1. ESPON UK Network, Communities and Local Government & RTPI Development Planning Network UK spatial development evidence base and the ESPON programme Introduction to the ESPON programme Cliff Hague

2. What is ESPON? European Observation Network on Territorial Development and Cohesion. Research that is jointly funded by 31 countries and the ERDF. ESPON 2006 and 2013.

3. Where does ESPON fit in? ESPON National / regional strategies Territorial Agenda Cohesion Reports and Cohesion Policy

4. What can ESPON offer to UK evidence base? reports Scenarios Concepts Methods Typologies Benchmarking & data Targeted analysis Indicators

5. Typologies 56 territorial typologies in ESPON 2006. ESPON 2013 project working to produce 8 typologies 1.Urban/metropolitan regions; 2.Rural regions; 3.Sparsely populated regions; 4.Regions in industrial transition; 5.Cross-border regions; 6.Mountainous regions; 7.Islands; 8.Coastal regions.

6. Research opportunities New round of projects tendered: deadline 11 November. Transnational Project Groups: research institutes from 3 + countries. UK ECP can help with partner search. Euros 14.91 Million.

7. Proposals invited from public bodies for “Targeted analysis” projects Partners from 3 or more countries. A European perspective Transferable results bringing added value for a broader user- group Concrete plan for implementation of findings

8. UK ESPON Contact Point Activity www.espon.org.uk Join the network – it’s free and you don’t have to be an RTPI member. Planning a project on Integrated territorial development strategies. Next workshop: Rural development, 9 Dec.

9. Warning – ESPON can change your outlook I blame that ESPON typology of accessible rural regions. Does this colour suit me? What do you think? ESPON lets you see things differently. No – it was their climate change project.