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Fresh news from last AER Bureau Meeting in Oppland!

1 June, 2018 By Editor

Following the past AER General Assembly which took place in Lillehammer (Oppland, NO) on 23 May, the Bureau members got together on Thursday 24 May to discuss key issues concerning the future of the cohesion policy budget and AER overall political direction and priorities for 2018-2019. The Bureau is the primary political voice of AER and establishes the political base for AER lobbying and advocacy actions by preparing strategical positions and decisions on European and global affairs affecting regions.

Welcome words and introduction

The Bureau Meeting was opened by Ms. Aud Hove, Deputy County Mayor of Oppland, who stressed the repercussions and challenges that climate change entails for policy-making urging to take advantage of the window of opportunities awaiting to build a green and sustainable future.

Mathieu Mori, AER Secretary General, outlined very briefly the main points of the Bureau meeting agenda:

Discussion and adoption of the statement on the next Multiannual Financial Framework and future of cohesion policy budget;
introduction to the topic of social innovation towards a more sustainable and inclusive economic model – an initiative proposed by Catalonia (ES) which will lead to a political position at the next Bureau meeting in Autumn;
and the identification of the specific issues for the Bureau political discussion in the next year.

Position on new EU cohesion policy budget

On 2 May 2018, the European Commission announced its proposal for the new EU budget which will be followed by detailed legislative proposals to frame cohesion policy after 2020. This new architecture for funding is crucial for the regions to fulfil their social, economic and territorial cohesion objectives. Overall, the Commission proposes a long-term budget of €1.135 billion in commitments (expressed in 2018 prices) over the period from 2021 to 2027, equivalent to 1.11% of the EU27’s gross national income. This level of commitment translates into €1.105 billion (or 1.08% of gross national income) in payments in 2018 prices.

Mr. Michiel Rijsberman, AER Rapporteur for the Cohesion Policy Task Force, made a short introduction on the Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) for the 2021-2027 period pointing out that important EU contributors (such as France, the Netherlands or Austria) have expressed reluctance to increase their share of the budget in concept of payment for the Brexit bill. Another remarkable aspect of the MMF is the fact that the European Social Fund (ESF) will turn into ESF +. Despite this fact, it is foreseen that the ESF may be expanded, and Bureau members demanded greater clarity regarding its future and impact on regions.

In this context, Mathieu Mori invited Bureau members to discuss and adopt the AER statement on the future cohesion policy budget to guide AER’s advocacy work in the negotiation process. In order to boost the debate, Bureau members were divided into six working groups to discuss the draft and possible amendments.

Following the discussions and the amendment process, the Bureau Statement on the Future of the Cohesion Budget was unanimously approved!

New political horizons for the Bureau meeting!

The discussion on the EU budget was followed by a brainstorming session to raise specific issues of concern for the Bureau political discussion in the year ahead. In order to do so, the Bureau members were asked to work in groups in order to put forward other possible topics besides the ones proposed by the AER Executive Board (EB) on the previous day –namely, digitalisation, EU Pillar for Social Rights, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and migration–.

Andrew Gibson, AER Vice-President from Hampshire county (UK), referred, on the topic of migration, to the EU position document on migration and asylum which sets out a new plan for a sustainable policy to strengthen the cooperation among EU countries as well as providing a more flexible funding to address migration and the inclusion of immigrants and refugees in society. Andrew Gibson pointed out that AER must contribute to this European Agenda by sharing the knowledge and good practices of regions.

Mr. Jean Luc Vanraes, President of AER Committee 1 for Economy and Regional Development, addressed the Bureau members stating that the digital, new technology and public affairs policy stream is preparing the next generation of actors to leverage the nexus of interactions between exponential technologies, public affairs and civil society. The digital revolution is transforming the inner workings of our economies, businesses, democracies, social models and public affairs. The regions therefore need to take the lead and invest in this strategic sector where many jobs will be created.

Ms. Anna Magyar, AER Vice President for EU enlargement, took the floor to stress the importance of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) for the economic development of regions. The CAP is a vital policy enabling farmers to provide a stable food supply, produced in a sustainable way at affordable prices for the benefit of more than 500 million European consumers. Considering it is a key policy for integration and development, and in view of the next financial period pos-2020 which tends to decrease the budget for the CAP, Ms. Anna Magyar suggested to the Bureau members to do a strong lobby for keeping the budget.

Mr. Mihai Ritivoiu, President of AER Committee 2 for Social Policy and Public Health, proposed the Bureau members to contribute to the European Pillar of Social Rights, by formulating recommendations based on the good practices of regions in the areas of equal opportunities and access to the labour market, fair working condition and social protection and inclusion.

Finally, Ms. Irén Lejegren (Örebro), suggested to work on the topic of food safety, which has a profound effect on regional development, not only in terms of production but also in terms of environmental challenges. In her view, the EU current level of legislation needs further development in the field of food safety and lacks an approach on sustainable development in line with the 2030 Agenda.

Following this round of presentations, the Bureau members decided by means of a vote to pick food safety, digitalisation and migration as priority matters for the next year.

Social innovation is now on the Bureau Agenda!

In the context of the ongoing reflection on the future of Europe and evolving discussions on the new EU budget and priorities for the programming period after 2020, Magnus Berntsson stated that social innovation can bring new solutions that address social challenges and improve the effectiveness of public policies and services, promoting growth and well-being.

Vania Freitas, AER Institutional Relations & Advocacy Coordinator, introduced this topic –proposed by Mr. Albert Castellanos, AER Vice President – by sharing the definition of social innovation presented by the EU Commission in its Guide to Social Innovation, its key aspects and approaches. The idea is to shift the innovation process by focusing on the needs of the people and engaging them in the solutions developed to meet those needs, at the adequate territorial level of intervention.

After this presentation, Bureau members were broken up into groups to explore the potential contributions of social innovation to growth and jobs, social equity and more healthy communities, and discuss the processes that facilitates social innovation and harness its positive potential to support social sustainability at regional level.

The outcomes of this discussion will lead to a political position at the next Bureau meeting in Autumn!

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Committee 1 Annual Report June 2017 – May 2018

7 May, 2018 By Johanna Pacevicius

The General Assembly is the highest authority of AER and convenes representatives of all its full members at least once a year. The General Assembly adopts among other things, the annual reports of the Thematic Committees.

This report is the compilation of actions developped and implemented within Committee 1 between the 2017 General Assembly in Sankt Pölten, Lower Austria (AT) and the 2018 General Assembly in Lillehammer, Oppland (NO).

