Context and objective
The ESPON seminar “Transforming Territorial Thinking Through Digitalisation” is organised in cooperation with the Estonian Presidency of the European Union in the framework of the ESPON 2020 Cooperation Programme, which aims to support policy development in relation to the aim of territorial cohesion and harmonious development of the European territory.
The objective of the seminar is to provide new insights and discuss ESPON territorial evidence in policy-making adressing the key topics surrounding current policy debates. The main theme of the seminar is digital transition and how it can tackle challenges and strengthen development potentials of cities and regions accross Europe with a particular focus on digitalisation of governance and public services, using digital tools and data in decision making processes.
Furthermore, the seminar will give insights to the newest ESPON evidence on many of the topics related to the territorial cohesion debates regarding demographic development, labour market, economic diversification and resilience, urban-rural linkages, governance and strategy building, territorial cooperation, spatial planning and governance.
In addition, the seminar will open the floor for discussing the possible paths for the territorial future of Europe focusing on the recent and upcoming works of ESPON and European Commission.
The seminar programme consists of a mix of high profile key note speeches, panel discussions, interactive policy labs and policy pitches. An innovative audience interaction tool will be used to crowd-source the questions from the audience and actively engage the participants in steering the discussions in the policy labs in order to ensure that they are tailor-made to fit the stakeholder demand for developing and implementing new policies. Participants will be encouraged to vote on the most relevant questions and topics, which will generate real-time insights on key issues through live polling of the audience.
Target Groups
The seminar targets policy makers, stakeholders, practitioners, scientists and experts, who are interested in understanding the development challenges and potential of their territory in a wider context and implementing policies “on the ground”, and how ESPON evidence can support European policy processes on territorial issues and support the use of European territorial evidence for policy development and ESIF programmes implementation.
The seminar is open for all, but has a maximum capacity of 250 participants. Participating is free of charge but each participant has to cover expenses for their own travel arrangements and accommodation
Programme and more information
The draft programme is available for download below. The registration is open until 22 November 2017. We look forward to welcoming you in Tallinn.
For more information on the ESPON High-Level Conference, please contact info@espon.eu.