ESPON Partner States Workshop 11 March 2014, Brussels Dr Kai Böhme Spatial Foresight Potentials and Challenges for Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland – and for the European Union

Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland are tightly linked with the EU Institutional link EFTA EEA Schengen Switzerland's bilateral agreements Economic links Trade Labour force Institutional links

… Smart Growth Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland perform better than most EU Member States in relation to smart growth Energy intensive industries and raw material extraction play a role in Norway and Iceland R&D in relation to GDP/capita needs to be interpreted with great care (different types of innovation..)

Sustainable Growth Iceland, Norway and Switzerland generate considerable amounts of hydroelectric & other renewable energy Mixed picture for greenhouse gas emissions, however seen per GDP unit, emissions are lower than for EU Member States

Inclusive Growth Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland have a wealthy and highly educated population Iceland and Norway have higher shares of early school leavers than most EU Member States

Cities in the Partner States play important roles also in an international or European perspective e.g. in the fields of - transport - economy and business - knowledge and research - human attraction Cities in EU Member States are at the same time important hubs for the Partner States Urban Centres & Hubs

European core hosts more networking regions and many science based areas Switzerland and Liechtenstein stand out in knowledge networking Reykjavik, Akureyri, Oslo, Trondheim and Bergen are university hubs Knowledge Networks

Trans-European transport Well integrated in the main European networks Transit routes an issue for Switzerland Maritime transport in Norway and Iceland Global airport hubs (e.g. Zurich and Reykjavik) Cross-border transport Well integrated labour markets Daily cross-border commuting is important in several Partner State Regions Role of regional airports Transport

Importance of specific areas argued by Partner States (mountains …) Challenges of climate change (avalanche hazards …) Potential e.g. in the field of renewable energy Specific Territories

Avalanche Hazards 10

Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland are highly integrated in different types of cooperation Access to services of general economic interest are key cooperation topics Still various obstacles in daily cooperation Local & Regional Cooperation

…. Cooperation barriers & potentials Example of Upper-Rhine

Partner States … are in the European Power House perform well in relation to Europe 2020 objectives are diverse Partner States and the EU … benefit from each other are tightly linked in their territorial development have various cross-border polycentric functional regions have highly integrated transport systems which require policy cooperation can cooperate on maritime policies, energy policies, … have joint macro-regional areas Key findings

Dr. Kai Böhme Spatial Foresight GmbH Thank you very much for your attention !