Following the previous framework contract that expired at the end of 2020, Spatial Foresight was awarded again the framework contract for studies in the field of Cohesion Policy and Urban Policy commissioned by the European Committee of the Regions. Studies requested were to support the rapid response capability of the Committee of the Regions and supported the development of opinions. Topics covered included the EU Multi-annual Financial Framework, Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion, Cohesion Policy Funds, Territorial Development, Urban Policy, Spatial Planning and Housing, Territorial Cooperation and Macro-regional Strategies, Regional Statistics and Indicators. The framework contract was coordinated by Spatial Foresight and the studies were elaborated in cooperation with t33 and ÖIR.

Client: European Committee of the Regions

Duration: March 2021 - March 2024

Good governance is a key condition for the implementation of EU Cohesion Policy. The European Commission’s DG REGIO supports this inter alia via its Peer-2-Peer and Communities of Practices initiatives. Both initiatives encourage the exchange of practices among practitioners implementing Cohesion Policy in Europe’s cities and regions.   Between spring 2021 and spring 20224, Spatial Foresight has supported several events and communities in this context. The work was done in cooperation with ÖIR and t33, who was the lead partner.

Client: European Commission, DG Regio

Duration: May 2021 – April 2024

Spatial Foresight had the honour to support the group of high-Level specialists on the future of Cohesion Policy, set up by Commissioner Elisa Ferreira to reflect on the future of Cohesion Policy. Over 10 meetings, the group – composed of high-level members from academia and practice – reflected on various aspects of the future of Cohesion Policy and devolved conclusions and recommendations. These are summarised in the group's final report, and feed into the 9th Cohesion Report in 2024 and the mid-term review of cohesion policy in 2025. Spatial Foresight supported the preparation of the group meetings, the drafting of input papers, summaries, minutes and the development of the final report of the group.

The final report and papers for the meetings of the group are available at this link.

A Spatial Foresight blog post summarising the discussions of the group is available at this link.

Client: European Commission, DG Regio

Duration: November 2022 - February 2024

Cohesion Policy is an indispensable element of allowing all citizens and all places to have a fair chance to reap the benefits of the Single Market. It is of crucial importance for the proper functioning of the EU’s Single Market. Therefore, a strong Cohesion Policy is necessary.
The study looked into the relationship between Cohesion Policy and the functioning of the Single Market, and in how far Cohesion Policy is contributing to the latter’s performance and mitigating any negative impacts. The study was carried out by Spatial Foresight in cooperation with ÖIR.
The final report of the study can be found here: https://cor.europa.eu/en/engage/studies/Documents/cohesion-policy-single-market-cost-non-cohesion.pdf

Client:European Committee of the Regions

Duration: July 2023 - January 2024

Following a previous study on the development of Simplified Cost Options (SCO) at EU level in the fields of energy efficiency and renewable energy, research and innovation as well as SME growth and competitiveness Spatial Foresight also contributed to a second study on SCO launched by the European Commission, DG REGIO on further policy measures. The study analysed expenditures of the 2014-2020 programming period in the sectors of health, Information & Communication Technology (ICT) and Environment to support the development of SCO in these fields. The study leader is t33 and Spatial Foresight colleagues contributed with data collection and knowledge of selected Member States.

Client: European Commission

Duration: 2021 - 2023

Within the framework contract of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) led by t33, Spatial Foresight was assigned to lead a contract on the analysis of decentralisation processes in the context of the European Semester. The focus of this contract was on the different dimensions of decentralisation which may be implemented at different levels of government. The study, firstly, assessed the relevance of the corresponding OECD guidelines for effective decentralisation in EU Member States and the potential occurrence of 'unfunded mandates' at lower levels of government. Secondly, it looked into different processes and elements of the European Semester to analyse its relevance and potential for effective decentralisation. Apart from an EU wide review, the analysis includes two national in-depth analyses of France and Romania and two regional reviews of these processes in Västra Götaland (Sweden) and the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Download.

Client: European Committee of the Regions

Duration: April 2023 - June 2023

The European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) launched a study for a research paper on the early implementation of the 'Erasmus +', 'Creative Europe', the 'European Solidarity Corps' programmes and Strand 3 of the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV). The study was awarded in the context of a framework contract led by ÖIR. Spatial Foresight coordinated this study research paper, and implemented it together with ÖIR, VVA and inforelais. The objective was to assess the early implementation of these four funding programmes with a focus on the calls for proposals launched at EU and national level and the selected proposals. Examples of specific types of actions and for selected countries complemented the analysis to effectively illustrate different approaches, successes and challenges. The study feeds into the policy process and further implementation of the four programmes. Download.

Client: European Parliament

Duration: February 2023 - August 2023

Spatial Foresight contributed to the DG Regio "Study to develop EU level Simplified Cost Options (SCOs) and other EU level results-based tools in the programming period 2021-2027" led by PPMI and t33. Spatial Foresight was responsible for collecting historical data in several Member States in three areas of ERDF and Cohesion Fund interventions, namely energy efficiency and renewable energy, research and innovation as well as SME growth and competitiveness.

Client: European Commission

Duration: April 2022 - March 2023

To support the European Parliament’s work with the Territorial Agenda, Spatial Foresight had been commissioned to prepare a review on the state of play concerning the objectives, implementation and expected impacts of the Territorial Agenda. The review also provides information about potential future developments regarding Territorial Agenda. The report is available in this link.

Client: European Parliament

Duration: May 2023 - June 2023

We are living in a changing world. What does this mean for the Territorial Agenda 2030? Spatial Foresight supported the Swedish EU Presidency with a short think piece about trends shaping territorial cohesion and possible implications for the Territorial Agenda. A combined picture suggests that future trends are likely to exacerbate spatial and societal fragmentation, interdependencies and policy mismatches. Therefore, more emphasis is needed to establish the Territorial Agenda 2030 as a platform and forum bringing together the players, mobilising them to increase resilience together and avoid increasing disparities between people and places.

Client: Swedish Ministry of Rural Affairs and Infrastructure

Duration: March 2023 – June 2023

The debate about Cohesion Policy post 2027 has already started. Meanwhile, many of the adjustments of the delivery mechanism introduced in recent years still have to show whether they help to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of Cohesion Policy.
To facilitate the discussion about which changes to delivery mechanisms are worth carrying over to post 2027, this study offers a first review of changes in the 2021-2027 regulations, flexibilities introduced in Cohesion Policy regulations to face the pandemic and refugee crises, and possible lessons from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
The work has been carried out by Spatial Foresight in cooperation with t33 and ÖIR.

Client: European Committee of the Regions

Duration: January 2023 - June 2023

Cross-border public services (CPS) are central to overcoming disadvantages in development perspectives of border regions. Their potential for internal and external EU border regions has been increasingly recognised in previous years. Following previous studies in this field, Spatial Foresight was contracted by DG Regio to further elaborate on the conceptual framework supporting a steady and sustainable monitoring of CPS. Results include a WebApplication with extensive information on CPS, 30 new case studies and an updated analyses of the geographic and thematice existence of CPS together with recommendations for future promotion of these services. The study was carried out in partnership with TCP International, t33, EureConsult and terrestris. The final results are available for download.

Client: European Commission, DG REGIO

Duration: July 2021 - May 2022

This study analyses the state of play of the debate on indicators beyond the GDP, even if a consensus to enlarge the use of the GDP has not been reach yet. Building on existing research and analysis, and taking account of many sources of indicators available at European and global level to measuring well-being and the territorial dimension of the Sustainable Development Goals, the study identifies possible complementarity indicators to GDP.

Client: European Committee of the Regions

Duration: October - December 2022

Spatial Foresight together with Martijn de Bruijn conducted the impact evaluation of URBACT III. In the 2014-2020 cohesion policy period URBACT III was one of several instruments supporting cities to improve the design and implementation of sustainable urban strategies and action plans. It enabled cities to work together and develop integrated solutions to common urban challenges by networking, learning from one another’s experiences, drawing lessons and identifying good practices to improve urban policies. While the Annual Implementation Reports of the programme inform that the four objectives of the EUR 96 million programme have been achieved, the theory-based impact evaluation investigated ‘what change did URBACT III make’ and ‘why and how has it worked?’. It did so by qualifying the results, explaining the mechanism leading to the results and identifying main external factors. The report can be found on the URBACT website.

Client: URBACT Secretariat – ANCT

Duration: November 2021 – October 2022

Cities with a declining population have to cope with various issues. One of the issues concerns the question how to maintain the supply of infrastructure if the declining population causes reduced tax revenues. These issues can be dealt with in various ways.The RE-CITY project perceived shrinkage as an opportunity in the years to come. Hence, the RE-CITY worked creative and innovative solutions to these types of issues. The knowledge produced by the RE-CITY project can be incorporated into new interdisciplinary concepts in urban planning.

To do so, the project promoted young scientists. Within the framework of a graduate school, 13 PhD students conducted research in the project's international network. The project included setting up a structured training programme to deal intensively with the topic in workshops, lectures and internships.

Spatial Foresight had been awarded a Horizon 2020 grant as part of a consortium including 16 universities and 9 research institutes, agencies and consultancies under the lead of the University of Kaiserslautern. This research project focused on finding new ways of maintaining or improving the quality of life in shrinking cities.

Spatial Foresight’s role in this research project was on the one hand supporting the research by providing inputs from the practical field and organising workshops. On the other hand, Spatial Foresight hosted one of the PhD students who wrote his PhD about the future of shrinking areas in the EU - potential policy impacts in light of pressing pandemic, environmental and institutional challenges. A teaser of this PhD is available in our blog.

More information about the project can be found on: www.uni-kl.de/re-city

Client: European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme
Duration: October 2018 - March 2022

Cross-border regions need particular attention. They still face bottlenecks and obstacles hampering businesses and citizens. Cross-border transport is one central means to facilitate cross-border activities. This study analysed the provision of cross-border public transport in Europe by compiling the first comprehensive inventory of such services and looking into obstacles and solutions that affect such service development and provision. The study provided hands-on support to planners and implementers of cross-border public transport services to facilitate integration in cross-border regions. Spatial Foresight carried out this study together with TCP International, EureConsult and TRT. Please, find more information on the project here.

Client: European Commission, DG REGIO

Duration: October 2020 - September 2021

The general objective of the project was to inform members of the REGI Committee on the impacts the COVID-19 pandemic had on cohesion and EU cohesion policy. The project basically covers two sequenced studies, one delivered in 2021 and one in 2022. Both studies addressed (a) the pandemic’s impacts on cohesion, and (b) the cohesion policy dimension of the pandemic. The 2021 study had a stronger focus on cohesion policy and the 2022 study a stronger focus on cohesion.

The project is carried out by Spatial Foresight in cooperation with t33.

Client: European Parliament

Duration: Duration: June 2021 - December 2022

The European Commission (mainly DG REGIO) supports administrative capacity building through Cohesion Policy at EU and national level through various capacity building instruments. This study provided an overview on the various support schemes and their offers to stimulate a discussion about possible synergies and complementarities between them. In a second step, the study involved a co-creative process with a wide range of stakeholders to see how various capacity building tools can be brought together and possibly re-designed in a comprehensive support scheme. The results were taken forward by DG REGIO in their work on administrative capacity building and the set up of a high level network of Managing Authorities working with capacity building. The study was led by t33 in cooperation with Spatial Foresight.

Client: European Commission, DG REGIO

Duration: September 2021 – August 2022

Following up on the success of the Handbook of Sustainable Urban Development Strategies, the European Joint Research Centre (JRC) developed an additional complementary handbook. The new handbook extends the focus beyond urban areas and focuses on territorial and local development strategies in more general terms.

The new handbook targets policy makers from Managing Authorities and local bodies responsible for the design and implementation of integrated strategies in non-urban areas, benefitting from financial support under cohesion policy.

Spatial Foresight supported the JRC in the development of the handbook, by editing the introduction and the chapters on the strategic dimension and the territorial focus.

Client: European Joint Research Centre

Duration: June 2022 - September 2022

The Committee of the Regions has asked Spatial Foresight, ÖIR and t33 to elaborate a handbook on the implementation of the European Green Deal at the regional and local levels. This handbook is a component of a broader communication campaign entitled "the European Green Deal goes local". It provides information about the general logic of the European Green Deal, and step by step guidance on how local and regional authorities may approach specific themes and issues.

Client: European Committee of the Regions

Duration: February 2022 – April 2022

Spatial Foresight developed a web app for the ESPON EGTC, which is to jointly elaborate representations of territorial cooperation areas and institutional landscapes in a workshop context. The idea of developing such a web app emerged during a previous ESPON project called ACTAREA. The project team included web app developer experts from IbisDev (France) and territorial cooperation experts from the Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen (Germany) and from the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom).

Client: ESPON EGTC

Duration: June 2020 - February 2022

Spatial Foresight together with its partners TCP International, Association of the European Border Regions (AEBR) and Mission Opérationnelle Transfrontalière (MOT) upgraded and updated inventory produced within the ESPON targeted analysis on cross-border Public Services (CPS). CPS address joint problems or development potential in cross-border regions. They are provided on a long-term basis and aim to generate benefits for the general public or a specific target group in the cross-border territory, contributing to improving living conditions in border regions. The first CPS data base was produced under the ESPON targeted analysis in 2018, had roughly 20 indicators and information on about 570 CPS. The new database is the result of complementary activities with a parallel study by DG Regio CPS (2021-2022) and is therefore referred now as the ESPON-REGIO CPS database. It has about 70 indicators describing CPS and the framework in which they are operating. The database contains information on more than 1500 CPS within nine policy fields. Please, find more information on the project here.

Client: ESPON EGTC

Duration: October 2021 – September 2022

The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) under Next Generation EU represents the main instrument that should contribute to the green and digital transformation with the main goal of achieving sustainability and resilience after the pandemic crisis.  In the recent Committee of the Regions (CoR) Opinion ‘’Delivering on the SDGs by 2030’’ the need for more cohesive collaboration between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and all EU policies has been underlined.

This study assessed the integration of the SDGs in the European Semester and the Recovery and Resilience Facility at European, national, regional and local level. One part of the study focused on the 5 pilot areas (cities and regions) identifying best practices and trends toward the implementation of the SDGs and RRF objectives. This part of the study should help in identifying and overcoming bottlenecks that could arise in achieving coherence between the NRRPs and the SDGs. The study also provides conclusions on how to improve the integration of the SDGs in the recovery phase.

Client: European Committee of the Regions

Duration: May 2022 - August 2022

The Ukrainian deaths and the material losses of the country caused by the war in Ukraine are incommensurable. At the same time the impacts of the war affect also regions and cities in the EU – although not as devastating.

For Europe, this aggression and the following sanctions mean rising energy prices and also disrupted trade links with that country. Food security is also threatened, given the importance of Ukraine in the supply of, among other goods, cereals to EU member states.

A direct result of the Russian invasion is a direct threat to European Union's energy security and has exposed EU's dependence on Russian energy imports which are on levels that are no longer politically sustainable. In that light, the European Commission has proposed an outline of a plan to make Europe independent from Russian fossil fuels well before 2030, starting with gas.