Activities are organised in 3 categories:

Projects
Good practice sharing
Advocacy/ Lobbying

The AER Action plan, which brings together all the activities carried out within AER, is constantly updated.

Silver Economy Awards (SEED): ongoing

The Silver Economy Awards aim to catalyse a sustainable European digital Silver Economy movement by promoting and rewarding innovative solutions to improve the quality of life for over 50s. The Awards are an opportunity to raise awareness around the lesser-known notion of the Silver Economy. They illustrate the breadth of the consumer markets and the public spending involved and the size of the opportunities available for entrepreneurs, investors, public authorities and civil society.

This year the Silver Economy Awards replace the traditional AER Regional Innovation Award. The first Awards Ceremony took place on May 2018 in Brussels under the moral patronage from Commissioner Mariya Gabriel.

SEED is a two-year project: 10/2016 to 09/2018

ARLEM project – Capacity building for an integrated and sustainable urban development: planned

This is a joint project of the Committee of the Regions regional and local authorities focused on the Mediterranean. In this context, AER answered to the call of ARLEM – Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly in order to provide technical expertise and political support. AER expressed its interest to focus piloting actions in Turkey, Tunisia and Morocco having already implemented several actions in these geographical areas.

This project aims to reinforce the capacities of local and regional authorities from the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean both in terms of urban management and integrated urban development. AER will contribute in the capacity building activities as well as the organisation of regional conferences.

It is funded by the Finnish Development Agency and activities are planned for 2 years and six months

Citizens for Cohesion. 351 times closer to Europe: cancelled

Building on the work previously done by AER on cohesion policy, the regions of Catalonia (ES), South Ostrobothnia (FI), Trentino (IT) and West Slovenia, together with AER Cohesion Policy Task Force lead on a project on awareness raising. While the project received a very good evaluation it was not accepted.

Brokerage event in Partnership with ERRIN on health innovation: finished

After the success of the brokerage event on the green economy and innovation early 2017, we collaborated with ERRIN to stimulate project development. This resulted in the organisation of the Horizon 2020 Project Development Week.

Development of an environment project based on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): in progress

YRN representatives met with AER Coordinator for European Projects & Private Partnerships Agnese Pantaloni to learn about project development steps and potential funding opportunities. The YRN will work on the definition of an EU project. The AER Secretariat Project Unit will explore calls for projects if there is still interest in developping such a project.

MULTIPLE, MULTI-layer Governance PoLicy-making for the Environment: cancelled

MULTIPLE aimed to build an ecosystem of policy-support tools and methods for a more effective, efficient policy making in the field of environmental policies. Its aim was to support the entire policy cycle from issue identification to policy implementation, monitoring and evaluation by the use of open data systems. The project was not accepted.

Migrant Entrepreneur Support Scheme Against Gap of Economic System: cancelled

This project proposal aimed to share approaches and lessons learnt for migrant entrepreneurship support schemes. Migrant entrepreneurship had been raised in specific during the 2016 Spring plenary meetings in Timis. The proposal brought together public administrations, business support organizations, non-profit organisations and NGOs, educational institutions and other organisations active in the field across cities, regions and countries. The project was not accepted.

From local to global: Connecting the Dots in the EU’s 2030 energy transition: cancelled

The theme of this project proposal was to contribute to a coherent energy transition across the EU and support progress towards a low-carbon economy in light of the EU’s 2030 climate and energy targets and policy framework. The consortium was led by EURACTIV.

The AER Secretariat collected letters of support from member regions: Abruzzo (IT), Catalonia (SP), Gelderland (NL), Trentino (IT). The aim was to highlight, compare and contrast Member States’ initiatives to achieve the EU’s 2030 climate and energy targets, supporting the energy transition as well as the transition towards a competitive and low-carbon economy, by sharing information on best practice at the local level (regions, cities, towns) and the connection with global agreements. The project was submitted under the LIFE+ programme but was not accepted.

RAINBOW project – Raising Awareness INitiative for a Beautiful Open World: cancelled

RAINBOW aimed to transform the 2030 Agendas into policies and to launch concrete actions at local level, in order to improve the management of the territories, whilst continuing innovating and learning from one another. It focused on interdependencies between developing countries and the European Union, with focus on the neighbouring areas. ALDA was the initiator of the project. The project was not accepted

Committees Autumn Plenaries in Nancy: finished

This Autumn’s committees’ plenary took place in Nancy (FR) from the 12th to the 14th of September. The events featured a debate on culture in the digital age, a workshop on the value of data, a workshop on transport & mobility, a workshop on life-cycle approaches and the Committees Plenary meetings.

A discussion on Cohesion Policy and its advantages also took place in Nancy.

Committees Spring Plenaries in Arad: finished

The 2018 Spring Committees’ Plenaries took place in Arad (RO) on 20-22 March. The events featured a debate on innovation ecosystems, a workshop on integrated care systems, a lounge meeting on equal opportunities, a meeting of the working group on transports, a Breakfast Briefing on implementing democracy in regional policy making, a presentation of the social inclusion policies in Arad, a meeting of the Summer Academy Organising Committee and the Committees Plenary meetings.

The Committees’ Plenaries were an opportunity to develop the Committees’ work programmes.

INTERREG Europe Policy Learning Platform (IEPLP): finished

AER was a partner of the Policy Learning Platform (PLP) which is the second action of the Interreg Europe programme established to boost EU-wide policy learning and capitalisation of practices from investments on growth and jobs. The Platform aims to be a space for continuous learning where regional actors in Europe can tap into the know-how of experts and peers. The PLP was present at the European Week of Regions and Cities (formerly Open Days).

Study visit on the Energy transition: finished

The main focus of the study visit, which took place from 17-19 April, was the Gelders’ Energy agreement (GEA). This collaboration between local and regional industries, governments and NGOs’ in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands, has pledged for the province to become energy-neutral by 2050. It facilitates a co-creative process where initiatives, actors, and energy are integrated into society. See the event page.

Event on a current transversal topic: finished

Jean-Luc Vanraes, President of the AER Committee on Regional Development and Economy invited AER members to contribute to the organisation of a mtual learning event on artificial intelligence held in Brussels, on November 30th 2017. A debate at the Committee 1 Plenary meeting paved the way for this event. This event, “Artificial Intelligence: are regions up to the challenge” was organised on the same format as the event “E-health let’s find a common language” which took place in December 2016 with the contribution of very diverse stakeholders. At the event, group discussions adressed the following topics:

Supporting innovation, attracting innovators
The Health Revolution
Culture In a Digital World
Skills and Competences: racing with machines
AI: Towards a Soulless World?

