Shaping the “Next Economy”: The Territorial Dimension of the Future of Work in Southern Europe
Venue
Bucharest, Romania
Hotel Cismigiu
050017 Bucharest
Romania
The free movement of workers and of knowledge are considered like two cornerstones of the European Union, shaping policies and programmes such as Horizon 2020 – considered as the largest science and innovation fund under a single political authority – and Cohesion Policy – which considers Employment and Labour Mobility as one of its eleven priorities.
However, recent ESPON research unveils striking trends and territorial endowments driving the locational preferences of new employment creation: contradictory forces and tensions impact the geographical distribution of new employment creation, strongly influenced by the continuous promotion of the knowledge economy as a key pathway for growth. The uneven territorial consequences of European migration patterns have now become a significant political issue, giving rise to “geographies of discontent” and a growing Euroscepticism.
The ESPON Seminar on “Shaping the “Next Economy”: The Territorial Dimension of the Future of Work in Southern Europe” will examine the territorial dimension of labour markets in Southern Europe, setting forth the need to adopt a place-sensitive approach while broadening the governance perspective for designing effective policies.
Gathering policy-makers from the European, national and regional level, together with ESPON researchers, and international practitioners, the ESPON Seminar will offer a unique framework for discussing questions such as:
- How is the European policy focus on “knowledge economy” sectors for investment, jobs and growth impacting on the geographical distribution of new employment creation and what impact does this have for regional development and territorial cohesion?
- What are the opportunities for adversely affected Southern regions to capitalise on their place-based potential?
- What are best-practice policies and territorial-administrative governance scales to reverse emigration and attract/integrate migrants and human capital?