A European Territorial Research Community University of Luxembourg October 2005 Linking Territorial Research and Practice: An agenda for the future Cliff Hague

Towards a European Research and Practice Agenda Before...

Towards a European Research and Practice Agenda!!!

Feeding research results into policy processes Goal: “absorption” of research results (out of 5) –by Direct. General for Spatial Policy+++ –by other departments++ –by other government levels+ Means: raise issues –Are the data reliable, in line with our own data? –Do the concepts match or contradict? –Are the policy recommandations in line with national policies? –Do they enhance or weaken our position?

Knowledge and Power in Territorial Research Space – geographical positioning Territory – governance of space Scales – from nation states to ‘glocalisation’ Networks – who is connected and who is excluded? Institutions – organisations, rules, ethos

The shaping of ESPON The Commission, its Directorates and the Member States – the European project of building consensus amongst policy elites This model was rejected in 2005 referenda From land use planning to spatial planning and now territorial cohesion (from ESPON to ETCON?)

Contested concepts are sanitised Conflicts are subsumed into ambiguous concepts as a basis for agreement Lawyers and bureaucrats codify those concepts and define the rationality and legitimacy of practices Research provides the information base to operate the concepts

Territorial research practice in ESPON Prime emphasis on the European Scale – 29 countries Limited attention to neighbouring countries and to ‘Europe in the World’ Limited focus on intra-regional or urban scale; exclusion of intra-urban analysis Wider territorial research community needs to fill the gaps

Territorial research practice in ESPON Development and mapping of indicators and typologies Data limitations ‘Snapshot’ rather than process Concepts demonstrated and made operational Role for the wider territorial research community is scrutiny and critical assessment

Some areas for debate Deconstruct ‘territorial cohesion’ – who defines its meaning and how? Can competitiveness and cohesion be reconciled in territorial practice? From standardised infrastructure provision by governments to markets and choice – what are the territorial impacts and opportunities?

Social Cohesion and Diversity: Good Practice Delivering equality of opportunity requires an understanding and valuing of diversity Equality and diversity need to be ‘mainstream’ concerns in an organisation and its codes of practice Organisational cultures can create institutional discrimination Outreach and positive action are needed to counter disadvantage Information collection, consultation, policy evaluation and monitoring

Policy analysis and practice The territorial research community needs to provide support for territorial policy – but subject territorial policy to critical review What are the aims? Whose aims are they? What are the relations between aims, means and implementation? What are the unintended side- effects? What happens if no action is taken? Is it the policy – or other factors – that creates the output?

INTERREG Practice in INTERREG projects can benefit from stronger inputs from the territorial research community – yet is also an under-researched area Concern that INTERREG IV will become very topic based – and lose the integrative aspect that is vital to spatial planning

Connecting territorial research to the practice community Spatial planning practice in most countries is pragmatic and reactive to problems, rather than evidence-based policy- making ‘User-friendly’ interface with national, regional and local governments to make the connections Scope for ‘laboratory regions’?

Models of research influencing policy and practice Data collection and interpretation to reveal patterns, causes and remedies – e.g. public health movement in the 19 th century Popular text that influences public opinion and the policy environment – e.g. “Silent Spring” Contesting paradigms at a time of crisis – e.g. Keynes / ‘the boys from Chicago’ Socialisation of professionals through research-led teaching

Towards an innovative research and practice relation Innovation as a spiral of collective learning involving users rather than a straight line from laboratory to product Importance of tacit understanding and networks that can access knowledge from outside the organisation ESPON as a catalyst to build identity and strengthen networks and connections within the European territorial research community

Summary The territorial dimension of policy is weakly developed and still contested ESPON is a major achievement Territorial research needs to probe and make more robust key consensual concepts such as ‘territorial cohesion’ and ‘polycentric development’ Stronger links can be made to policy and practice and the wider territorial research community