This study analyses the potential impacts of the war and the RePowerEU policy on Europe's regions.

The study was carried out by ÖIR in cooperation with Spatial Foresight.

Client: European Committee of the Regions

Duration: Duration: April - July 2022

Spatial Foresight together with UNIGE and ÖIR supported the ESPON EGTC in further developing and running the ESPON 2020 Database.

Spatial Foresight was responsible for organising the delivery of data from ESPON activities (projects) into the Database (www.database.espon.eu) . This implied direct interactions with project managers to structure and develop a delivery that fits with the concept and standards of the Database, in order for the public to make the most out of ESPON data. The process was implemented and monitored through an online upload interface directly connected to the ESPON Database.

Client: ESPON EGTC

Duration: Duration: April 2021 - August 2022

In preparation of the ‘EU Annual Regional and Local Barometer 2022’, this study analysed what the COVID-19 pandemic means to the development and future perspectives of regions and cities in Europe. The study was a further development of the CoR studies on ‘potential impacts of COVID-19 on regions and cities of the EU’ carried out in summer 2020 and summer 2021. This time, a particular focus was on the actual impacts of COVID-19 and the subsequent policy measures. This included an analysis of how EU emergency, recovery and resilience measures (especially the Recovery and Resilience Facility) affect regions and cities in the EU. The analysis of the impacts and effects of recovery and resilience measures are accompanied by a follow-up of the regional case studies conducted for the study presented in summer 2021. The study was carried out in cooperation with t33 and ÖIR.

The final report is availalbe here.

First results on potential impacts of the war in Ukraine are presented in our blog.

Client: European Committee of the Regions

Duration: January - July 2022

The Ukrainian deaths and the material losses of the country caused by the war in Ukraine are already incommensurable. At the same time the impacts of the war affect also regions and cities in the EU – although not as devastating.

For Europe, this aggression and the following sanctions mean rising energy prices and also disrupted trade links with that country. Food security is also threatened, given the importance of Ukraine in the supply of, among other goods, cereals to EU member states.

A direct result of the Russian invasion is a direct threat to European Union's energy security and has exposed EU's dependence on Russian energy imports which are on levels that are no longer politically sustainable. In that light, the European Commission has proposed an outline of a plan to make Europe independent from Russian fossil fuels well before 2030, starting with gas.

This study analysed the potential impacts of the war and the RePowerEU policy on Europe's regions.

The study was carried out by ÖIR in cooperation with Spatial Foresight.

Client: European Committee of the Regions

Duration: Duration: April - July 2022

Spatial Foresight was contracted by INTERACT to contribute to the design and delivery of the pilot programme “Capacity building programme for capacity builders in the EU macro-regional strategies (MRS)” to develop and enhance capacity of the MRS support units.

INTERACT supports Interreg programmes in their implementation and encourages innovative ways of cooperating in Europe by supporting the exchanges across and implementing the four EU macro-regional strategies to facilitate cooperation. In this context it developed a pilot programme, which consited of seven interconnected and complementary modules that were developed and implemented between Summer 2021 and June 2022.

Client: INTERACT

Duration: Duration: June 2021 - June 2022

Spatial Foresight supported the EIB in a review of its multi-criteria analysis for the ex-ante appraisal of projects in the field of regional development. The review paid specific attention to the criteria set out in the methodology for evaluating the contribution to balanced territorial development, and assessed the relevance and completeness of these criteria. Based on the review recommendations for possible further improvements of the analysis criteria have been made.

Client: European Investement Bank

Spatial Foresight, together with ÖIR, was contracted by the European Commission's Knowledge Centre for Bioeconomy (KCB) to elaborate a "Study on mapping the deployment of regional bioeconomies in Europe". The study mapped bioeconomy strategies/action plans at regional level in the EU and analysed commonalities and divergences among regional strategies across the EU. The study results fed into the Commission’s Progress Report on the Bioeconomy Action Plan in the first quarter of 2022.

A summary of the key findings is available in our blog.

The full report is available here.

Spatial Foresight coordinated an ESPON Targeted analysis dealing with integrated development opportunities of regions covering large lakes in Europe. The study focused more on the Balaton, Constance, and Vänern lakes. In addition, smaller case studies of 9 other lake regions were carried out. The objectives were to compile comparable evidence from these different regions, to elaborate guidelines for their integrated territorial development and to help them to position themselves in wider national and European policy contexts. The project also involved the Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen (Germany), the HÉTFA research institute in Budapest (Hungary) and a number of additional experts from case study areas.

Client: ESPON EGTC

Duration: October 2020 - April 2022

Spatial Foresight produced an atlas-like set country fiche on Spain. Based on ESPON 2014-2020 evidence and maps, this document provided an overview of what topics and issues ESPON projects have touched upon, with a specific focus on Spain. 25 ESPON maps were reproduced each with a zoom-in on Spain and a dedicated description (patterns and trends at EU level and in Spain).

Client: ESPON

Duration: December 2021 - March 2022

Spatial Foresight was awarded a study on new trade and economic relations between the EU and UK. This study provided insights on the impacts of the changes implied by Brexit on regions and cities. It was an update to a previous study on potential regional impacts of Brexit in 2018 looking into more impacts of Brexit and widening the scope of regions. It included findings on effects following the EU-UK Trade Cooperation Agreement coming into force. Spatial Foresight conducted case studies for Western Sweden, South-East Ireland and Hesse.

The study was part of a framework contract with the European Committee of the Regions, SEDEC Commission, led by t33.

Client: European Committee of the Regions

Duration: January 2022 – March 2022

This study strengthened the methodological base for rural proofing, as a tool for territorial impact assessments focused on rural areas. The study offers an overview of the state of play of rural proofing, both within the EU institutions and outside. It provides a summary of existing approaches to rural proofing, and also of tools not specifically designed for rural proofing, but which can be used for it. Based on this, the study advises on which methodologies can be used under which circumstances/ by which users, providing practical guidance for policy makers. Finally, the study shows the need for a specific methodology for rural proofing and how it could look like.

The study is carried out by ÖIR in cooperation with Spatial Foresight.

The proposal for a more future-wise approach to rural proofing is summarised in our blog.

Client: European Committee of the Regions

Duration: February – May 2022

There are emerging issues, uncertainties and choices that will shape the future, not at least in relation to the green and digital transition. In this context it is important to consider small urban areas in order to ensure that no territory is left behind.

This study analyses the specificities of small urban areas, and explores how they can contribute to managing the current green and digital transitions. The study comprises also a foresight assessment on the capacity of the small urban authorities to manage the current transitions. Furthermore, it will develop scenarios on how to mitigate the territorial impact of the current transitions.

The study was carried out by Spatial Foresight in cooperation with ÖIR.

The final report is availalbe here and a summary is available in our blog.

Client: European Committee of the Regions

Duration: February – May 2022

Spatial Foresight senior consultant Erik Gløersen helped DG REGIO compiling good practices addressing social and economic challenges in areas confronted to demographic decline supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). In doing so, he provided inputs for the design and implementation of programmes in the 2021-2027 programming period. Key questions addressed were: what are the causes and implications of population decline prevail in different European Member States and regions? What policy objectives are pursued in relation to associated social and economic challenges? How would the ERDF contribute to their achievement? How can population decline best be factored in when pursuing ERDF policy objectives?

Insights gained during the task inspired our blog post: prepared for population decline?

Client: European Commission, DG REGIO

Duration: Duration: February 2021 - October 2021

Cross-border regions need particular attention. They still face bottlenecks and obstacles hampering businesses and citizens. Cross-border transport is one central means to facilitate cross-border activities.

This study analysed the provision of cross-border public transport in Europe by compiling the first comprehensive inventory of such services and looking into obstacles and solutions that affect such service development and provision. The study provides hands-on support to planners and implementers of cross-border public transport services to facilitate integration in cross-border regions. Spatial Foresight carried out this study together with TCP International, EureConsult and TRT.

The final report is available here.

A webviewer displaying cross-border public transport routes can be access via www.crossbordertransport.eu

Client: European Commission, DG REGIO

Duration: October 2020 - December 2021

Economic, social and territorial cohesion are overall aims and values of the EU. Besides Cohesion Policy also other EU policies and initiatives (must) contribute to the cohesion objective. In an earlier study, we have assessed 15 EU policies according to their ‘Cohesion Spirit’. Following up on this, the new study looked at how the European Committee of the Regions pro-actively can strengthen cohesion as overall value in policy debates. The aim of this study is to strengthen the place based approach, multi-level governance and a strong partnership principle in delivering these EU key policies with an impact on the convergence of regions and Member States.

The full report is available here.

There are also two blog posts based on the study, one presenting the proposed Cohesion Spirit Compass and one on the meaning of cohesion.

Client: European Committee of the Regions

Duration: Duration: June 2021 - November 2021

The tourist sector is vital to the economy in many European regions and it one of the sectors mostly heavily affected by COVID-19, both in the short-term and in the medium to long-term. This study assessed how various types of tourist regions are affected by COVID-19 and what future developments in the tourism sector might bring for them. The study combined the territorial diversity and economic importance of the tourism sector (and its prospective) with the territorial diverse impacts of COVID19 and policy responses to the pandemic and recovery measures. There is also a time dimension to it, as the impacts of their territoriality differ between what we have seen during spring 2020 (lockdown phase), summer/winter 2020 (holiday season with travel restrictions) and what expect to see in the medium term (post 2022).

The study has been carried out by Spatial Foresight in cooperation with t33, NECSTouR and AnySolution.

Selected results are presented in a blog post.

The full report is available here.

Client: European Commission, DG REGIO

Duration: November 2020 - November 2021

Spatial Foresight, under the lead of ECORYS NL, has produced an atlas/roadmap for urban maritime regions based on experiences collected in East Flanders (NL), Liguria (IT), Crete (IT) and Malta. This atlas reflects the diversity of challenges faced by European urban maritime regions and how economic clusters can support sustainable development of these regions.

The final report, including the atlas, can be downloaded from the ESPON webpage.

Client: ESPON EGTC
Duration: February 2020 - February 2021

In preparation of the ‘EU Annual Regional and Local Barometer 2021’, this study analysed what the COVID-19 pandemic means to the development and future perspectives of regions and cities in Europe. Particular focus was on the impact of COVID-19 and the subsequent policy measures – merely linked to various waves of lockdowns and travel restrictions – as well as recovery measures and the resilience to external shocks.

The full report is available here.

A short summary is available in our blog.

Client: European Committee of the Regions
Duration: December 2020 - August 2021

Spatial Foresight was contracted by DG Employment to provide a comprehensive and evidence-based analysis of the impact of Social business initiative (SBI) on the development of social enterprises/social economy and their operating environments both at national and EU level. Its impact was measured against the key objective of the policy initiative, i.e, creating enabling conditions for the development of social enterprises/social economy. Particular emphasis was put on system level changes, such as changes in legislation, institutions, policy design processes, networks or financing markets identifying the possible need and most pertinent scope for any future policy action in this field. The project will be conducted jointly with EURICSE (Italy) and ECSF (Germany).

See our infographic for a summary of the study's key findings.

The full report is available for download here.

Client: European Commission, DG Employment
Duration: October 2019 - July 2021

Following a previous analysis of the involvement of local and regional authorities in the European Semester, the analysis showed that processes of National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs) need improvement. NRRPs still lack involvement of local and regioal authorities and there is a lack of coordination with European Cohesion Policy. Apart from restrictions due to the European Semester process, the attitude of national governments matters most for framing the process. The intended focus of NRRPs on green and digital transition is visible in eight analysed NRRPs.

The final report can be downloaded here.

Client: European Committee of the Regions
Duration: December 2020 - June 2021

Local and regional authorities and economic and social partners are important players in EU Cohesion Policy. Following the partnership principle and multi-level governance approach they shall be involved throughout the various stage of programming and implementation of Cohesion Policy programmes. This short study collected first insights on the application of the partnership principle and in particular the involvement of local and regional governments in the 2021-2027 programming period. The study was carried out by Spatial Foresight in cooperation with t33 and ÖIR.

The final report can be downloaded here.

Client: European Committee of the Regions
Duration: November 2020 - April 2021

Economic, social and territorial cohesion are overall aims and values of the EU. Besides Cohesion Policy also other EU policies and initiatives (must) contribute to the cohesion objective. The short study addressed the question which EU policies and initiatives affect economic, social and territorial cohesion in Europe and how the European Committee of the Regions pro-actively can strengthen cohesion as overall value in policy debates.

The study was carried out by Spatial Foresight in cooperation with t33 and ÖIR.

A summary of the study is available in our blog.

The full report is availalbe here.

Client: European Committee of the Regions

Duration: October 2020 - May 2021

A guidebook on the process of registering EGTCs provides further assistance for local and regional authorities. Complexity of governance with national or federal state authorities in charge of the approval and registering processes in EU Member States and different implementation rules frequently create uncertainty among authorities wishing to establish an EGTC. Apart from an overview of the main characteristics of the EGTC instrument, this guidebook provides information about approval processes differentiating between MS and border relations where relevant. Spatial Foresight conducted this study together with t33.

The guidebook is available here.

Client: European Committee of the Regions
Duration: October 2020 - March 2021

Spatial Foresight contributed to a filenote on the integration of geographic and statistical data for better EU policy making commissioned by the European Committee of the Regions. Spatial Foresight colleagues contributed to the study led by ÖIR through assessing the availability of regional data relevant for policy making enhancing local and regional resilience with a particular view to the objectives of the Territorial Agenda 2030 and the further development of territorial impact assessments.

Client: European Committee of the Regions
Duration: December 2020 - March 2021

Commissioned by the ESPON EGTC Spatial Foresight analysed challenges and opportunities for developing entrepreneurship and attracting investments in the EU external border regions of Latvia, Lithuania and Romania. One of the main expected outputs was a set recommendation for business support mechanisms tailored to the specific locations and their conditions. Regions at the EU external border are peripheral and face particular challenges such as depopulation and low competitiveness. Private capital often considers the border as more of a disadvantage than an opportunity where border realities mostly exacerbate rather than mitigate the impediments. The main conclusion is that overall, the regions require a special attention as geographically specific areas including also regionally developed and flexible business support policies.

The reports of the study are available at the ESPON EGTC website

Client: ESPON EGTC
Duration: December 2019 - January 2021

Spatial Foresight compiled eight « country fiches » that cover respectively Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Malta Poland, Romania and Slovenia, for ESPON EGTC. A country fiche consists of a set of 25 European maps, for which a country zoom-in is provided. These maps and related comments demonstrate how the country and its regions relate to other regions in Europe. These fiches highlight the diversity of ESPON 2014-2020 results and support the on-going programming process for 2021-2027 in these countries, by providing elements of comparison between European regions.

Client: ESPON EGTC
Duration: June 2020 - November 2020

A New Territorial Agenda of the European Union was agreed by the ministers responsible for Spatial Planning and Territorial Development during Germany's 2020 EU Presidency. The Territorial Agenda 2030 provides a framework for action for inclusive and sustainable futures for all places and people in Europe and is largely based on a the Territorial Agenda of the European Union from 2011.