The event lead also to the publication of a series of articles on artificial intelligence and its implications for different policy areas.

Follow up on photonics: finished

On the occasion of the Timis Spring Plenaries Professor Hugo Thienpont presented the ACTPHAST programme on photonics innovation for SMEs. The information and opportunities regarding this European programme were further disseminated via the AER website. The ACTPHAST programme for photonics. See the results as at September 2017.

Conference on biomass: finished

In London AER members agreed to collaborate for the organisation of a conference on Biomass in Vojvodina. The objective was to share practices and expert lectures to show the practical possibilities of production and usage of biomass in Europe, with a preview insight in the production in Vojvodina. The event also aimed to awaken the interest of individual agricultural farms, agricultural cooperatives and clusters and regional and local governments.

Partners this year were the OECD Mission in Serbia and the Central European Initiative, with expert lectures from representatives from World Bioenergy Association, State Ministries in Serbia, University in Novi Sad, the Environment Agency Austria, GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) and KfW (German government-owned development bank, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau).

Cooperation with the World Sustainable Energy Day: finished

On the occasion of the AER Committees plenary meetings in London, members highlighted their interest in participating to the World Sustainable Energy Days in a meaningful way. A delegation of AER representatives from across Europe was able to attend the World Sustainable Energy days for free on behalf of AER.

Workshop on Public procurement for green innovation: finished

This workshop was advertised in the AER network by Oppland and was organised in the framework of the INTERREG Sweden-Norway the Bioeconomy Region project involving 4 AER members: Hedmark, Värmland, Østfold and Oppland. It aimed to address the following questions:
• How can innovative public procurement accelerate take-up of green technologies and stimulate innovation?
• How is innovative public procurement adopted in regional and local authorities to implement bioeconomy?
• How are public authorities cooperating with clusters, SMEs, industry and companies?
• What are the greatest challenges to implementing large scale innovative public procurement?
The AER Secretariat provided support with the identification of potential speakers and connected them with the organisers.

Supporting members to use the TAIEX-Environmental Implementation Review : ongoing

The AER Secretariat is disseminating information about the TAIEX-EIR peer to peer learning programme and supporting members to use this programme to gain or provide knowledge on environmental policies on topics as diverse as air quality, waste management, water management, the circular economy. This programme which is relatively easy and quick to access is a good complement to activities carried out within AER and an opportunity to access support from the Commission to carry out exchanges with other regions.

Awareness raising on sustainable mobility: ongoing

AER is continuing to highlight regional good practices on sustainable mobility. In this context an AER article was published in the Autumn 2017 edition of Revolve Magazine.

AER Chair of the working group Martin Tollen contributed to the Smart Airports event in Germany

Meeting of the AER working group on transports and mobility in Nancy: finished

Good practices from the host region were presented on smart mobility and policies aimed at supporting green innovation in the field of transports. Discussion about regulatory framework, challenges for regions and opportunities for cooperation

Digitalisation of transports: ongoing

Promote the digitalisation of transports networks both in urban and rural areas (see below as well)

Promotion of knowledge about innovative technologies in transports: ongoing

The sharing of knowledge is being carried out via:

–Workshop on the digitalisation of transports & information about the European Strategy on Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS), a milestone on the path towards cooperative, connected and automated mobility (COM(2016) 766)
–cooperation with Revolve Media to highlight regional good practices in the field of transport and provide visibility to active AER members
–contribution on new mobilities & artificial intelligence at the AER event on Nov 30th “Artificial Intelligence: are regions up to the challenge?”
–New Mobility Services of the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities & Communities: involvement in the European Innovation Partnership on Sustainable Cities and Communities: within the the Action Cluster Sustainable Urban Mobility, AER is involved in the New Mobility Services initiative. AER Chairman of the Working Group on Transports and Mobility, Martin Tollén attended the first meeting of this Action Cluster.

The New Mobility Services initiative is a cooperation between private and public partners (quadruple helix type of cooperation, brings together companies, NGOs, research centers & universities, and policy makers). The purpose is to establish strategic partnerships between industry and European cities & regions to develop the urban systems and infrastructures of tomorrow. It is mainly focused on urban mobility. It is open for all European regions and cities to join or to send their stakeholders

AER AT THE EUROPEAN WEEK OF CITIES AND REGIONS

Workshop on climate and energy transition: finished

Led by the region of Abruzzo, AER co-organised a climate side-event during the European Week of Regions and Cities 2017.

Workshop on the Silver Economy: finished

Led by the SEED consortium. This workshop took participants through four inspiring examples of how a Silver Economy can help regions and cities to better match the needs of their ageing population while supporting local businesses and solution providers. It was the opportunity to discuss the complementarity between these examples and the initiatives at EU level. The networking session that followed brought together potential partners around issues related to the Silver Economy.

Workshop of the INTERREG Europe Policy Learning Platform: finished

The workshop aimed at helping regions learn from the project outputs from their peers in Europe.

Cohesion Policy Activities: ongoing

Building on AER’s role in advocating for a strong cohesion policy, and following the adoption of a position paper on the future of cohesion policy post 2020 at the Bureau meeting in Sankt Pölten, Lower Austria (AT) on 1 June 2017, AER will continue to convene and deliver joint policy influencing work for the future cohesion policy by:

Holding regular debates on cohesion policy among members and between members and relevant stakeholders, such as the “Cohesion Policy: are you getting anything out of it?” debate during the AER Committees’ Autumn Plenary Meeting in Nancy on 12 September.
Gathering facts and figures on cohesion investments results and impact for a evidence-based advocacy.
Disseminating the AER position on future cohesion policy to key stakeholders and decision-makers in-country (in coordination with member regions) and in Brussels.
Working together with other European associations of regions, municipalities and cities and the Committee of the Regions to generate broader support for regions interests and policy proposals, including #CohesionAlliance created to demand that the EU budget after 2020 makes cohesion policy stronger, more effective, visible and available for every region in the European Union.

The Task Force on Cohesion Policy post 2020 will continue to support the work of AER in this field, providing strategic direction and oversight.

These actions aim to ensure European regions engage in the future cohesion policy discussions at regional, national and European level, and meaningfully contribute to the design and implementation of a stronger and more effective reformed policy.

