

Economic activities

• Diversity of situations• Diversity of situations• Diversity of situations

Relative importance of

-Agriculture

-Services

-Manufacturing

Diversity of situations

Erik Gløersen

Ensuring a sustainable development based on regional comparative advantages

- The assets are generally well identified

- However, the analysis of exploitation of regional comparative advantages are generally insufficent. One way of approaching this is a systematic approch based on three key factors:- Local natrual resources- Human capital- Institutional context/governance

- Territorial approach can make this easier to handle

However territories should not be considered in isolation

Erik Gløersen

Inputs to European policy debates

Conceptual clarifications needed:

(1) Level of performance ≠ Structural obstacles to growth

More than average scores ≠ good scores Geographically specific area ≠ Lagging area

(2) Economic importance ≠ Economic weight

(3) Balanced, harmonious and sustainable development requires more than economic growth

geographic specificities may help identifying contradictions and mutually beneficial effects of different types of policies

Erik Gløersen

Inputs to European policy debates

Dealing with geographic specificities is often about creating new types of connections between areas

- Within regions- Across regional and national boundaries

Compensating for imbalances in flows Creating alliances through which actors can strengthen

the robustness and resilience of their local communities Gaining greater weight in economic and political

systems dominated by main urban areas

At the European scale, a change of focus of territorial policies, incorporating the sub-regional scale is required to encourage and accompany these processes.

The focus should be on potentials rather than on relative performance

Erik Gløersen

Suceava – Development opportunities and challenges

Development opportunities

• Extensive natural and cultural heritage to capitalise on• Further economic potential based on products from agriculture, forestry• Well developed, efficient rural school system• Existence of LEADER-like networks of rural stakeholders• Potential European interface to Ukraine and Moldova

Main challenges

• Need for improvement to the transport infrastructure especially rural secondary roads

• Many small agricultural households• Difficult conversion from subsistence farming to commercial farming• Obsolete agricultural production facilites• Unstable legal and fiscal environment

Erik Gløersen

Alba - Development opportunities and challenges

Development opportunities

• High quality agricultural production in small mountain communities• Local handicraft production• Development of agro-turism• Develop the potential of some mountain areas as winter and summer

tourism destinations• Existence of LEADER-like networks of rural stakeholders

Main challenges• Improving access to basic services especially in rural areas• Difficult conversion process in mono-industrial towns with high

unemployment• Limited external investment• Environmental issues linked to waste management and pollution in the

Apunesi Mountains