Spatial Foresight supported the German EU Presidency in the drafting of the New Territorial Agenda and the development of pilot actions putting it into practice. For this Spatial Foresight teamed up with EPRC and blue!

The final version is available at territorialagenda.eu.

Client: German Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR)
Duration: 2019 - 2021

Spatial Foresight contributed to a study on the State Aid related implications for the provision of Services of General Economic Interest (SGEI). The study informed the European Committee of the Regions in preparation of an outlook opinion on a policy check for SGEI.

The study identified difficulties resulting from the State aid framework for the provision of SGEI in regions and cities and discussed solutions applied by SGEI providers as documented in the regular reporting by Member States and the feedback gathered from a corresponding EC consultation. The study was implemented jointly by t33, ÖIR and Spatial Foresight.

The final report is available here.

Client: European Committee of the Regions
Duration: June 2020 - August 2020

Spatial Foresight was part of a consortium led by Technopolis selected to carry out INNOVACT II – the second phase of the EU-CELAC INNOVACT Platform www.innovactplatform.eu/ on behalf of the European Commision (DG REGIO).

The aim of the project was to systematise and structure the knowledge transfer from European countries and regions to Latin American (LATAM) cross-border regions in terms of regional innovation promotion, cross-border cooperation and territorial governance. In addition to the previously selected 6 Latin American countries (Peru, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico), now also Bolivia and the Triple Border Argentina-Brazil-Paraguay benefited from capacity building and support to develop new value chains and regional innovation projects. European regions and cross-border areas were invited to offer their knowledge to the LATAM regions and to exploit opportunities for cooperation.

Client: Technopolis Group Paris-Bogota / DG REGIO
Duration: January 2019 - July 2020

The European Parliament commissioned Spatial Foresight to provide a rapid analysis and assessment of the adaptations that have been made to EU Cohesion Policy in response to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The assessment informs members of the REGI Committee.

The final report can be downloaded here.

Client: European Parliament

Duration: June - November 2020

This short study addressed the territorial asymmetric exposure and sensitivity of COVID-19 and related policy responses posed by cities and regions in Europe. This concerned regions exposure and sensitivity to the lockdowns following COVID-19 as well as a review of the EU recovery measures. The work was carried out in cooperation with t33 and ÖIR.

The final report is availabe here.

Client: European Committee of the Regions

Duration: June - August 2020

Spatial Foresight contributed to an evaluation on the impact of European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on territorial development of rural areas. The evaluation shows that rural areas face particular challenges for socioeconomic development and social inclusion. Investment via CAP mitigate these challenges to some extent.

Spatial Foresight conducted a case study on the impact of CAP in Zeeland, the Netherlands. Although socioeconomic differences between rural and urban are less pronounced in Zeeland as in some other European regions, investments via CAP are important for territorial development. CAP investments contribute mainly indirectly to territorial development in Zeeland's rural areas.

The final report is availabe here.

Client: European Commission, DG AGRI

Duration: December 2019 - December 2020

BRIDGES was a ESPON led by Spatial Foresight and implemented together with 13 other partners aimed at analysing regional development processes in Territories with Geographical Specificities (TGS) and at making proposal for innovative strategic development policies. TGS are approached considering their relations and functional interactions with surrounding areas. Empirical work included 20 local and regional case studies in mountainous, insular, sparsely populated or coastal areas. Final results are available via the EPSON webpage: https://www.espon.eu/geographical-specifities

Client: ESPON EGTC
Duration: October 2017 - September 2020

In preparation of their post-2020 programme, Interreg Europe commissioned an update of its mid-term evaluation. This included revisiting and updating information on the impact, management and communication of the programme and the development of reflections for the programme. The work was conducted by Spatial Foresight in cooperation with Eureconsult and Technopolis (lead partner).

Client: GEIE GECOTTI Interreg Europe Programme

Duration: February 2020 - September 2020

Spatial Foresight contributed to setting up the ESPON 2020 Database Portal, as part of a project coordinated by the University of Geneva.

Spatial Foresight was responsible for the integration of data and metadata from projects and other ESPON activities. This involved designing processes for data collection and quality control in view of their integration in the database. Previous experience from the ESPON 2013 programme was capitalised upon, based on an active collaboration with UMS RIATE and Maynooth University. MCRIT and the Autonomous University of Barcelona also contributed to this work.

Client: ESPON EGTC
Duration: February 2017 - July 2020

This short study analysed the territorially asymmetric exposure and sensitivity of COVID-19 and related policy responses proposed by cities and regions in Europe to deal with the pandemic. In more detail, the study assessed regions' exposure and sensitivity to lockdowns following COVID-19 and reviewed the foreseen use of the EU recovery measures. The work was carried out in cooperation with t33 and ÖIR.

The study built upon a previous publication: Understanding the territorially diverse implications of COVID-19 policy responses (Spatial Foresight Brief 2020:13).

The final report is available here.

Client: European Committee of the Regions
Duration: June - September 2020

Spatial Foresight supported the EIB in its development of a Think Piece on spatial inequalities. The questions addressed included (a) What are the dimensions of spatial inequalities, both in terms of indicators to look at and phenomena to address such as the urban-rural divide and socioeconomic segregation within cities? (b) How do spatial inequalities unfold? How have they evolved over the recent past? (c) What are the consequences of spatial inequalities (e.g. the urban-rural divide with urban congestion and rural desertification, hollowing out of city centres, ghettoization, and rise of populism)? (c) What can policies related to investment and capacity building in different sectors do to address the root causes of spatial inequalities and/or stem its undesirable consequences?

Client: European Investment Bank (EIB)
Duration: May 2019 - June 2020

Spatial Foresight, in a consortium led by t33, conducted an analysis of the concept of active subsidiarity and the European Semester. The objective was to develop recommendations on how to implement the concept of 'active subsidiarity' in the context of the European Semester, in particular with a view to local and regional authorities and partnership principles and multi-level governance. Spatial Foresight contributed, inter alia, through case studies.

The final report is available here.

Client: European Committee of the Regions
Duration: December 2019 - March 2020

Spatial Foresight, in a consortium led by t33, was awarded a contract on the analysis of state aid modification needs for the phasing-out of coal. The objective of the study was to provide insights into available state aid rules and needs for adjustments to better facilitate the transition of coal regions.

Spatial Foresight conducted, inter alia, two case studies on coal regions in Northrhine-Westfalia and Castilla y Leon.

The final report is available here.

Client: European Committee of the Regions
Duration: December 2019 - February 2020

Spatial Foresight developed the EGTC Monitoring Report 2018-2019. For the first time, the Monitoring Report focused around good examples and story telling of EGTCs putting less emphasis on EGTCs' formal information. Apart from presenting good EGTC practices in particular in the field of territorial cooperation, the report analysed the implementation of the EGTC regulation in national legislation, the set-up of new EGTCs and EGTCs currently under constitution. Spatial Foresight coordinated the project. Other partners involved in this assignment are ÖIR, t33 and Mcrit.

The final report is available here.

Client: European Committee of the Regions
Duration: October 2019 - March 2020

The ESPON study "Territorial Reference Framework for Europe" was a preparatory step towards the development of the upcoming policy debate on a Territorial Agenda post 2020. More precisely the study developed a long-term territorial development perspective for Europe in order to assist in informing and shaping the territorial dimension of post-2020 EU strategic policies. Furthermore the study elaborated mid-term policy proposals for the integrated governance of Territorial Agenda post-2020, and strategic investment programmes in Europe’s territories, regions and cities, as a means towards the advancement of the long-term territorial development perspective. An important part of the work were pan-European stakeholder dialogues. The study was led by Mcrit in cooperation with Spatial Foresight and the European Policy Centre (EPC).

Client: ESPON EGTC
Duration: November 2017 - May 2019

Spatial Foresight reviewed methodologies for Territorial Impact Assessments (TIA) for the European Committee of the Regions. The review focused on pitfalls and advantages of different methods with the aim to discuss possible improvements to TIA methodologies. Spatial Foresight and ÖIR developed the file note with support by Mcrit.

The final report is available here.

Duration: October 2019 - November 2019
Client: European Committee of the Regions

Spatial Foresight supported the UIA Permanent Secretariat to increase internal knowledge and capabilities on project intervention logics and result indicators. The final objective of the assistance was to improve the quality of guidance and support tools on the measurability of the projects' results. A reminder on to the European Commission's ESIF result-oriented framework for 2014-2020 helped UIA staff to better assist projects in developing coherent intervention logics.

Client: GEIE GECOTTI PE - Urban Innovative Actions Permanent Secretariat
Duration: September 2019 - October 2019

Metropolitan areas are ‘engines’ of European economic development. They have various functional links with their surrounding areas. These may imply positive and negative spill-over effects between the areas concerned. But what are these links and effects and how can they be measured?

Spatial Foresight assessed this for the  European Committee of the Regions. The assessment showed the main characteristics of these links in general and through case studies. In the File Note, Spatial Foresight highlighted innovative ways of collecting statistical data on flows and also contributed with two case studies. These were the examples of the Frankfurt Rhine Main region and the Nantes - PETR Pays de Retz cooperation. The project was led by ÖIR.

You can download the File Note here.

Client: European Committee of the Regions
Duration: September 2019 - October 2019

Spatial Foresight contributed to the study on the "EU policy framework on SMEs: state of play and challenges" commissioned by the European Committee of the Regions. Apart from contributing to the research on the added value of EU policies for SMEs, Spatial Foresight team members were responsible for carrying out the analysis of the proposals for EU programmes post-2020 with a view to their relevance on SMEs. Results of this study fed into further policy processes for the 2021-2027 programming period. The project was a cooperation of t33 (the lead partner), Spatial Foresight and ÖIR.

The final report is available here.

Client: European Committee of the Regions
Duration: March 2019 - June 2019

Spatial Foresight carried out two case studies on circular economy and its link to innovation and new business and employment opportunities in a regional and local context, in the framework of the report 'Implementing a place-based approach to EU industrial policy strategy' for the European Committee of the Regions. The project was a cooperation of t33 (the lead partner), Spatial Foresight and ÖIR.

The final report can be found here.

Client: European Committee of the Regions
Duration: December 2018 - February 2019

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is closely following the development of circular economy initiatives at the European level and has produced a number of opinions on the matter. Further, the EESC together with the European Commission initiated the circular economy platform. The platform aims to facilitate exchange and interaction among stakeholders of involved in the circular economy and to make the change to a circular economy happen faster to the benefit of all.

Spatial Foresight supported the EESC to further their knowledge and understanding concerning the state of the art of circular economy roadmaps and strategies in Europe. The specific objective of this project was to analyse differences and commonalities of existing national and regional Circular Economy strategies, and to identify potential for cooperation, by jointly analysing the state of the art of this type of strategies at the European level.

The final report of this study is available for download here.

Client: European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)
Duration: November 2018 - May 2019

Supporting the European Committee of the Regions to produce an opinion reacting to the EU Reflection Paper on a Sustainable Europe by 2030 about the state of play of the SDGs, and the place of cities and regions in their implementation. t33 was awarded a contract.

Spatial Foresight t33 provided background information about the territorial aspects of the implementation of the SDGs in the EU, with a particular focus on the type of involvement of regions and cities, the political leadership of such involvements, and multi-level governance arrangements. Spatial Foresight contributed to the work with one case study and interviews.

The final report can be download here.

Client: European Committee of the Regions (CoR)
Duration: November 2018 - Decemeber 2018

Spatial Foresight successfully completed the ESPON project on Cross-border Public Services (ESPON CPS). Based on European wide data collection on cross-border public services including all internal and external EU borders, the first inventory of such services has been developed covering nine policy fields.

The project was driven by stakeholders from ten cross-border regions and the AEBR that allowed deeper insights into their development, challenges and solutions of cross-border public services. Together with these stakeholders new service developments were initiated in their cross-border areas addressing their individual service needs.

The Final Report provides an overview of the EU inventory of cross-border public services, their rationales and benefits. Ten Case Study Reports show more in-depth insights into selected services in view of the actual solutions found. A Good Practice collection summarises the main features for about 30 existing services, which shows how challenges and solutions differ not only at different borders but between policy fields. Finally, a Practical Guide, developed together with practioners from the case study regions describes and structures the main steps towards developing cross-border public services for any of the policy fields addressed.

Client: ESPON EGTC
Duration: November 2017 - October 2018

Spatial Foresight, together with Technopolis and Eure Consult, carried out the intermediate evaluation of the Interreg Europe programme. The evaluation consisted of two separate lots. Lot 1 referred to the operational evaluation, and it addressed the efficiency and effectiveness of the programme structures and procedures to administer, implement and manage the programme.
Lot 2 focused on the results evaluation of Interreg Europe, and it tackled the progress made towards the achivements of the thematic specific objectives, and therefore the intervention logic of the programme.

Client: Technopolis France
Duration: May 2018 - December 2018

Spatial Foresight was part of a consortium led by Technopolis that has been selected to develop the EU-CELAC Innovact Platform on behalf of the European Commision (DG REGIO). This project was a major endeavour to systematise and structure the knowledge transfer from European countries and regions to Latin American (LATAM) cross-border regions in terms of regional innovation promotion, cross-border cooperation and territorial governance. 6 Latin American countries (Peru, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico) benefited from capacity building and a strategic support to develop new value chains and regional innovation projects in cross-border regions. European regions and cross-border areas were invited to offer their knowledge to the LATAM regions and to exploit opoortunities for new cooperations.

Client: Technopolis UK / DG Regio
Duration: April 2017 - December 2018

Spatial Foresight was awarded a contract by DG REGIO under the multiple framework contract for a study to trace the use and impact of the specific additional allocation for the outermost regions. The study aimed at gathering spending data from Operational Programmes funded by ERDF, ESF and YEI in all European outermost regions and evaluating the possibility to develop an additional allocation in the ESF. Such an allocation is already provided by ERDF to offset costs related to the outermost situation. Spatial Foresight cooperated with t33, SWECO and IGOT for this study.

Client: DG REGIO
Duration: December 2017 - September 2018

The ESPON study "Comparative Analysis of Territorial Governance and Spatial Planning Systems in Europe" (ESPON COMPASS) provided an authoritative and comparable reference on spatial planning systems, policies and territorial governance throughout Europe in order to improve knowledge sharing and to illustrate some of the key challenges and opportunities which arise in the territorial implementation of EU cohesion policies. The following key policy questions have been answered:

• What changes in territorial governance and spatial planning systems and policies can be observed across Europe over the past 15 years? Can these changes be attributed to the influence of macro-level EU directives and policies?
• What are best practices for cross-fertilisation of spatial and territorial development policies with EU Cohesion Policy?
• How can national/regional spatial and territorial development policy perspectives be better reflected in Cohesion Policy and other policies at EU scale?

Spatial Foresight particularly worked on quality control, policy conclusions and the spatial planning and territorial governance system in Luxembourg. The study was led by Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), and conducted together with the German Academy for Spatial Research and Planning (ARL), Nordregio, Politecnico di Torino, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (RKK), the Polish Academy of Sciences (IGSO), the University College Dublin, the German Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development (ILS) and a wide network of national experts.