Following the publication of the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework on May 2nd, AER’s reaction can be found here

AER Report on Regionalisation: ongoing

More than 40 academic experts accepted to give their contribution to this work, by delivering detailed reports about the state of regionalisation and multilevel governance in chosen European countries. The study covers 41 countries, and each country report is based on a similar structure, thereby allowing a comparative approach among all studied countries.

COP23 Local and Regional governments Leaders´ Summit: finished

AER was a partner to the Climate Summit of Local and Regional Leadersat the UN climate change conference (COP23) held from 6 to 17 November in Bonn, Germany, under the Presidency of Fiji. The event gathered more than 330 political leaders and 1000 delegates. At the Summit, local and regional leaders adopted the Bonn-Fiji Commitment to Deliver the Paris Agreement at All Levels, a pledge that signals their commitment to bring forward a critical shift in global development.

AER also contributed to a number of other events, including:
-8th Annual Sustainable Innovation Forum, organised by UNEP and Climate Action.
-World Climate Summit 2017, organised by R20 and BlueOrchard, in collaboration with World Climate.
-Side Event  “Mountains in motion: Climate Action in the Alps, the Carpathians and the Pyrenees”, co-organised by the Region of Abruzzo.

R20 Summit: finished

In presence of AER and R20 President, Magnus Berntsson, R20 founding chair, Arnold Schwarzenegger and all key people playing a part in climate change (private partners, NGOs, officials). R20 is a winning alliance for AER, but where do we stand?

Financing climate action: ongoing

AER works alongside R20, Blue Orchard and Leonardo Di Caprio Foundation to set up a 350 million $ Subnational Climate Fund to finance climate projects in European regions. In August AER met the European Investment Bank to pursue negociations. AER is now providing members with privileged access to a training on the SOURCE system which allows stakeholders to access funding for their climate action.

33rd Session of the Congress Local and Regional Authorities: finished

AER has a partnership status with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. It sends high-level representatives to the meetings of the Congress and sits in the Chamber of Regions Bureau. On 19 October, the AER President, Magnus Berntsson, took part in the 33rd Session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and addressed the Chamber of Regions during the debate on “Regional Co-operation and democracy in Europe: the role of European regional associations and organisations”. At the Session, the AER and the Congress expanded their existing collaboration by signing a Joint Action Plan for 2018-2020. The document reiterates the commitment to work together on various issues of mutual interest, notably regional democracy, youth participation and cultural diversity.

ERDF Funding for Regional Airports & State Aid for regional airports: ongoing

AER members get regular updates from the Working Group on transports and mobility’s Regional Airports expert Roger Estefors at meetings of the group. The Nancy meeting featured an update on the topic too.

Sustainable biofuels: finished

AER member regions have been exchanging experiences on the topic of sustainable energy for many years and developped different projects on the topic, such as for instance the MORE4NRG and R4GG projects or the global engagement with the R20

The region of Oppland is very active in AER on the topics of energy and the circular economy. In 2016 the YRN Spring Plenary was hosted by Oppland and delegates visited a recycling plant which produces biogas was also featured in the Autumn 2017 edition of Revolve Magazine as an outstanding regional good practice.
Description of the action. The region of Oppland proposed to exchange experiences on the topic of 2nd generation sustainable biofuels, for example from waste and forest resources.

Legislation on biogas: finished

The AER secretariat connected regions which were interested in initiating a lobbying action. Regions had diverging priorities, the connection therefore did not result in a joint action.

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Good practices on refugees and disability inspired AMiD project

2 May, 2018 By Luca Magri

Refugees and asylum seekers with disabilities is the main target of AMiD project. Started on January 2018, the project team is working on the development of the main project output, the Need Assessment Tool – NAT. The lack of tool and procedures to support refugees and asylum seekers with disabilities with the right actions and services is the challenge that AMiD wants to face. The second project meeting was focused on the preparation of the Need Assessment Tool – NAT. The meeting was also the opportunity to present good practices among the project partners, as way to pave a useful, sustainable and successful Need Assessment Tool – NAT.

AER already shared successful programmes to improve the refugees situation. During the meeting two good practices became particularly important. The first one is a web platform by ARCI, Italian association, where services offered to asylum seekers and international and humanitarian protection holders are reported on a country map. The second is a set of questions developed by the Washington Group of Disability Statistics to help to detect disabilities.

The JUMA Refugees Map Services: more that a web tool

The JUMA web tool answered to the gap of putting together all the players involved in the refugees work, from the refugees themselves to the volunteers organisations passing by NGOs and public institutions. The project was developed by ARCI in collaboration with UNHCR. The web tool was launched at the beginning of 2018. As disclaimed on the website, JUMA objective is to gather in a national map of the country all the information to services that already exists.

Services are clustered on seven groups of fundamental needs expressed by refugees and international and humanitarian protection holders: where to sleep, where to find legal assistance, where to find health care, where to find psycho-social assistance, where to find a language school. All those services are showed on a map of the country, with single boxes for each office to provide more information on the single service like contacts or a description of what is offered.

JUMA is not only a web platform. ARCI provides a telephone line dedicated to both: those who are looking for services and those that are offering ones. This is a way to be closer to refugees and a strategy to increase the number of organisations registered on the map. Refugees received the information on JUMA at their arrival on the hot spots, while organisations were informed of the project via a national campaign. The telephone line and the website are proposed in the several languages.

The Washington Group Set of Questions on Disability

The Washington Short Set was originally set to identify and record in statistics figures of people with disabilities. The set of questions does not identify particular health conditions or diagnostic categories but rather captures the possible impact of these conditions on functional abilities. The human right approach of the set based on the UN CRPD, Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is in line with AMiD values. Even the set was developed for a statistic purpose, the set of questions can fit different uses.

The questions ask whether people have difficulty performing six basic universal activities: walking, seeing, hearing, cognition, self-care and communication. The questions were not designed to measure all aspects of difficulty experienced by people, but rather those domains of functioning that are likely to identify a majority of people at risk of participation restrictions.

There are more set of questions available. There is a short set and other tailored for children (different sets for different ages). Where more information about disability is required, the Extended Set on Functioning is available to address in more detail the case.

A final word

JUMA is not an acronym neither a fancy project name. Juma is a name in urdu, the name of a young Afghan refugee, who travelled and staid in Greek and Italian camps. Once in Italy, he obtained the refugee status and the reunification with his family thanks the collaboration of different organisations. Inspired by this story, the platform linking those involved in the field made a tribute to this successful case choosing his name.

