Scientific Conference

"Science in support of European Territorial Development and Cohesion"

Luxembourg, 12-13 September 2013

ESPON invited for a two days Scientific Conference on "Science in support of European Territorial Development and Cohesion". The Conference took place in Luxembourg on 12 and 13 September 2013.

Context

This ESPON Conference targeted territorial research and analysis with the aim to continue building a European scientific research community in the field of territorial development and cohesion. In this context, the Conference, in cooperation with European professional and academic organisations covering different relevant academic disciplines, created a scientific dialogue in Europe on methodologies and concepts developed and applied to support a territorial dimension in policy development.

Aim

The conference aimed on the one hand to provide a good overview and scientific dialogue of the progress made in the scientific field during the current programming period. On the other hand, ongoing ESPON projects as well as researchers outside the ESPON network had the opportunity to make use of new and innovative research carried out until now and use scientific feedback received during the conference in their own research.

European scientific field of territorial research

The conference involved the network of scientists in the field of territorial research and related fields and was organised in close cooperation with European professional and academic organisations from different disciplines. By this cooperation, the ambition was to exchange experiences and foster discussions with other scientific researchers in the same field and finally use the input from all participants to sharpen the methodologies used. The main aim was to jointly discuss the state of applied territorial research and ways to improve and promote this field. The European professional and scientific organisations that cooperated in this conference were: AESOP, ECTP-CEU, ERSA, EUGEO and RSA.

Purpose

The general purpose of the Conference was to discuss elements such as concepts, methodologies, indicators, typologies, tools, maps and models developed and/or used within the ESPON projects and the European scientific research community in the field of territorial development and cohesion. The conference also contributed to the development and improvement of concepts and methods related to the 11 thematic objectives on which the future European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF) shall be concentrated.

Scientific Report

All papers presented at the ESPON Scientific Conference will be included in the second ESPON 2013 Scientific Report. The report is targeting the European scientific community involved in research and higher education on territorial development and cohesion and will be published at the ESPON website by January 2014.

Audience

About 100 people attended the conference. Besides providing a podium to scientist in the field of territorial research, the Scientific Conference also aimed to involve policy makers using the results of territorial research for their policy related processes. The plenary sessions focused on the linkages between the scientists and policy makers and aimed to bring the research interest of the scientists closer to the needs of the policy makers. In addition, parallel sessions looked into policy related issues, such as how can research support policy, how can research results best be communicated to policy makers and what (new) scientific theories, concepts, methods and approaches can be considered to support the territorial approach in (sectoral/developmental) policies.

 Further information

• Please find below the programme, the presentations shown and the conclusions of the conference.
• Contact the ESPON Coordination Unit at [email protected] for additional details. 

This event is organised within the framework of the ESPON 2013 Capitalisation Strategy
(Actions related to European Seminars and Workshops)

"Science in support of European Territorial Development and Cohesion"

Luxembourg, 12-13 September 2013