Client: ESPON EGTC
Duration: 2016 - 2018

Spatial Foresight has contributed to a project for DG Regio under the multiple framework contract on adminstrative cost and burden in ESIF. The overall objective of this study was to establish a new baseline concerning the administrative costs and burden of the current ESIF programme period, with a common approach for all five ESI Funds. Furthermore, the study compared the baseline to results of pervious studies and assist the Commission Services with simulations on how possible regulatory changes for post 2020 might affect administrative costs and burden. Spatial Foresight led the study, supported by t33 and a wide range of national experts.

Client: DG Regio
Duration: July 2017 - September 2018

Spatial Foresight contributed to a study for DG Regio on the development of a system of common indicators for European Regional and Development Fund (ERDF) and Cohesion Fund (CF) interventions. The study assesssed the possibility of expanding the current list of common output indicators and the feasibility of developing a list of common direct result indicators for post 2020 ERDF and CF interventions.  Besides Spatial Foresight, the team includes t33, ÖIR, SWECO, Berman Group, Nordregio and a broad network of national experts.

Client: DG Regio
Duration: November 2017 - November 2018

In cooperation with a European-wide team led by Kai Böhme on behalf of Sweco, Spatial Foresight won four competitive multiple framework contracts with the European Commission Directorate General on Regional and Urban Policies. The contracts concerned the provision of:

• impact assessments related to the future development of Cohesion Policy and the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds),
• studies assessing the impact of other European Union policies on economic, social and territorial cohesion,
• studies related to the future development of Cohesion Policy and the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds) and
• studies on administrative costs, administrative capacities, IT systems and fraud prevention and detection measures.

Client: DG Regio
Duration: 2014-2018

Spatial Foresight assessed the impact of the political work of the CoR on simplification measures for Cohesion Policy. The assessment supports the CoR’s Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget (COTER) in their preparation of a new opinion on the Common Provision Regulation proposal by the European Commission.

In preparation of this opinion Spatial Foresight assessed to what extent the previous opinions and recommendations have been taken on board in the proposed CPR as well as to what extent the new proposals for simplification affect local and regional authorities.

Spatial Foresight with support of t33 compared CoR opinions on this topic with the legislative proposals for Cohesion Policy 2021-2027.

Download the full report here.

Client: Committee of the Regions
Duration: July 2018 - September 2018

Spatial Foresight was awarded by DG REGIO to carry out the evaluation of the amended EGTC regulation (Regulation (EU) No 1302/2013). The project shedded light on the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, European added value and scope for simplification of the EGTC regulation as it is currently in place and was based on information collected in the framework of the recent EGTC monitoring report.

Client: DG REGIO
Duration: March 2018 - April 2018

Spatial Foresight has received a request from the Committee of the Regions to develop a best practice brochure of EGTCs. The brochure details selected actions undertaken by EGTCs including the obstacles encountered, addressed and solved to provide transferable information to other EGTCs in Europe. Best practices for different policy fields have been reviewed as well. Spatial Foresight has coordinated the project. Other partners involved in this assignment were ÖIR and t33.

The brochure with good practices can be downloaded here.

Client: Committee of the Regions
Duration: November 2017 - May 2018

A team involving Sweco, Spatial Foresight, t33, Infeurope and EPRC supported the European Investment Bank (EIB) with horizontal assistance and advisory services concerning the use of Financial Instruments under the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds) 2014-2020. The services targeted in particular EU Member States and Managing Authorities of ERDF, ESF, EARD and EMFF Programmes, but also the European Commission (EC) and the general public. The services led to the establishment of the fi-compass platform. A one-stop-shop for EU Member States, Managing Authorities and other stakeholders involved in the set-up and implementation of ESIF financial instruments.

Spatial Foresight contributed in delivering services to assist the EIB on capacity building. Spatial Foresight was among others responsible for the succesful implementation of awareness raising events in almost all Member States of the EU as well as Fund specific events in a large number of EU Member States. In addition, Spatial Foresight contributed to the task of knowledge creation, for example with the drafting the coordination of case study research.

Client: European Investment Bank
Duration: 2014 - 2018

Spatial Foresight was awarded a targeted analysis on how to "think and plan in areas of territorial cooperation". The study took as a starting point the Swiss experience in defining so-called “action areas” as new forms of soft governance spaces with fuzzy, flexible boundaries that span across (national) administrative boundaries and link urban and rural development policies. Collaborative and bottom-up approaches of territorial development also emerge in other parts of Europe as public authorities intended to adjust the scale and geographic boundaries of policy design and implementation so that they are meaningful from a functional point of view.

The project, in a first step, identified examples comparable to the Swiss action areas. In a second step, the most relevant ones identified were analysed in depth regarding organisational forms and governance structures, policy fields addressed, cooperative planning methods used, embeddedness in existing multi-level governance systems, links to statutory planning system. On this basis, guidance and policy recommendations have been developed.

Spatial Foresight implemented the study in cooperation with the University of Geneva and the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.

The final report can be downloaded on the ESPON webpage here.

Client: ESPON EGTC
Duration: December 2016 - December 2017

The ESPON study "Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in European Regions and Cities" acknowledges that SMEs are the backbone of the European economy and as such crucial for regional development. SMEs are anything but a homogeneous type of business and are prevalent in all economic sectors. Their distribution e.g. according to size, sectors and performance varies across European regions. The study aims to fill the gap of a systematic analysis at regional level for improving the understanding of SMEs competitiveness and performance linked to national and regional conditions.

Spatial Foresight contributed to several tasks, in particular to the literature review, case studies and development of recommendations. The study was led by ÖIR and conducted together with the Austrian Institute for SME Research, Oxford Group, VVA Europe and EUROREG.

Client: ESPON EGTC
Duration: 2016 - 2017

Spatial Foresight has received a request from the Committee of the Regions to develop the EGTC Monitoring Report 2017. Similarly to last year's report, the monitoring report 2017 will analyse the implementation of the EGTC regulation in national legislation, elaborate on the activities of EGTCs during 2016 with a special focus on their involvement in implementing ESIF and European Territorial Cooperation programmes and projects in particular. The specific thematic focus of the monitoring report 2017 is on the evaluation of the EGTC regulation. Spatial Foresight will coordinate the project. Other partners involved in this assignment are ÖIR and t33.

Client: Committee of the Regions
Duration: November 2017 - March 2018

The ESPON study “Possible European Territorial Futures” stands in the tradition of past ESPON scenario and territorial impact assessment studies. Different future scenarios and their territorial impacts are explored to generate new insight on possible future developments. These support policy makers in assessing the robustness and ‘future-proof’ of their policies.

More concretely, the objectives of this study were twofold: (A) Enhancing the understanding of possible territorial futures especially concerning three themes: a new place-based economic organisation as part of a circular economy, a European energy supply and consumption that is a 100% renewable, and a collapse of the European property markets; and (B) writing general conclusions and recommendations on how to conduct European territorial foresight studies.

The study was carried out by Spatial Foresight (lead partner), MCRIT, Spiekermann & Wegener, the Institute of Studies for the Integration of Systems and wide network of experts.

Besides the general management of the project and drafting the reports, Spatial Foresight organises different focus groups to exchange ideas on possible territorial futures with a wider audience.

The final report of this project can be downloaded from the ESPON webpage.

Client: ESPON
Duration: April 2016 - October 2017

Spatial Foresight was part of a consortium lead by SWECO performing a study for DG REGIO. The study's objective were to assess how the simplification possibilities in the new regulatory framework of the European Structural and Investment Funds have been taken up by Member States during the early implementation phase, to compare and quantify the impact of regulatory changes in the overall delivery mechanism on the administrative burden and costs for beneficiaries and programme authorities and thirdly to assess and quantify the potential burden for beneficiaries resulting from additional rules applied at national level.

The study showed that Standard Cost Options (SCOs) are among the different instruments, the tool that mostly contributes to further simplification of ESIF. The full report can be downloaded from the Commission's webpage: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/studies/pdf/new_prov_simplification_esif_en.pdf

Client: European Commission, DG REGIO
Duration: August 2015 - March 2017

Spatial Foresight contributed to a study for DG Regio on the 'Use and intended use of Simplified Cost Options in ESF, ERDF, CF and EAFRD'. The objective of the study was twofold. First it carried out an e-survey among ESF, ERDF, CF and EAFRD managing authorities across all EU Member States to collect information about the use of SCOs. Then it aggregated, process and analysed the data collected through the e-survey and formulate conclusions and recommendations. Spatial Foresight experts took part as national experts for a number of EU Member States in support of the e-survey implementation and analysis. The study was performed together with t33 and Sweco. The final report of the study can be downloaded here.

Client: DG Regio
Duration: July 2017 - January 2018

Spatial Foresight contributed to a study for the European Committee of the Regions that aimed at providing input for the preparation of the Territorial Impact Assessment of Brexit on regions and cities. The study (i) mapped the socio-economic links between the EU27 regions and the UK, (ii) defined specific scenarios in light of the ongoing negotiations and assessed their possible impact on regions, cities and economic sectors, and (iii) analysed a number of case studies from individual local and regional authorities. Spatial Foresight contributed to the third task by conducting a case study in Germany. Besides Spatial Foresight, the team included t33 (lead) and ÖIR.

Client: European Committee of the Regions
Duration: November 2017 - January 2018

Spatial Foresight was part of the consortium that was awarded the contract for 'ESPON 2020 MapKits'. The project produced 29 MapKits that all ESPON projects use to visualise and analyse geographical data. The tasks comprised the design of a new ESPON MapKit layout and an update underlying mapping files. Specific MapKits for the representation of macro-regions, local and urban areas, Europe in its neighbourhood and world-wide patterns and trends are produced. The project complemented and developed further the MapKits that were previously available for the ESPON 2013 projects. Spatial Foresight was in charge of providing an update of the geodata of the European LAU2 units in a simplified geometry and also draft the guidance documents that will help ESPON projects to produce clear and consistent maps. The project was led by UMS Riate and conducted in collaboration with the University of Geneva.

Client: ESPON
Duration: October 2016 - February 2017

Spatial Foresight was awarded a contract to elaborate the ESPON EU Territorial Review Report. The report aimed at communicating the main territorial development trends in relation to key European challenges and highlighting specific patterns of development in cities, rural areas, specific regions and macro-regions in Europe. It also presents innovative ideas and reflections on EU post 2020, focusing mainly on the objective of the European territorial cooperation. For this, three thematic workshops with a selected pool of experts were organised. The report covers the entire ESPON space and, if relevant, other territories and include observations and key policy recommendations. The EU Territorial Review Report is also developed in an interactive digital format for web publishing, building on ESPON’s comparative advantage of tailor-made territorial support at different geographical levels. The interactive web version is conducted together ADM Interactive OÜ.

Client: ESPON EGTC
Duration: February 2017 - November 2017

After successfully finalising the study on the use of the EGTCs (European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation) in Germany, Spatial Foresight was contracted by the German Federal Institute for Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Planning (BBSR) to carry out a new study on the EGTC instrument. This new study aimed at deepening the findings and understanding of the EGTC instrument and especially those aspects that pose difficulties when setting up an EGTC. Furthermore, the study aimed at the dissemination of previous and new findings on EGTC to support the wider understanding of the instrument. In order to achieve the above, the study focused on selected cases of EGTC and analyse their development. In addition, a set of workshops in different German regions have been conducted in cooperation with European institutions, such as the Committee of the Regions, in order to attract as many interested stakeholders as possible.

The German version of the final report can be downloaded here.

The English verison of the final report can be downloaded here.

Client: BBSR
Duration: September 2014 - October 2016

Every two years Member States report on the application of the Services of General Economic Interest (SGEI) Decision. This Decision, together with the SGEI Framework, set out the frames for applying state aid rules to SGEIs. Spatial Foresight lead this study under the Multiple Framework Service Contract for the realisation of socio-economic studies on behalf of the European Committee of the Regions.

The study aimed at assessing the role of local and regional authorities in the development of these Member States reports as well as assessing the main difficulties faced by local and regional authorities when assessing the economic and social natures of SGEIs against State Aid rules. In doing so the study focused on SGEIs with a social character such as health care, labour market improvement and social housing.

The final report is available on the webpage from the CoR and can be downloaded here.

Client: European Committee of the Regions
Duration: January 2017 - April 2017

Islands and other peripheral areas in Europe face particular challenges and obstacles regarding entrepreneurship and business development. For example due to their small market size, remoteness or low accessibility. The Maltese presidency requested the CoR to draft an opinion on this topic. Spatial Foresight conducted this study in support of the development of this CoR opinion. This study is part of the Multiple Framework Service Contract for the realisation of socio-economic studies on behalf of the European Committee of the Regions.

The aim of the study was an analysis of the particular challenges and obstacles faced by entrepreneurs and SMEs on islands and in other peripheral areas, including inner peripheries, when starting up and running a business. Therefore Spatial Foresight, together with t33 and ÖIR, conducted six cases studies covering insular regions and sparsely populated areas across Europe.

The final report of the study can be downloaded here.

Client: European Committee of the Regions
Duration: March 2017

Spatial Foresight conducted a study for DG RESEARCH & INNOVATION regarding the "Mapping of EU Member States'/Regions' Research and Innovation Plans & Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3) on Bioeconomy for 2014-2020". The study generated evidence on the intended activities in EU Member States regarding their strategic bioeconomy focus. Successful regional research and innovation initiatives related to the bioeconomy and their transfer potentials have been identified as well as corresponding bottlenecks and gaps. The study was led by Spatial Foresight and conducted in collaboration with SWECO, Nordregio, INFYDE, Berman Group, t33 and ÖIR.

The final report of the study can be downloaded here.

Client: DG Regio / DG Research & Innovation
Duration: June 2016 - January 2017

Spatial Foresight contributed to a study on governance process in support of SME and entrepreneurship policies. In the frame of the multiframework contract led by t33, Spatial Foresight contributed to the report coordinated by OIR by collecting data and analysing the governce systems and processes in 6 regions - Brandenburg, Helsinki-Uusimaa, Southern Denmark, North Brabant, Flanders and Copenhagen.

The final report has been published by the CoR and can be downloaded here. The report identifies three important governance aspects for effective process. (1) cooperation between public and private stakeholders, (2) target strategies creating a common vision between actors, and (3) a strong reflection on economic needs.

Client: European Committee of the Regions
Duration: January 2017 - February 2017

Spatial Foresight has been asked to help the ESPON EGTC to draft a policy brief on specific types of territories. This brief provides the Maltese Presidency with evidence on the current situation and recent trends in islands, mountains, sparsely populated regions and coastal regions in Europe. Many of these territories are in a favourable position from an economic, social and ecological perspective. However, they all require special attention when it comes to spatial planning and regional development to address challenges and opportunities associated with their specificities. The project benchmarked regions concerned by such specificities from an economic and social point of view. It also focused specifically on accessibility, building on results from an ongoing service contract on “Scenarios for accessibility by the sea, road, rail, air and multimodal”. The output informs policy debates on territorial development in these parts of Europe, and contribute to improved territorial observation and territorial analyses in the framework of the ESPON 2020 Programme.

The policy brief as well as the working paper have been published on ESPON's website and can be downloaded here.