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Committee 1 Progress Report Spring 2018

7 March, 2018 By Johanna Pacevicius

Twice a year the members of the AER Committee on Regional Development and Economy gather in plenary meeting. This is the opportunity to set goals for cooperation through the elaboration of a joint work programme. Progress is evaluated, achievements are celebrated and experiences shared.

Evaluating progress

During the elaboration of the work programme in London, planned activities were organised in 3 categories:

Projects
Good practice sharing
Advocacy/ Lobbying

The below progress report was compiled for the Spring 2018 plenary meeting in Arad. It gives an overview of the situation, a year after the adoption of the work programme. The 2018 Committee 1 work programme will be jointly developed and adopted on March 21st at the Committee 1 Plenary meeting. Activities which are still ongoing will be integrated in the 2018 work programme too if still relevant for the Committee.

Projects

Silver Economy Awards (SEED): ongoing

This year the Silver Economy Awards replace the traditional AER Regional Innovation Award. The first Awards Ceremony will be on May 2018 in Brussels.

SEED is a two-year project: 10/2016 to 09/2018

ARLEM project – Capacity building for an integrated and sustainable urban development: planned

It is funded by the Finnish Development Agency and activities are planned for 2 years and six months

Citizens for Cohesion. 351 times closer to Europe: cancelled

Building on the work previously done by AER on cohesion policy (l), the regions of Catalonia (ES), South Ostrobothnia (FI), Trentino (IT) and West Slovenia, together with AER Cohesion Policy Task Force lead on a project on awareness raising. While the project received a very good evaluation it was not accepted.

Brokerage event in Partnership with ERRIN on health innovation: finished

Development of an environment project based on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): in progress

MULTIPLE, MULTI-layer Governance PoLicy-making for the Environment: cancelled

Migrant Entrepreneur Support Scheme Against Gap of Economic System: cancelled

From local to global: Connecting the Dots in the EU’s 2030 energy transition: cancelled

RAINBOW project – Raising Awareness INitiative for a Beautiful Open World: cancelled

Committees Autumn Plenaries in Nancy: finished

This Autumn’s committees’ plenary took place in Nancy, France, from the 12th to the 14th of September. The events will feature a debate on culture in the digital age, a workshop on the value of data, a workshop on transport & mobility, a workshop on life-cycle approaches and the Committees Plenary meetings.

A discussion on Cohesion Policy and its advantages also took place in Nancy.

INTERREG Europe Policy Learning Platform (IEPLP): finished

Study visit on the Energy transition: planned

The main focus of the study visit, which will take place from 17-19 April, will be the Gelders’ Energy agreement (GEA). This collaboration between local and regional industries, governments and NGOs’ in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands, has pledged for the province to become energy-neutral by 2050. It facilitates a co-creative process where initiatives, actors, and energy are integrated into society. See the event page.

Event on a current transversal topic: finished

Supporting innovation, attracting innovators
The Health Revolution
Culture In a Digital World
Skills and Competences: racing with machines
AI: Towards a Soulless World?

The event lead also to the publication of a series of articles on artificial intelligence and its implications for different policy areas.

Follow up on photonics: finished

Conference on biomass: finished

Cooperation with the World Sustainable Energy Day: finished

Workshop on Public procurement for green innovation: finished

Supporting members to use the TAIEX-Environmental Implementation Review : ongoing

AER event on EFSI: finished

AER organised a conference on sustainable financing for regions, which presented political issues related to impact investments, green investments and long term investments. These strategic aspects of regional development are not mere tools but are part of a regional development plan, which looks at private funding to leverage public resources. AER series on investments – Episode 1, AER series on investments – Episode 2

Nudging: finished

The “Towards New Urban Mobility” paper presented on the occasion of the AER Breakfast Briefing on Urban mobility in London adresses the ways in which policies are set up to change behaviour. This report argues that policy interventions sensitive to group attitudes are more likely to result in behavioural change towards transport alternatives. This includes understanding which transport alternatives are more acceptable to each group and how best to target communication.

Awareness raising on sustainable mobility: ongoing

AER is continuing to highlight regional good practices on sustainable mobility. In this context an AER article was published in the Autumn 2017 edition of Revolve Magazine.

AER Chair of the working group Martin Tollen contributed to the Smart Airports event in Germany

Meeting of the AER working group on transports and mobility in Nancy: finished

Digitalisation of transports: ongoing

Promote the digitalisation of transports networks both in urban and rural areas (see below as well)

Promotion of knowledge about innovative technologies: ongoing

The sharing of knowledge is being carried out via:

–Workshop on the digitalisation of transports & information about the European Strategy on Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS), a milestone on the path towards cooperative, connected and automated mobility (COM(2016) 766)
–cooperation with Revolve Media to highlight regional good practices in the field of transport and provide visibility to active AER members
–contribution on new mobilities & artificial intelligence at the AER event on Nov 30th “Artificial Intelligence: are regions up to the challenge?”
–New Mobility Services of the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities & Communities: involvement in the European Innovation Partnership on Sustainable Cities and Communities: within the New Mobility Services initiative, AER is involved in the Action Cluster Sustainable Urban Mobility. AER Chairman of the Working Group on Transports and Mobility, Martin Tollén attended the first meeting of this Action Cluster.

AER AT THE EUROPEAN WEEK OF CITIES AND REGIONS

Workshop on climate and energy transition: finished

Led by the region of Abruzzo, AER co-organised a climate side-event during the European Week of Regions and Cities 2017.

Workshop on the Silver Economy: finished

Workshop of the INTERREG Europe Policy Learning Platform: finished

The workshop aimed at helping regions learn from the project outputs from their peers in Europe.

Advocacy/ Lobbying

Cohesion Policy Activities: ongoing

Holding regular debates on cohesion policy among members and between members and relevant stakeholders, such as the “Cohesion Policy: are you getting anything out of it?” debate during the AER Committees’ Autumn Plenary Meeting in Nancy on 12 September.
Gathering facts and figures on cohesion investments results and impact for a evidence-based advocacy.
Disseminating the AER position on future cohesion policy to key stakeholders and decision-makers in-country (in coordination with member regions) and in Brussels.
Working together with other European associations of regions, municipalities and cities and the Committee of the Regions to generate broader support for regions interests and policy proposals, including #CohesionAlliance created to demand that the EU budget after 2020 makes cohesion policy stronger, more effective, visible and available for every region in the European Union.

The Task Force on Cohesion Policy post 2020 will continue to support the work of AER in this field, providing strategic direction and oversight.

AER Report on Regionalisation: ongoing

COP23 Local and Regional governments Leaders´ Summit: finished

R20 Summit: finished

Financing climate action: ongoing

33rd Session of the Congress Local and Regional Authorities: finished

ERDF Funding for Regional Airports & State Aid for regional airports: ongoing

AER members get regular updates from the Working Group on transports and mobility’s Regional Airports expert Roger Estefors at meetings of the group. The Nancy meeting will feature an update on the topic too.

Sustainable biofuels: finished

Legislation on biogas: finished

The AER secretariat connected regions which were interested in initiating a lobbying action. Regions had diverging priorities, the connection therefore did not result in a joint action.

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AER members share knowledge to improve situation for refugees in their regions

5 February, 2018 By Editor

On 24 and 25 January 2018, AER co-organised several events focusing on local and regional responses to the Syrian refugee crisis in Brussels. AER would like to thank its honorary President, Dr. Hande Özsan Bozatli, who was instrumental in making these events happen. Dr Bozatli has always been a strong supporter of the Turkish-Europe dialogue. These series of events proves it once more. The Press release and background can be found HERE.

This article focuses on the experiences and best practices shared by the regions over the two days.

Best Practices – Västra Götaland (SE), Catalonia (ES) and the Netherlands

With control over the healthcare sector and certain dimensions of regional development, the AER President’s region, Västra Götaland (SE), had success integrating refugees into the labour market and socially. Recognising the need to de-institutionalise their labour market, Västra Götaland invested in programmes to accelerate the process of credential recognition for highly skilled Syrian refugees such as those arriving with medical degrees obtained in Syria.

Prior to the labour market reforms, it could take 6-9 years for professionals to undergo the re-training needed for them to enter the regional labour market. It now takes approximately two to three years before migrants acquire the certificates needed to continue working in their field. Additionally, Västra Götaland expedited the process refugees needed to go through before joining the Swedish education system. With going to local schools faster and parents participating in the labour market quicker, migrants were better able to socially integrate into communities.

Throughout the events it became clear that similar practices could be implemented elsewhere in Europe due to labour market demands. As Europe is beginning to experience large scale demographic change due to a rapidly ageing population demands for high skill workers in the public service sector will increase. Mr. Berntsson claimed that integrating refugees and migrants with professional qualifications into the labour market faster will help alleviate pressure on social services. He believes that a more flexible, de-institutionalised labour market like the one introduced in Västra Götaland will assist many EU countries in getting refugees into the labour market.

Mr. Berntsson also stated that Västra Götaland, who saw a 2 percent increase in their population with the arrival of the Syrian refugees, could not have managed to integrate the newcomers without the volunteer efforts of the local citizens. Similarly, according to Dutch MEP Ms. Piri the Netherlands had 60, 000 volunteers enlist to help Syrian refugees, translating into one volunteer for every refugee. Both claimed that having an active citizenry is vital to the resettlement of refugees with local governments unable to cope on their own.

Additionally, as stated by Catalonia (ES) Migration Secretary Mr. Amorós, his region has experienced success with a social mentorship programme to help integrate migrants and refugees into society. In the experience of Mr. Amorós, while refugees may come as temporary guests the reality is that many end up staying, meaning regions must focus on the inclusion of refugees in society. A relatively new project, the programme pairs refugees and locals who spend a minimum of one hour per week together to help refugees learn the language and adapt to local culture.

Best Practices- Gaziantep (TR)

Continuing AER’s involvement with Turkish regions, Dr. Bozatli reached out to Turkish regions Gaziantep and Adana to share their expertise in dealing with refugees, who graciously accepted Dr. Bozatli’s invitation. In each event, Gaziantep shared best practices which have allowed them to successfully host millions of refugees for over 5 years. Upon arrival, ensuring that the refugees’ basic needs were met by providing them with food, water, and shelter helped to prevent the spread of disease. When refugees began to leave camps and move to urban areas, Gaziantep established several priority areas including the provision of housing, healthcare, and education. Adequately meeting the refugees needs in each of these areas was aided by Turkey’s decision to treat refugees as nearly full citizens rather than as temporary guests.

After enrolling young children in schools and integrating current students into school systems, refugees in Gaziantep now have a higher rate of enrolment than they did in Syria. In Syria 80 percent of children would have been enrolled in schools while in Gaziantep 90 percent are now enrolled. Ms. Sahin claims that keeping children enrolled in schools has decreased their vulnerability to radicalization and has helped them feel like members of their local communities.

Gaziantep also invested in numerous infrastructure projects such as new waste management, waterworks, and transportation systems to cope with the rise in demand. Further complicating the matter for Gaziantep was a surge in housing prices because of increases in demand. Aside from building more units, the government ensured that 10 percent of all houses and jobs were available to Gaziantep citizens first, ensuring that their local population were not disadvantaged by the arrival of refugees. This has helped to reduce social tensions created by the arrival of refugees. Moreover, from the beginning the Gaziantep government has preached patience with a message of tolerance and inclusion, encouraging the local population to accept the refugees as regular citizens.

Best Practices- Adana (TR)

The sixth largest city in Turkey with a population of 1.8 million, there are officially 150, 000 refugees constituting nearly 8 percent of the local population. However, unofficially it is estimated that there are 300, 000 Syrian refugees in the Adana province, bringing numerous challenges for Adana to navigate.

In Adana, the arrival of thousands of refugees triggered increases in rent and scarcity of affordable housing. With 85 percent of migrants working in the agricultural sector, certain companies have exploited undocumented refugees for whom they pay low wages with no benefits. When adults have struggled to find employment, some have been forced to send their children to work resulting in sporadic instances of child labour.

The influx of migrants has also placed strain on local infrastructure, exacerbated by a cash strapped government. Keeping children in school has also been a challenge for Adana due to families’ need for a basic income and the remote location in which some refugees live.

Despite the challenges they face, Adana has managed to provide humanitarian support such as clothes, food, healthcare, and water to not only those residing in Adana but also to refugees stranded along the Turkey-Syria border. Furthermore, in cooperation with the University of Adana the municipality has established training centers for refugees to increase the number of trainers able to boost the vocational and skill development of other refugees. This programme has filled existing gaps in the provision of professional language learning opportunities, particularly for young adults. For refugees living on the outskirts of the city, the municipality has signed cooperation agreements with civil society organisations who provide services, including language training.

The presentations from the Turkish delegations can be found here.