Client: ESPON EGTC
Duration: November 2016 - January 2017

Spatial Foresight received a request from the Committee of the Regions to develop the EGTC Monitoring Report 2016. This was the first request for services under the framework contract in the field of Cohesion Policy. The monitoring report analysed the implementation of the EGTC regulation in national legislation, elaborate on the activities of EGTCs during 2016 with a special focus on their involvement in implementing ESIF and European Territorial Cooperation programmes and projects in particular. The specific thematic focus of the 2016 monitoring report is on the analysis of the impact of the Schengen area crisis on the functioning of EGTCs. Spatial Foresight coordinated the project. Other partners involved in this assignment were ÖIR and t33.

The report is available on the CoR website and can be downloaded here.

Client: Committee of the Regions
Duration: December 2016 - March 2017

In the implementation of European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds) European as well as national and sub-national regulatory frameworks need to be applied. In some cases there are national, regional or local rules and regulations (or failures to apply simplification measures) which make European Union legislation unnecessarily complicated and hence costly when implemented in the Member States. This is understood as gold-plating.

To better understand the nature of gold-plating the European Parliament commissioned a study on gold-plating in ESI Funds and its impacts on the administrative work and burden for programme bodies and beneficiaries under all five ESI Funds (ERDF, CF, ESF, EAFRD, EMFF). The study addressed a range of questions through the combination of different methodologies that included a general overview on all 28 EU Member States and some in-depth studies for selected countries. Among others a focus group has been organised in the frame of the study. The results of this focus group can be found on the project's webpage.

The study was led by Spatial Foresight and conducted in collaboration with ÖIR and t33.

The final report of the study can be downloaded here.

Client: European Parliament
Duration: July 2016 - January 2017

The added value of macro-regional cooperation has been debated for many years and in different contexts. All these debates have shown that there is need for more solid evidence on the actual added value. INTERACT commissioned Spatial Foresight to conduct a study to collect evidence on the added value of the macro-regional strategies for the Baltic Sea Region and the Danube Region. The primary focus was on concrete projects and the added value both for the funding programmes involved and the macro-regions in general.

The final report has been published on INTERACT's website and can be downloaded here.

Client: INTERACT Office Turku
Duration: June 2016 - December 2016

Under LOT 3 on “studies related to the future development of Cohesion Policy and the European Structural and Investment Funds” of the DG Regio Multiple Framework contract, Spatial Foresight contributes to a  study on the “Implementation of the provisions in relation to the performance framework during the programming phase of the European Structural and Investment Funds”. The aim of the study is to develop an evidence-base on how regulatory provisions relating to the performance framework have been applied in the programming phase. The study covers almost 300 Operational Programmes in all 28 Member States of the European Union, Partnership Agreements and all Operational Programmes receiving funding from ERDF and CF, including multi-fund programmes. The project is led by Kai Böhme, involving Sweco, ÖIR and a wide network of national experts.

The study The implementation of the performance frameworks in 2014-2020 ESI Funds can be downloaded here.

Client: DG Regio
Duration: October 2014 - December 2015

Under LOT 3 on “studies related to the future development of Cohesion Policy and the European Structural and Investment Funds” of the DG Regio Multiple Framework contract, Spatial Foresight contributed to a study on the “Implementation of the partnership principle and multi-level governance during the programming phase of the European Structural and Investment Funds". The overall objective of the study was to assess how the partnership principle and multi-level governance have been implemented in all 28 Member States during the programming of the ESI Funds. The project was led by Kai Böhme, involving Sweco, Nordregio, EPRC, ÖIR, t33, LSE and a wide network of national experts.

The presentation of the final results is avialbe here.

The study Implementation of the partnership principle and multi-level governance in 2014-2020 ESI Funds can be downloaded here.

Client DG Regio
Duration: November 2014 - January 2016

Spatial Foresight contributed to a study to assess the need to be addressed by INTERREG cross-border cooperation programmes. The study aimed at developing a comprehensive inventory of statistical data that could support the assessment and mapping of crucial territorial integration needs of border regions. The project was lead by t33 and is part of the framework contract with DG REGIO lead by SWECO.

The final report of the study has been published by DG REGIO and can be downloaded here.

Client: DG REGIO European Commission

Duration: December 2015 - September 2016

The European Parliament is planning to conclude a multiple framework service contract in eleven lots for the provision of external expertise in the field of Impact Assessment and European Added Value. Spatial Foresight has been contracted for Lot 7, which focuses on the Regional Development, Transport and Tourism . The regional and cohesion policy, the operation of the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund, as well as the common policies for rail, road, inland waterways, maritime and air transport, postal services and tourism, and the Trans-European Networks for transport are among the issues that will be covered in the study. Lead partners of the contract is t33, while among the partners are also ÖIR, Mcrit and VAA.

Client: European Parliament
Duration: 2013-2014

Spatial Foresight has contributed to a study commissioned by the European Parliament on a comprehensive analysis of ETC programmes adopted for the 2014-2020 period. The study assessed to what extent ETC programmes have used the opportunities introduced by the new ETC regulation for the period 2014-2020. The assessment offers insight in the state of play and evolution of ETC programmes in comparison to the 2007-2013 period, the changes of the programming strategies, potential synergies, changes of the management structures and implemention possibilities. The study is led by t33 and conducted in cooperation with EureConsult.

The final report can be downloaded via the European Parlement's website.

Client: REGI Committee of the European Parliament

Duration: December 2015 - May 2016

Spatial Foresight contributed to a study on “Labour Mobility and Local and Regional Authorities: benefits, challenges and solutions" for the Committee of the Regions. The Committee of the Regions will be formally consulted on the Labour Mobility Package which was announced by the European Commission. Hence, this study aimed at complementing and updating past studies and opinions of the Committee of the Regions on labour mobility in order to include up-to-date data and case studies at local and regional level in the new opinion. Under the lead of t33, Spatial Foresight contributed to this study with a number of local and regional case studies of initiatives in the field of labour mobility in Austria and Germany.

Client: Committee of the Regions
Duration: January 2016- February 2016

Spatial Foresight has contributed to a study on “The impact of demographic change on European regions” for the Committee of the Regions. The study addressed changing internal and external influences and highlighted the specific needs and challenges faced by local and regional authorities in the light of demographic development, namely demographic change and increasing inner- and outer-migration. Spatial Foresight contributed with ÖIR under the lead of t33 to the provision of an overview of demographic changes and projections in Europe and to the exploration of the opportunities and perspectives of demographic change for local economic development.

Client: Committee of the Regions

Duration: December 2015 - March 2016

Spatial Foresight has coordinated a study on the potential contributions of Cohesion Policy to balanced and sustainable development in European Mountain Regions for the European Parliament. The study shows that Mountain areas are too diverse to elaborate an integrated European strategy. However, a framework for development strategies in mountain areas can be developed. The group of experts that produced inputs to this report includes Martin F. Price, Andreja Borec, Thomas Dax and Benito Giordano in addition to Erik Gløersen from Spatial Foresight.

Client: European Parliament
Duration: October 2015 - February 2016

Spatial Foresight performed a study commissioned by the European Parliament’s Committee on Regional Development (REGI) on Services of General Interest (SGIs) in the Funding Period 2014-2020. The study focused on how the European Structural and Investment Funds can contribute to overcome key challenges for the provision of these services. It considered in particular the effects of the economic crisis and current austerity measures, and different levels of access to SGIs in European regions and localities. Inputs also provided perspectives for Cohesion Policy after 2020.

Please click here to download the report from the European Parliament's website.

Client: European Parliaments's REGI Committee
Duration: August 2015 - January 2016

FLAGSHIP is been a project funded under the 7th Framework Programme. The objectives of FLAGSHIP were: i) Understanding and assessing the state of the art of forward looking methodologies in relation to Grand Societal Challenges; ii) Applying an enhanced set of forward looking methods and tools to support EU policies; iii) Driving change, producing a set of EU-relevant policy recommendations on the potential of the EU for transition and change.
In relation to these objectives the project: i) took stock of the existing forward looking studies: reviewed the central questions, key trends, critical uncertainties and scenario frameworks; ii) proceded to apply and combine enhanced qualitative and quantitative methods mastered by the project partners in a coherent framework, producing a combination of GSC-driven qualitative and quantitative scenarios - coping with a range of possible global paradigm shifts and geo-political changes - and engaging a community of experts and stakeholders in a scenario thinking and assessment exercise; iii) focused further on EU policy responses to emerging transition challenges, and the potential role of EU in shaping global governance as well as new territorial dynamics within the continent, aimed to deliver policy recommendations to support the formulation of strategic EU policy agendas. Spatial Foresight has been one of 16 partners in the project, lead by ISIS.

Results from the final conference are published on: http://flagship-project.eu/events-workshops/final-conference/

The final report can now be downloaded here. The report intends to answer the following questions:  

• - Which trends will affect the future development of Europe’s cities and regions?
• - What will the European territory look like in 2050 under the assumptions of the FLAGSHIP storylines?
• - How can territorial governance respond to the various challenges and their impacts?
• - How much can territorial governance contribute to Europe’s ability to better cope with the main challenges and their impacts?

Lüer, C., Böhme, K., Jæger, S., Hans, S., Madeira, N., Holstein, F., Toptsidou, M., Tulumello, S., Bina, O., Ferrão, J. (2015): Report on territorial impact projections. Final deliverable (D7.2) of work package 7 on Territorial Governance. FLAGSHIP project, 7th Framework Programme (FP7). Download.

Client: ISIS, Italy / 7th Framework Programme
Duration: 2012-2015

Spatial Foresight conducted a study for the European Parliament to better understand the concept of territorial governance. Territorial governance is a relatively new and complex concept. It brings together the place-based approach and multi-level governance.

This analysis supported the understanding of territorial governance, mainly with regard to EU Cohesion Policy. Depending on the institutional and political context, as well as past experience, territorial governance in Cohesion Policy can have different forms. In all cases, stakeholders must have institutional capacity.

The results of the report have been puclished and discussed during a workshop at the European Paliament.

Böhme, K., S. Zillmer, M. Toptsidou, F. Holstein (2015), Territorial Governance and Cohesion Policy. European Parliament, Directorate-General for internal policies, Policy Department B Structural and Cohesion Policies. Regional Development. Study. Download.

Client: REGI Committee European Parliament
Duration: June 2015 - August 2015

Following the adoption of the Territorial Agenda for Europe under the Hungarian Presidency in the first half of 2011, the Luxembourgish Presidency (2015) wanted to assess the way how the European Union’s territorial cohesion objective is implemented and the necessity to revise the Territorial Agenda 2020. In preparation of the work, Spatial Foresight assisted the Ministry of sustainable development and infrastructures of Luxembourg in that assessment, focusing on pulling together existing resources and preparing on that basis short and targeted inputs to the discussions and work of the Network of Territorial Cohesion Contact Points (NTCCP). Document studies have been complemented by an online survey as well as interviews with selected key stakeholders.

In addition, Spatial Foresight has drafted a report based on a workshop on “Territorial Scenarios and Visions of Europe for 2050”. Its aim was to further the debate about perspectives for the European territory, focusing on making the future European territory visible, understanding the future territory of Europe, and finding appropriate answers today for the challenges of tomorrow. The workshop addressed a wide range of policy fields and territorial levels. The workshop was organised by the incoming Luxembourg Council Presidency in the framework of the IT-LV-LU trio Presidency Programme and took place on 23rd of April 2015 in Luxembourg city. More information on the workshop can be found at this link.

Several conclusions from the work by Spatial Foresight have been integrated in the Presidency's conclusions.

Client: Luxembourg ministry of sustainable development and infrastructures
Duration: September 2014 - June 2015

Under the European Parliament Framework contract, Spatial Foresight has been contracted for a study on the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) as an instrument for promotion and improvement of territorial cooperation in Europe. The study aims at analysing the potential of the EGTC as an instrument for promoting and improving territorial cooperation in Europe. Thus, the role of EGTCs in Cohesion Policy are assessed and the involvement of EGTCs in the implementation of the Cohesion Policy 2014-2020 is analysed. The analyses shall draw lessons from existing and planned EGTCs as regards their motivations, challenges, achievements and legal implications. They shall furthermore indicate the perspectives for the future role of EGTCS in EU Cohesion Policy and in particular for European Territorial Cooperation. The consortium is led by ÖIR and also includes t33 and the Technical University of Delft.

Client: European Parliament / ÖIR
Duration: December 2014 – July 2015

Local and regional public authorities play an important role in conceiving and delivering public policies relevant for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. At the same time local and regional authorities in the EU have very diverse mandates, capacities and resources and work under different institutional and governance arrangements.

The main purpose of the study was to identify the process and success factors leading to strong, high quality political and administrative partnerships across levels of governance.This is realised at the example of two policy fields, namely energy efficiency policies and social inclusion in an urban context. Based on eight case studies various types of learning platforms were established incl. two multilateral events, 16 twinning exercises and one final conference. Spatial Foresight lead this study involving partners such as t33, Nordregio, IPoP, Sweco, ID and Metrex.

The final report can be downloaded here.

Client: DG Regio
Duration: 2013-2015

EU Cohesion Policy 2007-2013 was to be evaluated and this evaluation started with Workpackage 0 laying the ground for the later thematic evaluation. Workpackage 0 gathered and assessed physical data reported by the Managing Authorities in their annual implementation reports and assessed the feasibility of gathering financial data broken down by priority theme at NUTS 3 level. The work done in this study formed the backbone for the following studies concerning the ex-ante evaluation of EU Cohesion Policy. Spatial Foresight coordinated Workpackage 0 in cooperation with ÖIR and t33. The lead partner was t33.

Client: DG Regio / t33
Duration: 2013-2015

The European Investment Bank (EIB) appointed a team consisting of t33, EPRC and Spatial Foresight to prepare content related factsheets to awareness raising for Financial Instruments under the European Structural Funds. This supported the launch of the Technical Advisory Platform under EU Structural and Investment Funds, which the EIB will develop for several European Commission services. The aim was to increase the implementation of the Financial Instruments in the 2014-2020 funding period. The work involved both the developing and drafting of factsheets and a series of case studies on the use of Financial Instruments. The team was led by t33.

Client: European Investment Bank / t33
Duration: August 2014 - December 2014

The ESPON ETMS project provided a continuous monitoring of territorial trends and structures able to provide policy relevant information to target groups on key trends occurring for European regions, specific type of territories, metropolitan regions, cities and towns in relation to the policy aims and priorities of the Europe 2020 Strategy, EU Cohesion Policy and the TA 2020”.

Client: ESPON / Mcrit / University of Geneva
Duration: 2012-2014

It is widely recognised among the stakeholders of the European territorial cooperation (ETC) and the Interreg programmes that there is lack of systemic EU-level evidence on what territorial co-operation delivers, where it works best and how it works. In light of the above INTERACT seeked support of experts with a good understanding of ETC to establish basis for further efforts aimed at collecting EU-level evidence on European territorial co-operation. As part of this work INTERACT has commissioned a scoping study to be carried out by a team led by Eureconsult, involving t33 and Spatial Foresight.