Best Practices-Timis (RO)

Following the event, AER received insights into how Timis has dealt with the migration crisis, courtesy of its representative Mr. Mihai Ritivoiu, President of the AER committee on social policy and public health. In 2017, according to the Timis Border Territorial Inspectorate, there were nearly 2600 cases of illegal migration from its border with Serbia. The rapid influx of migrants forced the Timis Border Territorial Inspectorate to take special measures, allocating additional funds to stabilise the situation. Partly because of the measures taken, there was a 72 percent decrease in cases of illegal migration in the last quarter of 2017.

With an increase of 300-400 percent in illegal border crossings, the number of asylum applications has increased from 60 per month to approximately 300 per month. Those who were granted a form of protection from the Romania state received identity and travel documents. Issued for an unlimited period, the identity documents allowed asylum seekers to be smoothly integrated into the health care and labour market systems. Additionally, to integrate migrants, Timis collaborated with NGOs to offer serives desgined to help migrants acquire language skills and cultural understanding. Future plans in Timis involve setting up a specialized center for foreign minors, given that in 2017 many of those who entered the country were families with 3-4 children.

AER’s Work on Refugees and Migrants

Throughout the events, Mr. Berntsson and Dr. Özsan Bozatli had the chance to present the experiences of AER in the area of refugees and migrants. At the peak of the migration crisis, the topic of AER’s Bureau meeting in Brussels in December 2015, was “facing the migration challenge”. The bureau was a resounding success, bringing together regions from Turkey, Greece, and Italy who were receiving the largest numbers of refugees in Europe at the time, to share their experiences.

The following year, at AER’s spring committee meetings in Timis the topic was “communication and action in times of crisis”, giving an opportunity for all three AER committees to discuss how migration affected areas as diverse as innovation, health care, culture, and entrepreneurship.

Alongside its member regions, AER has also had the opportunity to implement the European project Access to Services for Migrants with Disabilities (AMID) where work is still ongoing. The AMID project is designed to create a common approach among European Local Authorities concerning the reception and integration of migrants and refugees with a focus on disabilities. The project will result in the creation of a Specific Needs Assessment (SNA) Tool to be circulated among Local Authorities, NGOs and EU agencies. This SNA tool will enable these actors to take disabilities into account while assessing asylum seekers, creating the basis for a standard approach to this topic at the EU level.

For those interested, more photos of the events are available on Friends of Europe’s Flickr album.

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AI: A Revolution in Heathcare

7 December, 2017 By Editor

During AER’s event on artificial intelligence (AI) attendees broke into five roundtable discussion groups, each addressing an area of AI important to stakeholders. The group titled the healthcare revolution was to discuss the disruption AI will bring to the delivery and organisation of healthcare. For an hour, issues such as the changing nature of medicine, relationships between physicians and patients in an era of AI, and the integration of AI into healthcare policy animated discussions.

To suit the large spectrum of issues this group was to discuss, group contributors drew from a broad cross-section of society, bringing with them diversity in knowledge and experience. Contributor Maria Merce Rovira Regas, a Member of the Board at the European Institute of Women’s Health brought experience dealing with gender related issues health care. Founded in 1996, the European Institute of Women’s Health (EIWH) is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that promotes gender equity in public health, research and social policies across Europe.

Paul de Raeve the Secretary General of the European Federation of Nurses brought first-hand knowledge of future and current uses of AI in the healthcare system. Dating back to 1971, the European Federation of Nurses represents the nursing profession and its interests to the European Institutions.

Another valuable contributor was Iva Tasheva from Digital Europe. As Digital Europe’s Privacy and Security Policy Manager, Ms Tasheva oversees the EU Cybersecurity Strategy, ePrivacy Regulation, and Data Protection among other things. Robert Winroth the County Commissioner for Innovation in Västerbotten shared his expertise in the process of implementing AI in the healthcare system. The group was moderated by Tanya Znamenski a Public Health Analyst at PatientsTalk a popular blog on healthcare.

Changes Expected

According to contributors AI will be able to allow doctors to channel more energy into personalized patient care, rather than in general diagnosis and treatment of diseases. For example, having monitors which can watch the status of a diabetic at any time will make 24/7 care a reality. Moreover, advances made in genetic testing will make the identification of specific genes in patients possible, allowing for advanced interventions. To this end, contributors stated that final users, patients must be involved in the development of personalized healthcare approaches to ensure it suits their needs as recipients.

On an interpersonal level contributors asserted that the arrival of E-Health promises to fundamentally change the relationship between physicians and patients, by democratizing health care records. Traditionally, there has been a power imbalance in healthcare between physicians and patient due to exclusive access to patient information physicians hold. As society moves towards placing all healthcare records under one universal system which gives patients access to their own records, the authority of physicians will diminish.

Similarly, the arrival of AI will also alter the relationship between physicians and other healthcare providers such as nurses. As AI continues to expand into patient management and diagnosis, the authority of physicians will be further eroded. With data inputs provided by AI healthcare providers like nurses and lab technicians who have played an important, but more secondary role will be able to perform many of the same functions as doctors.

Relatedly, the arrival of big data across healthcare fields will improve the efficiency and speed of delivery of services to patients. Having data instantly available to all physicians involved in a patient’s care will expedite communication between healthcare professionals, rendering time consuming processes like referral letters obsolete.

Challenges Anticipated

Although AI holds the potential to vastly improve the delivery of healthcare, contributors expressed concerns about the ability for robots exist in humans’ highly social world. For many physicians, being a doctor is about more than just the treatments of ailments; it is an intensely social relationship reliant upon trust and mutual understanding built between physician and patient. Whether robots will ever possess the ability to understand human emotions and gain the trust of patients is still an open question, according to contributors.

Another concern involves the usage of patient data as systems like E-Health are deployed. With AI in medicine hinging upon the usage of sensitive personal data contained in healthcare records, contributors claimed that getting data to the right people in a safe and secure manner will be an obstacle industry must confront.

Despite these unsettled ethical questions, contributors said society must be aware that there are also consequences for not adopting these transformative technologies. For example, preventing the deployment of CRISPR due to various concerns will create other sets of questions about whether its moral to deprive someone with a genetic disease from a potentially curative technology. Contributors said that in cases such as this field research and clinical trials are vital to ensuring the healthcare system knows cutting-edge technologies are safe before deployment.

For contributors a challenge will be creating the networks required to bring innovative ideas which already exist to the EU level for implementation and review by policy makers. Having ground-breaking technology in data analysis is useless to the public as long as society do not have the infrastructure and processes to bring it to market. According to contributors, too few of these networks presently exist making their creation a priority for Europe.