Client: INTERACT / Eureconsult
Duration: September 2014 - December 2014

Spatial Foresight won the tender for the framework contract on the ESPON External Expertise Support. Spatial Foresight assisted ESPON to capitalise on the research work carried out and to draft texts that are easy to understand for a wider public and communicate the key results and relevant policy conclusions of ESPON results and maps.

In the main, we supported the ESPON Coordination Unit to develop and elaborate a range of editorial products varying from substantial policy oriented and scientific publications to easy accessible policy briefs and fact sheets with a more journalistic touch as well as presentations.

Client: ESPON
Duration: 2012-2014

Spatial Foresight has been contracted by the ESPON Coordination Unit to update and expand the ESPON Online MapFinder, in order to strengthen the use of ESPON results and maps. The project prepared and incorporated texts describing and explaining 60 additional maps as results from the ESPON 2013 Programme. Spatial Foresight drafted and presented a short text for each map, providing the main information needed to understand the map and thereby allowing the reader to better grasp its message and implications for policy-making as well as for the general understanding of European territorial patterns and trends.

Client: ESPON Coordination Unit
Duration: August 2014 - December 2014

As part of its Core Database Strategy (CDS), the ESPON programme set up a database with a limited number of regularly updated stock variables. This for example includes population by age, births, deaths, net-migration and employment by sector. Even for such basic indicators, there are significant gaps in Europe. Changes in regional boundaries have for example generated  broken time series. To fill these gaps, the project applied a range of estimation methods and Spatial Foresight was in charge of validating the output of these estimations, e.g. by checking the consistency of the output data and by collecting some additional figures from national sources.

Client: ESPON / ÖIR
Duration: May 2014 - January 2015

The preparation of the operational programmes for the next period of the Structural Funds 2014-2020 is underway. Spatial Foresight conducted the ex-ante evaluation for the future interregional cooperation programme (Interreg Vc). The evaluation included all ex-ante evaluation elements as proposed by the European Commission - especially the evaluation of the programme strategy, indicators, monitoring, financial allocation, contribution to the EU2020 Strategy. The evaluation was led by EureConsult and the evaluation team included also t33.

Client: Interreg IVc / EureConsult
Duration: 2013-2014

This ESPON TerrEvi project analysed and presented available ESPON results so that they can be useful for the development of Structural Funds Programmes post 2013. This includes more specifically:

a) To develop a methodological concept for using (European) territorial evidence available for more strategic, result-oriented programming for the post 2013-period;

b) To develop supporting tools for the programming process in order to make the methodological concept operational;

c) To enable the programme partners of SF programmes, including the Managing Authorities and Technical Secretariats of all type of programme areas, to base their decisions on public investment priorities, on measures and on targets on territorial evidence for their programme area;

d) To demonstrate the full potential of the methodological concept and tools developed in ten pilot cases.

The project lead is Metis, with T33 and FGGI as project partners. Spatial Foresight is involved as sub-contractor.

Client: ESPON / Metis
Duration: 2012-2014

DG Regional Policy faces an increasing demand for EU-wide, harmonised regional and urban data analysis. Although a lot of data and indicators are collected at regional level and at the level of bigger cities and agglomerations, the geographical distribution of population at local level has proven to be an essential additional data source when analysing the diversity of the territories in Europe. In order to enable a broader historical perspective on the population evolution of territories and agglomerations, DG Regional Policy wishes to create a database with historical population figures for local administrative units of 2011. This database will provide populations figures for 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011.

After a competitive bidding process, Spatial Foresight was awarded the task of compiling this database. It covered all 28 European Union countries, the EFTA countries Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland, Liechtenstein and in the candidate countries FYROM, Serbia and Turkey. A wide network of national experts provided assistance to Spatial Foresight in this task.

Client: European Commission DG REGIO
Duration: 2013

The ESPON Data Navigator - established in 2003 - provides unique information on the principle sources of relevant European statistics. It offers access to main statistical series, geographical data sets, maps and databases and territorially relevant data on different regional levels. It also contains metadata on nomenclatures, periodicity, projection, scale, scope and quality of data. The task of this assignment was it to update the information in the ESPON Data Navigator covering all 19 thematic areas of the data navigator for the 31 countries of the ESPON space. The assignment was led by Mcrit and Spatial Foresight was mainly responsible for specific inputs and the development of the user guide.

Client: Mcrit / ESPON
Duration: 2012-2013

The main objective of the service is to provide the European Commission, DG Regio with an analysis of the financial and physical data of the Objective 1 and 2 Programmes financed during the period 2000-2006 in 25 Member States. The analysis built on the work undertaken in the data feasibility study carried out under the ex-post evaluation of cohesion policy programmes 2000-2006 co-financed by the ERDF (‘the data feasibility study’), which assembled indicators in a database containing the physical indicators (output, result and impact indicators) presented in the 2006 Annual Reports of the Programmes, and included information to be collected through the examination of the Final Implementation Reports. Tasks included a massive data collection effort, as well as comment and elaboration of the information gathered concerning expenditures by areas of intervention of the programmes, and indicators used. In addition, the service proposed by the consortium includes a commentary, based on a review of the indicators reported in the Final Implementation Reports and the core indicators by the Commission for 2007-13, on the use of indicators by the programmes, and suggestions for adding possible new core indicators in the future.

The project is carried out in cooperation with T33 in Italy, ÖIR in Austria and a large number of national experts.

Client: DG Regio / T33
Duration: 2011

This study was about measuring the impact of changing EU regulatory requirements to administrative cost and administrative burden of managing EU Structural Funds. In a previous study we have analysed the administrative costs of EU Cohesion Policy. This study received considerable attention around Europe and is currently used as baseline for the debate on the framework for the next program period. The aim of the new study was to assess the impact of changing EU regulatory requirements on administrative costs and administrative burden of managing EU Structural Funds. The focus was on the upcoming debate of the regulatory framework for the Structural Funds period post 2013, and to what degree envisaged changes will reduce the administrative cost for the programme bodies and the burden on the beneficiaries.

Client: DG Regio / T33 / SWECO
Duration: 2010-2011

DG Regional Policy faces an increasing demand for EU-wide, harmonised regional and urban data analysis. Although a lot of data and indicators are collected at regional level and at the level of bigger cities and agglomerations, the geographical distribution of population at local level has proven to be an essential additional data source when analysing the diversity of the territories in Europe. In order to enable a broader historical perspective on the population evolution of territories and agglomerations, DG Regional Policy aims to establish a database on the boundaries of the local administrative units and their population figures. Ideally, this database would cover every decade, starting in 1960 (with one data point per decade, typically the census years).

After a competitive bidding process, Spatial Foresight was awarded the task of assessing the feasibility of such a database. This feasibility was being assessed in all 28 European Union countries, in the EFTA countries Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland, Liechtenstein and in the candidate countries FYROM and Turkey. A wide network of national contact points provided assistance to Spatial Foresight in this task.

Client: European Commission  Directorate-General for Regional Policy
Duration: 2012

The  purpose of the INTERREG IVC study on exchange of experience processes was to better understand how the exchange of experience among project partners is organised and how it can directly influence the policy framework of regions. This was done to help improving the way the exchange of experience is carried out in the present and also in the future programme period. The analysis was based on in-depth desk and literature research, surveys to project partners and interviews with selected key stakeholders at project level. The lead partner for this study was EureConsult.

The final report is available on the Interreg IVC website.

Client: Interreg IVC / EureConsult
Duration: 2012-2013

Maps are a powerful communication tool and one of the main trademarks of ESPON. Past experience has shown that the maps produced by ESPON are widely acknowledged and used. In order to strengthen the use of ESPON results and maps and in particular to facilitate the search and use of the main maps, ESPON set up an ESPON MapFinder.

This MapFinder goes one step further than just allowing a user-friendly approach to finding relevant ESPON maps for a certain topic. ESPON maps are often rather complex both as regards the underlying methods and concepts, as well as the interpretation of the map. Therefore the MapFinder shall also present a short text of roughly 500 words for 80 selected maps allowing the reader to quickly grasp the main information needed to understand the map. This shall also include information which allows the reader to draw policy relevant conclusions from the map, without risking unintended misinterpretations.

Accordingly, the purpose of this exercise was to strive for presenting results in a very communicative way, which can support the policy development in the field of territorial development, competitiveness and cohesion.

Client: ESPON Coordination Unit
Duration: 2012

This ESPON project is part of the applied research strand of ESPON and analyses the role of European territorial cooperation for growth, jobs and quality of life.  The main objective of this project was to assess the relationship between international territorial co-operation and the socio-economic development of EU and neighbouring regions. In a first phase theoretical concepts of territorial cooperation were examined and data on different types of territorial cooperation and other regional characteristics will be collected and structured. In a second phase various qualitative and quantitative methods were applied in order to investigate the mentioned relationship. This is followed by the development of typologies on territorial cooperation and of policy recommendations. The lead partner of this project was EUROREG at Warsaw University. Spatial Foresight was involved as a sub-contractor and carried out the foreseen German-Polish case study and contributed to statistical analyses.

Client: ESPON / EUROREG
Duration: 2010-2012

The ESPON Scientitifc Plattform Project on territorial indicators and indices constitutes an important element of the ESPON monitoring platform. Following a first phase of screening existing territorial indicators and indices for the ESPON space, selected territorial indicators and indices were made operational for the ESPON Programme. The selection of these indicators and indices reflect their usefulness for territorial policies and the needs of the policy community. The lead partner for this project was the Department for Geography at the University of Genève. In collaboration with Susan Brockett Plan og Prosess, Spatial Foresight—as sub-contractor—was in charge of the dialogue with the policy community.

Client: ESPON / University of Genève
Duration: 2010-2012

The EU Commission publication “Regions 2020” and the set of follow up studies “Regional Futures 2020 – Regional challenges in the perspective of 2020” have set the frame for a first prospective analysis of the likely regional impact of four of the biggest challenges facing Europe: globalization, demographic change, climate change, and energy supply. This study deepened and broadened the analysis presented in “Regions 2020”. For that ÖIR has brought together an international team involving also Spatial Foresight. Spatial Foresight was mainly responsible for the globalization issue and was also involved in the analysis of the overall policy implications.

Client: DG Regio / ÖIR
Duration: 2010-2011

ESPON has launched a study to further develop existing territorial impact methodologies and explore the impacts of EU policies to be expected at regional level and the types of territories that will benefit most and least from EU policy intervention. In this study the main focus was on the assessment of the regional sensitivity to EU Directives. The task of Spatial Foresight was to follow the ESPON study and provide critical reflections and support.

Cient: ESPON, the European observation network on territorial development and cohesion
Duration: 2010-2012

Synthesis Reports are an important means for the communication of ESPON results to a wider audience. Since the publication of the last Synthesis Report in 2006, may new ESPON projects have been initiated and some of them have already presented first results. ESPON as commissioned Spatial Foresight to draft a new Synthesis Report. This report brought together the key messages and findings of the present ESPON research and informed policy development related to the future of EU Cohesion Policy and Territorial Cohesion.

Client: ESPON
Duration: 2010

For the 2007-2013 period more than 300 Structural Funds programmes are under implementation in the EU Member States. The purpose of this study was to review governance and administrative structures at national and regional level for the ERDF and Cohesion Fund programmes during 2007-2013 period. The administrative costs were to be examined on a structural, functional and territorial basis within programmes and projects.

Client: DG Regio / SWECO
Duration: 2009

ESPON has launched a study to further develop existing territorial impact methodologies and explore the impacts of EU policies to be expected at regional level and the types of territories that will benefit most and least from EU policy intervention. The task of Spatial Foresight was to follow the ESPON study and provided critical reflections and support.

Cient: ESPON, the European observation network on territorial development and cohesion
Duration: 2008-2010

The task was to provide a compilation of existing territorial typologies and propose a set of eight territorial typologies which can be used throughout the ESPON 2013 programme. These typologies need to be relevant and acceptable in the context of European cohesion policy. Furthermore, they must be based on sound methodologies, built on robust data, have a high explanatory power and communicative value and be of policy relevance. The project was carried out in co-operation with the IRS in Germany and Eurofutures Finland.

Client: ESPON, the European observation network on territorial development and cohesion
Duration: 2009-2010

Following-up on the Territorial Agenda, an Action Programme with 15 different actions has been adopted. In preparation of the Swedish EU presidency, this study aimed to assess to what degree these actions have been implemented to what the results are. Based on this, proposals were elaborated for the future work with the Territorial Agenda and its implementation.

Client: Swedish Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications / SWECO
Duration: 2009

This Work Package 11 of the Ex-post evaluation of the EU Cohesion Policy Programmes 2000-2006 focused on the management and implementation systems. The aim was to illustrate the diversity of these systems across Europe, and their contribution to the performance of the programmes, the community added value and sustainable development.

Client: DG Regio / European Policies Research Centre (EPRC) / SWECO
Duration: 2008-2009

This Work Package 9 of the Ex-post evaluation of the EU Cohesion Policy Programmes 2000-2006 focused on the rural development. The aim was to illustrate to what degree and how EU Structural Funds and Cohesion Funds have contributed to the development of rural areas in Europe.

Client: DG Regio / Metis / SWECO
Duration: 2008-2009

ARL, the German Academy for Spatial Research and Planning was preparing for a position paper on the EU green book on territorial cohesion. The task of Spatial Foresight was to establish and chair an ad-hoc working group which would draft the ARL position paper.

Client: ARL, the German Academy for Spatial Research and Planning
Duration: 2008-2009

The aim of this project was to analyse to what degree and how the ERDF programmes 20007-2013 contribute to achieving the aims set out in the Lisbon and Göteborg Agendas for growth, jobs and sustainable development.

Client: DG Regio / Nordregio / SWECO
Duration: 2008

Spatial Foresight finalised the Impact Evaluation of the 2014-2020 Interreg cross-border programme Euregio Meuse Rhine. We assessed the results achieved by the 66 projects funded by this Interreg programme, as well as their contribution to bring about change in the cross-border region. The methodologies used were a survey to finalised projects, case studies, documentary review on all finalised projects, and contribution analysis. The final report will be published by the Programme on its website. Projects brought about a large variety of results, from prototypes for innovative tools and approaches, to changed attitudes and increased competences via training programmes and a cross-border public service. For example,  under priority 2, projects supported more than 500 enterprises with grants and providing information on cross-border opportunities and stimulating entrepreneurship. Under priority axis 3 projects managed to provide information to almost 400.000 persons, 1.155 representatives of interest groups (incl. NGOs) and 827 representatives of local authorities, developing skills and changing attitudes and perspective among a fair share of them.

Client: Interreg Euregio Meuse Rhine

Duration: August 2021 - February 2024

Spatial Foresight was assigned to support an EIB fi-compass assignment on the mapping of specialised financial intermediaries offering financing in the cultural and creative sectors. The project touched on the particularities of these sectors regarding their specific financing gaps. Spatial Foresight conducted the mapping of such financing products for Austria and Germany and undertook additional in-depth reviews for some of the identified financial instruments. The assignment was part of the EIB fi-compass framework contract implemented by Ernst & Young, Technopolis and t33.

Client: European Investment Bank

Duration: March 2023 – July 2023

Spatial Foresight carried out the final impact evaluation of the Interreg North-West Europe Programme 2014-2020 together with t33 and EureConsult. The evaluation focused on the assessment of the project results and the contribution of the programme to its specific objectives. Other effects of interest were the processes favouring competitiveness and balanced development in the North-West Europe programme area. A detailed review of project information, case studies, a survey to projects and contribution analysis were performed to understand how the programme has generated impact and benefits. This evaluation was part of the overall framework contract “Implementation of an integrated evaluation approach within the framework of a robust North-West Europe evaluation system”. Download.

Client: INTERREG North-West Europe

Duration: September 2022 – November 2023

The EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR) works according to an Action Plan is updated revised regularly. The aim of the Action Plan is to go from ‘words to actions’ by identifying the concrete priorities for the macro-region. Spatial Foresight supported the EUSAIR Facility Point and the Thematic Steering Groups in developing a first draft of a new EUSAIR Action Plan will cover the time period towards 2034 with a long-term perspective towards 2050.

Client: EUSAIR Facility Point

Duration: March 2023 - July 2023

Spatial Foresight has contributed to the second impact evaluation of the Interreg V A Greater Region Programme. This is the follow-up of a first impact evaluation, which was produced in 2018 with Spatial Foresight as lead partner. The evaluation covered all priority axes, project and micro-projects, updates of result indicators, an assessment of outreach activities and an analysis of the implementation of horizontal principles. 10 “theories of change” were elaborated, one for each specific objective and priority axis. They describe how short and medium-term changes may contribute to the achievement of a desired future state in the cooperation area on the medium to long term. Contributions of individual projects to these short and medium-term changes were identified and assessed. The analysis fed into the design and implementation of the forthcoming Interreg VI A Greater Region Programme. The project was led by Eureconsult. Agence RUP was in charge of outreach-related aspects. Download.

Client: Ministry of Energy and Spatial Planning

Duration: May 2022 - December 2022

Spatial Foresight supported the Alpine Space Interreg VB programme by conducting an impact assessment of the programme. Impacts of all four programme priorities were assessed and lessons for future programme design and management gathered. The evaluation was coordinated by t33 and was implemented in two phases between 2019 and 2022. The assessment was based on the analysis of project benefits, contribution analysis, interviews, surveys and case studies. Spatial Foresight was responsible for evaluating the relationships between the Interreg Alpine Space programme and the EUSALP macroregional strategy. Download.

Client: Alpine Space Interreg VB programme

Duration: May 2019 - December 2022

Spatial Foresight, in a consortium led by t33, contributed to the evaluation of the Interreg ADRION 2014-2020 Cooperation Programme. Different evaluation reports elaborated between 2020 and 2022 provided evidence and recommendations concerning the governance and management structure as well as the communication strategy, the implementation of the Programme (operational evaluation) and the achievement of its strategic goals (impact evaluation). Spatial Foresight contributed to the impact evaluation, assessing the effects of the Programme. Spatial Foresight also examined the contribution of the Programme to EUSAIR (European Macroregional Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Region).

Client: Interreg ADRION Programme Managing Authority

Duration: December 2019 - December 2022

Spatial Foresight conducted impact evaluations on three Specific Objectives of the Upper Rhine Interreg programme (2014-2020), together with Reeleaf B.V. from the Netherlands. From October 2021 to December 2022, we assessed the contribution to impact made in three Specific Objectives of the programme, namely SO 6: reducing environmental impact of economic and settlement development, SO 7: limiting the increase of motorised cross-border traffic and SO 11: Improvement of cross-border public services. The methodology of the impact evaluation was theory-based. Covering the analysis of documents, desk research and interviews with project partners and beneficiaries.

Client: Direction du Rayonnement Transfrontalier, International et de l'Europe, Région Grand Est

Duration: October 2021 - December 2022

Spatial Foresight developed for NECSTouR, the network of European Regions for sustainable and competitive tourism, the handbook "How to use EU funding for sustainable tourism: Handbook for Local and Regional Authorities and tourism stakeholders in the Mediterranean". The Handbook is part of NECSTouR's capitalisation activities for the INTERREG MED Sustainable Tourism Community. The Handbook shall inform public authorities and tourism stakeholders in the Mediterranean about funding opportunities for projects contributing to sustainable tourism using two of the most important EU funding instruments, the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in the years 2022-2027. The guidance aims to inspire and advise readers to best prepare for absorbing these funds at regional and local levels. It is available online.

Client: NECSTouR

Duration: October 2021 - October 2022

Spatial Foresight supported VASAB in its update of the VASAB Long-Term Perspective. In view of current challenges and trends at global and Baltic Sea Region level, VASAB's Long-Term Perspective has been updated to support different stakeholders in the Baltic Sea Region in policy making to cope with challenges and better prepare for the future. The update process was open, participatory and co-creative engaging stakeholders at different levels. The process has been carried out together with Nordregio.

The final results are available at vasab.org/vision2040/

Client: VASAB

Duration: February 2021 - December 2022

The European Parliament has asked Spatial Foresight to produce a report on Cohesion Policy in European northernmost regions in Sweden and Finland. The report focused on the achievements of cohesion policy and how it has been adapted to the specificities of these regions. It also encompasses possible synergies/overlaps between the Structural and Cohesion Funds and other EU instruments used to support economic activity, the contribution of cohesion policy to tackling climate change at regional level and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on the implementation of cohesion policy.

Client: European Parliament

Duration: February 2022 - April 2022

Spatial Foresight elaborated the cross-border Interreg Programme of the Greater Region for the 2021-2027 programming period together with Eureconsult. The project, led by Dr Thomas Stumm, included the drafting of a strategy based on the strategic objectives of the programme partners, with the definition of priority axes, policy objectives and specific objectives and the elaboration of a system of output and result indicators. The project team also elaborated intervention logics and strategies to take proper account of horizontal objectives.

Client: CGET Interreg Greater Region

Duration: November 2020 - December 2021

The main objective of this project was to carry out the territorial analysis of the NWE area in preparing for the 2021-2027 cooperation programme. The analysis focused on potential strengths and needs that could be tackled by the future programme and taking into account the legal framework of the draft EC regulations (ERDF and ETC) and the economic and social situation of the NWE area. Particular attention was given to the changes in view of the Brexit and other territorial changes of the NWE programme area. The territorial analysis is available here.

After successful completion of the territorial analysis, Spatial Foresight was asked to continue its services and facilitate programme authorities in the development of the 2021-27 cooperation programme. This includes inter alia the formulation of priorities and development of a relevant indicator system. Please, find more information on the project here.

Client: GEIE GECOTTI-PE- INTERREG NWE

Duration: February 2020 - July 2022

Spatial Foresight had the lead for the ESPON project on Territorial Scenarios for the Danube and the Adriatic-Ionian macro-regions in 2050. The project analysed and looked into relevant trends and developments. Based on that it develop baseline and alternative territorial scenarios for the two macro-regions. The scenario development was based on territorial foresight and a thorough co-creation process with players of the two macro-regions thoughout the whole process. The project was carried out together with CDUT, IPoP, AEBR Western Balkans, CESCI, Co-Plan and Franziska Sielker.

The project reports are availabel at https://www.espon.eu/TEVI2050

Summary blog posts are available

• Flourishing in green and social wellbeing: A scenario to just transition
• Restoring nature for a revived ecosystem:  A scenario for the Adriatic Ionian region
• A hyper-digital Danube macro-region: A scenario to digital transition 

Client: ESPON EGTC

Duration: Duration: May 2021 - May 2022

Spatial Foresight conducted the policy/impact evaluation of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR). We assessed main instruments (tools) and activities (processes) of the Strategy aiming to estimate its potential in the following three main areas of interest: (A) Implementation, (B) Impact and (C) Communication. The main documents in the focus of this evaluation were the revised Action Plan 2020, the Guidance Paper for Embedding of the EUSDR into EU Programmes and the EUSDR Communication Strategy. The work was carried out in close cooperation with the Danube Strategy Point (DSP), Priority Area Coordinators (PACs), National Coordinators (NCs) and the steering group for evaluation (SG DANUVAL). We collaborated with Dr Franziska Sielker. Within the overall positive evaluation context a few general recommendations were made to increase efficiency of the Strategy and maximise impacts and contributions to wider policy objectives.

Client: Danube Strategy Point

Duration: August 2021 - May 2022

Spatial Foresight was contracted by the Luxembourg Ministry of Energy and for Spatial planning to develop implementation recommendations and maps for the SDTGR/REKGR. The SDTGR/REKGR (Spatial Development Scheme of the Greater Region) is the result of a four year long work process between national and regional ministries and authorities of the Greater Region (Link: https://amenagement-territoire.public.lu/fr/grande-region-affaires-transfrontalieres/SDT-GR.html). It includes 45 operative measures that will ease or erase cross-border obstacles and will allow to coordinate future public actions in the Greater Region. The Greater Region is a cross-border area between Luxembourg, Belgium, France and Germany. The awareness that cross-border cooperation is a must and not a luxury, has resulted in many institutionalised forms of cross-border exchange formats and platforms where public as well as private players have the possibility coordinate. With this project, Spatial Foresight supported the implementation of the 45 operative measures that have been developed by the SDTGR/REKGR stakeholders. With the development of the maps, we also provided an understanding of what territories of the Greater Region were eventually affected by the implementation of the operative measures.

Client: Luxembourg Ministry of Energy and for Spatial Planning
Duration: November 2021 - December 2021

Cross-border obstacles hinder cross-border activities of citizens and businesses, within the EU but also with neighbouring countries. Spatial Foresight, in cooperation with t33 and EureConsult, were awarded a DG REGIO study that looks into these obstacles at EU external borders neighbouring enlargement countries. The study has a strong geographical focus on Southeastern Europe. Apart from developing a comprehensive review of these obstacles the study provides orientation on how to address those that matter most in future IPA-CBC programmes. For this purpose the project team carries out several case studies, provided insights to successful practices overcoming obstacles and provided recommendations for the Member States involved in IPA-CBC programmes.

The final report can be downloaded here and read our blog post here.

Client: European Commission, DG REGIO

Duration: December 2020 - August 2021

Client: ESPON

Duration: July - November 2021

The Interreg project 'Land Sea Act' developed as final result a new Multi-level Governance Agenda for blue growth and spatial planning in the Baltic Sea Region. Spatial Foresight supported this process with peer reviews of the agenda text and the moderation of a transnational expert workshop.

Client: Latvian Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development
Duration: September 2021 - December 2021

Spatial Foresight performed an implementation evaluation of the Interreg Euregio Meuse-Rhine cooperation programme 2014-20. The evaluation focused on programme processes and requirements for applicants and project reporting. The assessment aimed to help programme authorities to identify possible elements to improve in the current programming period and to draw lessons for the future 2021-2027 programme. Final evaluation findings were presented and discussed in the Monitoring Committee in February 2021.

Client: Interreg Euregio Meuse-Rhine
Duration: May - December 2020

Spatial Foresight carried out the Study "Monitoring of the state of institutional capacity in the region and mid-term evaluation of Programme impact" by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme 2014-2020. The study covered two main tasks: 1) monitoring of the state of institutional capacity in the Baltic Sea Region in 2018 and in 2020 up-dating the situation of the result indicators defined by the Programme, and 2) the mid-term evaluation of the impact of the Programme. For the monitoring and the evaluation different methods such as documentary review, interviews, surveys, focus groups and case study analysis were used.

Client: INTERREG Baltic Sea Region
Duration: February 2018 - November 2018, Up-date in 2020

Spatial Foresight supported the Interreg Programma France-Wallonie-Vlaanderen in their development of the 2021-2027 cooperation programme by performing a socioeconomic analysis of the cross-border region. The socioeconomic analysis supported the selection of future programme priorities and specific objectives. Therefore the analysis focused on the specific strengths, weaknesses, treats and opportunities with regards to cross-border cooperation needs and possibilities. The analysis was based on document studies and statistical analysis.

Client: Joint Secretariat of the Interreg programme France-Wallonie-Vlaanderen
Duration:November 2019 - February 2020

As part of the preparation of the future Interreg VI Greater Region (Grande Région) cooperation programme, the Managing Authority selected Spatial Foresight and Eureconsult to carry out a socio-economic analysis of the cooperation area. The study provided an overview of economic, social and territorial disparities that characterise the cooperation area, in order to enable the partner authorities responsible for drawing up the future programme to have access to in-depth and up-to-date evidence. This evidence is used to develop the programming strategy, including the selection of strategic objectives by partner authorities. Particular attention was paid to common investment needs.

Client: Interreg VA Grande Région
Duration: June 2019 - February 2020

The aim of the ESPON project was to produce trend analysis and territorial scenarios for the Baltic Sea Region. Key topics to be addressed under various policies related to the Baltic Sea Region’s territorial development were identified and the role of the Baltic Sea Region in a larger European and global context was in focus. Spatial Foresight was responsible for the development of the two territorial scenarios. The project was led by Nordregio and the team includes besides Spatial Foresight also Spiekermann & Wegener Urban and Regional Research and the Institute of Geography and Spatial Organisation Polish Academy of Sciences.

The final report of the study can be downloaded here.

Client: ESPON EGTC
Duration: November 2018 - April 2020

Spatial Foresight was awarded the operational evaluation of the Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE 2014 - 2020 Programme. Supported by t33, Spatial Foresight evaluated the effectiveness and efficiency of programme management and implementation, appraised the appropriate functioning of the programme management settings, and carried out a first assessment of the Programme's mid-term progress towards the achievement of its objectives. An effective method mix was applied, consisting of desk research, in-depth interviews with programme stakeholders, a participatory action research and co-design approach to the evaluation of programme management settings and processes and a systemic approach to the assessment of the programme's governance structures.

Client: Interreg Central Europe Programme
Duration: July 2016 - March 2019

Spatial Foresight, together with Hempel Krzymuski Partner, developed an expertise on opportunities to develop cross-border services of public interest in the Saxon-Polish border. The focus was on the four twin city areas located along this border. These areas were strongly affected by demographic change. Cross-border service provision was investigated as an opportunity to improve living conditions and attractiveness of the areas in the long-run.
The study elaborated the local and regional needs, identified good practices from other European border areas and scrutinised their transferability and needs for adjustment to the conditions at the German-Polish border. The expertise was embedded in the cross-border Interreg project "Smart Integration" and carried out on behalf this project's lead holder, the Saxon State Ministry of the Interior.

Client: Saxon Ministry of the Interior
Duration: February 2019 - June 2019

In 2018, Spatial Foresight with cooperation partner t33 carried out the Implementation Evaluation for the 2014-2020 Interreg North-West Europe Programme within the integrated framework of the monitoring and evaluation system. The evaluation aimed to analyse and verify the effectiveness and efficiency of the programme, as well as the expected Programme contribution to the socio-economic changes in the territory.

Client: INTERREG North-West Europe
Duration: March 2018 - September 2018

The aim of the project was to provide a first impact evaluation of the programme INTERREG VA Greater Region. The evaluation targeted three main elements of the activities of the crossborder programme: the environmental action (under Priority Axis n°2), the communication of the programme (in relation with local stakeholders and beneficiaries), implementation of horital principles.

Client: INTERREG VA Grande Région
Duration: January 2018 - December 2018

The German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) had commissioned blue! in cooperation with Spatial Foresight and CIPRA is for elaborating an action programme in support of Green Economy in the Alps. The project translated the findings related to the key topics of the 6th Report on the State of the Alps "Greening the Economy of the Alpine Region" into actions. Spatial Foresight especially contributed to the conceptual development of the action programme and the stakeholder workshops that fed into actual actions and project proposals implementing a green economy.

Client: German Federal Environment Agency (UBA)
Duration: March 2017 - January 2019

Spatial Foresight performed the operational evaluation of the Interreg Alpine Space Programme 2014-2020. This evaluation focused on the evaluation of the communication strategy, the effectiveness in achieving objectives and output indicators of the programme and the stakeholder involvement and partnership structures.

Client: Interreg V B Alpine Space Programme / Amt der Salzburger Landesregierung; Abt. 1/01
Duration: November 2017 - June 2018

Spatial Foresight was awarded a contract by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia for a study on the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region after 2020. The purpose of the study was to analyse how projects of the EUSBSR have developed and been implemented in support of the main objectives and sub-objectives of the Strategy, as well as the role of its key implementers, with a special focus on the ’Save the Sea’ objective. This input was an important step to assess the current implementation of the EUSBSR objectives and provide recommendations considering its future implementation also vis à vis future trends. The findings of the study were presented at the plenary and at a workshop, at the 9^th EU Annual Forum for the Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and served as a basis for discussions on a better alignment of the macro-regional strategies with the next programming period after 2020. The final report of the study can be downloaded here.

Client: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia
Duration: November 2017 - June 2017

Experts from Spatial Foresight supported the OECD LEED office in Trento (Italy) in conducting a Project aimed at contributing to a more effective cooperation in the Adriatic-Ionian macro-region through fostering integrated local development and improving the consistency and the effectiveness of the Interreg V-B Adriatic-Ionian 2014-2020 Operational Programme (ADRION), in particular with regard to the European Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR), the macro-regional strategy endorsed by the European Council in 2014.

Client: OECD LEED Trento Centre for local development
Duration: August 2017 - October 2017

The European Union Strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSALP) is the most recent macro-regional strategy in Europe. It targets an increased cooperation within the Alpine region in order to better address challenges and to promote a  balanced territorial development. The assignment helped the EUSALP players to develop a framework for monitoring and identify relevant indicators. The key element of the assignment was an interactive workshop held with EUSALP stakeholders in late November 2016.

Clint: DG Regio
Duration: November 2016 - December 2016

The European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) is the first macro-regional strategy in Europe. It aims at reinforcing cooperation within the region to face several challenges by working together as well as promoting a more balanced development in the area. The assignment on monitoring indicators and targets in the EUSBSR took stock of the situation as regards the monitoring of the objectives and sub-objectives of the EUSBSR by making use relevant indicators, identify monitoring needs by key stakeholders, allowing it to feed the results into the establishment of a macro-regional monitoring system. The main element of this analysis is an interactive workshop with relevant players which took place in late June 2016.

Client: DG REGIO
Duration: May 2016 - September 2016

Since the adoption of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) and the development of the current version of its Action Plan and sub-priorities some years have past and new development and governance challenges have emerged as global and regional contexts have changed both in terms of economic and geo-political developments.
The 7th Strategy Forum for the EUSBSR focused on a vision for the Baltic Sea Region 2030. In preparation of this, a team led by Spatial Foresight was asked to review relevant development trends to assess:

• In a 2030 perspective, what major global trends can be expected to fundamentally impact the future of the Baltic Sea Region?
• Which major trends in the immediate neighbourhood of EU Baltic Sea Region should the Member States take into account when pursuing the long-term objectives of the EUSBSR?
• Which trends could seriously affect the twelve sub-objectives of the EUSBSR Action Plan?
• To what extent is the Region prepared for these developments?

Spatial Foresight carried out this study in cooperation with MDI in Finland. The final report of the assessment can be downloaded on the Strategy Forum website.

Client: Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (Tilväxtverket)
Duration: April 2016 - November 2016

Spatial Foresight has conducted a study for INTERACT Point Turku on the funding sources available for the EU macro regional strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. The study provided a comprehensive list and collect respective data on funding sources / policy implementation instruments in the Baltic Sea Region. Furthermore the most important needs for accessing the relevant information by different categories of users were identified. The study contributed to increased alignment of funding in the Baltic Sea Region.

After the project, INTERACT and other stakeholders for the Baltic Sea Region continued developing the tool. The funding portal has been published November 2016: https://www.euro-access.eu/regions/eusbsr_-_baltic_sea_region

Client: INTERACT Point Turku
Duration: September - December 2015

Municipalicities in the West Nordic countries (Faroe island, Iceland and Greenland) look quite different: The Faroe Islands (population: 48 500 inh.) comprise 30 small municipalities. Debates on merging them into 7 new ones have stalled because of a lack of political support at the national level. Since 2009, Greenland (population: 56,800 inh.) is subdivided in only four very large municipalities, with an average population of 14,000 inhabitants. These municipalities comprise between 8 and 40 settlements, none of which are connected by roads. Iceland (population: 320,000 inh.) has 75 municipalities. Their number has fallen rapidly from over 200 in the 1980s. These constrasted patterns in countries that share similar challenges, with small, isolated settlements that are highly dependent on natural resources, create a potential for exchanges of experience and good practice. Furthermore, current debates on changes in municipal structures could usefully be informed by international literature. The objective of the project is to produce an integrated evidence base for these discussions, that could later be used as a basis for organising transnational exchanges within this field. The municipal structures will be approached from the perspective of local democracy, public service provision and development potentials. A limited number of interviews will be carried out with local stakeholders, as a complement to the review of literature and policy documents.

Client: Arctic Cooperation Programme / University of Akureyri
Duration: 2012-2013

The Territorial Agenda 2020 aims at implementing territorial cohesion. This asks for intensified collaboration between sector and spatial policies. Transport policy, i. a. in the context of the core network, is spatially sensitive, which suggests a closer cooperation between transport policy and spatial planning. This project aims to illustrate how this cooperation was achieved in selected INTERREG projects and wants to observe and support related planning processes in selected German regions. The project is conducted in collaboration with Spiekermann & Wegener.

Here you may download the available publications pf the project:

Zillmer, S. & Lüer C. (2014), Umsetzung der Territorialen Agenda 2020: Entwicklung regionaler Potenziale im Zusammenhang mit der Weiterentwicklung der TEN-V in drei Modellregionen, BMVI - Special publications. Download.

Zillmer S. , Lüer C., Spiekermann K., Wegener M. (2015): Implementating the Territorial Agenda 2020. Enhancing regional potentials in the context of further developing the TEN-T.  BMVI-Online-Publikation 07/2015. Download.

Client: BBSR, Germany
Duration: 2012-2014

Spatial Foresight performed a study on “Cooperation methods and tools applied by the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds) programmes for 2014-2020 to support implementation of the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region”. The purpose of this study has been to analyse how a selection of ESI Funds are foreseen to support implementation of the EUSBSR during the 2014-2020 programming period. The final report can be downloaded here.

Client: INTERACT point Turku
Duration: October 2014 – April 2015

DG Regio assigned Kai Böhme as external expert for the impact assessment of the Alpine macro-regional strategy (EUSALP) in the fields of: 1) competitiveness, prosperity and cohesion of the Alpine Region; 2) Assistance in the stakeholder consultation; and 3) overall expert assessment to provide the Commission with strategic advice on policy challenges. The expert's tasks lead to a synthetic report, including recommendations and readiness in preparation of a Commission Communication and Action Plan for a EU Strategy for the Alpine Region, which will be submitted to the Council during 2015.

Client: DG Regio
Duration: September 2014 - March 2015

Spatial Foresight conducted the ex-ante evaluation for the territorial cooperation programme 2 Seas. The evaluation included all ex-ante evaluation elements as proposed by the European Commission - especially the evaluation of the programme strategy, indicators, monitoring, financial allocation, contribution to the EU2020 Strategy as well as the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). The evaluation was led by t33.

Client: Interreg 2 Seas / t33
Duration: 2013-2014

Spatial Foresight conducted the ex-ante evaluation for the territorial cooperation programme France (Channel) - England. The evaluation included all ex-ante evaluation elements as proposed by the European Commission - especially the evaluation of the programme strategy, indicators, monitoring, financial allocation,  contribution to the EU2020 Strategy as well as the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). The evaluation was led by t33.

Client: Interreg IVA France (Channel) - England / t33
Duration: 2013-2014

Spatial Foresight conducted the ex-ante evaluation for the territorial cooperation programme Alipne Space. The evaluation included all ex-ante evaluation elements as proposed by the European Commission - especially the evaluation of the programme strategy, indicators, monitoring, financial allocation, contribution to the EU2020 Strategy as well as the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). The evaluation was led by t33.

Client: Interreg Alpine Space / t33
Duration: 2013-2014

Spatial Foresight contributed to a study on macro-regional strategies in Europe as part of a framework contract with the European Parliament. The objective of the study was to identify the “new role of macro-regions in European Territorial Cooperation”. It analysed the governance approach, efficiency and effectiveness of existing and emerging macro-regional strategies. Spatial Foresight carried out a case study on the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) addressing, among others,  the process, the actors and the added value of the macro-regional strategy. The consortium was led by the Austrian Institute for Spatial Planning (ÖIR) and also includes t33 and the Technical University of Delft.

You may download the study here.

Client: European Parliament
Duration: May 2014 - January 2015

Spatial Foresight conducted the ex-ante evaluation for the territorial cooperation programme North-West Europe. The evaluation included all ex-ante evaluation elements as proposed by the European Commission - especially the evaluation of the programme strategy, indicators, monitoring, financial allocation, contribution to the EU2020 Strategy as well as the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). The evaluation was led by EuroConsult and SEA was led by Dr. Dräger & Thielmann.

Client: Interreg NWE / EureConsult
Duration: 2013-2014

Blue Growth and Green Growth are key concepts as regards implementing the Europe 2020 strategy and the Territorial Agenda 2020 and achieving their specific objectives. Blue Growth highlights the maritime dimension of the Europe 2020 strategy and encompasses smart, sustainable and inclusive growth related to the resources and potentials of oceans, seas and coastal areas. Green Growth is closely linked to sustainable growth. In accordance with the Europe 2020 strategy, Green Growth emphasises the relevance of energy- and resource-efficient economic growth in order to achieve long-term sustainable development. This project aimed to illustrate how transnational projects contribute to Blue and Green Growth in Germany and how they therefore facilitated the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy and the Territorial Agenda 2020.

Here you may find and download the available publications of the project:

Zillmer S., Lüer C. & Toptsidou M. (2014): Transnationale Perspektiven für grünes und blaues Wachstum. Wie Kommunen und Regionen im Rahmen von INTERREG IV B nachhaltiges Wachstum fördern und marine Ressourcen nutzen können. BBSR Sonderveröffentlichung. Download

Zillmer S., Lüer C. & Toptsidou M. (2014): Transnational perspectives for green and blue growth. How municipalities and regions can promote sustainable growth and use marine resources in the context of INTERREG IV B. BBSR Special Publications. Download

Client: BBSR
Duration: 2013-2014

As part of the Europe 2020 strategy, the Commission adopted the 'Innovation Union' flagship initiative in October 2010. It sets out a comprehensive innovation strategy for Europe to enhance Europe's capacity to deliver smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. DG Regio has assigned Kai Böhme as external expert for the impact assessment of the Adriatic & Ionian macro-region (Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, Italy, Serbia, Slovenia) in the field of: 1) innovative maritime and marine issues that draw on smart specialisation in the macro region; 2) overall expert assessment to provide the Commission with strategic advice on policy challenges. The expert's tasks lead to a synthetic report, including recommendations and readiness and impact assessment to assist the Commission services in the preparation of a Commission Communication and Action Plan for an EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, which was submitted to the Council during 2014.

Client: DG Regio
Duration: 2013-2014

The rural communities of West Norden (Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland) face particular social and economic development challenges related to their isolation, the small size of their local communities and extensive economic specialisation in sectors linked to the extraction and exploitation of raw materials. The objective of the study was to carry out a foresight process focusing on these territories, identifying potential shared ambitions and visions in a 2030 horizon and formulating some strategies to overcome the challenges they are facing. Spatial Foresight coordinated the implementation of the project. The lead stakeholder was the Greenlandic government. The steering group also included the Icelandic, Faroese and Greenland associations of local authorities and the Faroese Research Centre for Social Development. Nordregio was also part of the project team, providing important background data and maps.

Client: The Nordic Council of Ministers' Arctic Co-operation Programme
Duration: 2010-2011

In 2011, the CENTRAL EUROPE Programme for territorial cooperation started the internal debate on the future of transnational cooperation in its area, under consideration of the wider framework of the Europe 2020 Strategy and the proposed political framework for EU Regional Policy after 2013. This project aimed to support the Programme that it will meet regional challenges, satisfy concrete needs and use existing potentials for future cooperation in the next funding period 2014-2020.  Spatial Foresight contributed to this analysis of challenges, needs and potentials as expert for the German regions included in the CENTRAL EUROPE Programme.

Client: Managing Authority of Central Europe Programme / ÖIR
Duration: 2012

Regional development is influenced and supported by a wide range of regional, national and European programmes. The INTERACT cross-programme evaluation in Central and South-eastern Europe (incl. the Danube area) analysed and characterised the joint contribution of a range of programmes or initiatives to the development of the Danube area. The analysis had a particular focus on specific on possible synergies, overlappings, cooperation links and missing connections between the different programmes and initiatives. European Territorial Cooperation Programmes (INTERREG) were in the main focus of the cross-programme evaluation.

Client: INTERACT
Duration: 2009 – 2010

A main issue of this study was to identify the ways in which the ETC programmes have an ability to create and support ties that allow the SMEs to participate fully in the European Territorial Cooperation Programmes operating in North East Europe. The critical tasks included identifying, describing and analysing the level of SME involvement the programmes and the dimensions of SME involvement that contribute to the regional competitiveness and innovation of the participating regions. The critical issue was to identify the bottom-up qualities of the actions implemented and draw conclusions that are relevant to the Client, the programme secretariats, as well as the SMEs and other project partners. The study was carried out by Net Effect in cooperation with Sweco and Spatial Foresight.

Client: INTERACT / Net Effect
Duration: 2010

In the INTERREG community monitoring and evaluation are increasingly debated. In the framework of these debates, Spatial Foresight was a continuous peer reviewer concerning the elaboration of an INTERACT guidebook on monitoring and evaluation. Furthermore, Spatial Foresight was in charge for various INTERACT workshops with Programme Secretariats and Managing / Steering Committees.

Client: INTERACT
Duration: 2009

The Nordic countries were all in various phases of administrative reforms. The aim of this project was to illuminate one important aspect of the public debates that were taking place in all Nordic countries, namely the arguments that were used (rather than describing the process itself). This increased the transparency of the debate and was of use when decisions were made.

Client: Nordic Research Programme / Blekinge Institute of Technology
Duration: 2007-2008