Finally, contributors claimed that one challenge for the AI industry will be achieving better gender representation in AI development. Indeed, there is the potential for disconnect if technology developed in the male dominated AI industry is intended for the healthcare industry where over half of professionals are female.

Personal Experiences

Maria Merce Rovira Regas shared her experiences participating in projects with Women’s Health aimed at fighting breast cancer. These projects compiled information from different cases of breast cancer in Europe in a publicly available database to help give better breast cancer diagnoses.

Contrary to some beliefs, Paul de Raeve, from the European Federation of Nurses stressed that nurses are supportive of the deployment of AI into the healthcare system, understanding that it will bring them closer to patients. Based on their experience they believe that AI will enable nurses to work in a more cohesive manner and provide more efficient patient care.

Policy Recommendations

Robert Winroth recommended that AI implementation begin as soon as possible. He stated that to facilitate a smooth integration of AI into the healthcare system, transparent, close partnerships between various AI stakeholders, particularly the private and public sector, will have to be developed. Back home Västerbotten has devoted signficiant time, energy, and resources to this issue, stressing that it is a structural process which requires buy in from all parties.

To help gain public acceptance for AI technologies related to healthcare and to keep constituents informed, participants to the discussion suggested that regions raise awareness around the projects they are working on.

Paul de Raeve stated that a paradigm shift is required in the approach to European projects. For the European Federation of Nurses, too many European projects have a short lifespan with conclusions being ineffectively implemented. Increasing the sustainability of European projects must therefore be an immediate priority.

Finally, Maria Merce Rovira Regas strongly encouraged tech companies to make a more concerted to diversify their workplaces by making gender and racial equality a priority.

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Stimulating Innovation in AI

6 December, 2017 By Editor

Supporting innovation, Attracting Innovators

At AER’s event on artificial intelligence (AI) attendees broke into five roundtable discussion groups, each addressing an area of AI important to stakeholders. Contributors highlighted the changes they expect to see in their fields with the progression of AI and its implications for their work. The group titled supporting innovation, attracting innovators was to discuss how regions can support innovation in AI the purpose of doing so. For an hour, they engaged in lively debate over issues such as the financing of AI projects and investment stimulation in a market dominated by GAFA.

Accordingly, group contributors brought extensive expertise in public sector technology investment and included Jean-Luc Vanraes, the President of AER Committee 1 and Chair of AER’s Working Group SMEs and Investments, along with Marie-Josée Blais the Assistant Deputy Minister of Science and Innovation Sector in Québec. As the chair of AER’s Working Group on SMEs and Investments Mr. Vanraes helps to distribute knowledge on SMEs throughout AER and to its members. Ms. Blais’ primary responsibility is the development and implementation of Québec’s research and innovation strategy which has invested 2.8 billion dollars into stimulating innovation in digital technology in Quebec.

Other contributors brought first-hand knowledge of the financial and environmental needs of the AI industry with Pierre Cherelle of Spin-off Axiles Bionics a division of the Brussels Human Robotics Research Centers and Edwin Mermans from the New Mobility Services Initiative of the EIP-SCC Action Cluster Sustainable Urban Mobility working as contributors. The New Mobility Services Initiative is an outgrowth of the EIP-SCC which seeks to facilitate cooperation between cities and the private sector in order to integrate and manage urban transport, as well as contribute to the development of universal systems for “seamless multi-modal mobility”. Their work directly benefits cities and their citizens while offering apathy to growth for innovative enterprises. For those interested, more information about the New Mobility Services Initiative’s actions can be accessed through the embedded link here or at the bottom of the article.

Earlier this year, VUB Robotics won the Best Startup Award at the highly regarded conference IROS’17 in Vancouver, Canada. After ten years of research BHRRC have become industry leaders. developing a new technology which combines advanced robotics and human biomechanics to replicate the unique combination of flexibility and strength in the ankle. As they begin to bring the fruits of their labour to the market, the quality of life for amputees looks to be dramatically improved. Moderating the group was Jonathan Duplicy a scientific advisor from Innoviris who acted as AER’s event partner and who are implementing the Brussels Capital Region’s new 4 million Euro programme dedicated to producing innovation in AI.

Major Changes Expected

In the knowledge based economy of the 21^st century, innovation in the technology sector acts as a primary driver of economic competitiveness and growth. Thus, many of the changes predicted by the discussion panel were around boosting the European digital economy. Chiefly, contributors claimed that people can expect a push in the coming years to create multiple Silicon Valleys in Europe to foster innovation in AI. To give life to Europe’s own Silicon Valleys contributors said that work will need to be done in building the support systems and infrastructure these entities need to establish themselves and thrive.

One area of improvement will be getting entrepreneurs the capital they need to finance their operations with co-funding of projects such as public-private partnerships expected to increase to allow cash-strapped regions to stimulate innovation. To avoid burying start-ups in fees and paperwork, legal frameworks in the field of AI will become more flexible. Helping to provide resources specific to innovators’ needs will be the emergence of AI hubs consisting of incubators which will supply things like co-working spaces and allow for the exchange of best practices. Additionally, they noted that the approach to stimulating innovation will require a two-pronged approach consisting of top-down national plans to regulate and fund innovation, and bottom-up demand driven creation of SMEs. Moreover, contributors expected continual integration of the latest AI technology from research hubs and academia into business and industry which will improve productivity.

Challenges Expected

Although the development of AI promises to improve the lives of many, the road to fostering innovation will be far from easy. Many of the challenges outlined by contributors centered around creating a business environment where companies can succeed. One test anticipated by contributors is the removal of administrative barriers which increase the amount of time and resources required for companies to get off the ground. Even when companies succeed in bring their product to the market, an obstacle will be breaking up monopolies on AI in the tech sector which stifle the growth of start-ups. For entrepreneurs to gain access to financing in the first place, contributors said that Europe must work towards further cultivating an entrepreneurial culture. They believe that regions will have to become far less risk adverse to investment in technology development and research, particularly in early stage ventures. Granting innovative projects early on will help compensate for high costs needed to develop AI, according to contributors.

When it comes to financing for projects, attracting partners for PPPs may prove to be a difficulty for regions who have historically experienced minimal growth in the tech sector. Moreover, to maximize efficiency regions contributors said regions must cooperate to avoid industry overlap and ensure that competitive advantages are being built. Finally, participants expected to encounter difficulties in articulating a positive vision about the benefits of such a complex technology to organisations and public bodies dealing with AI.

Personal experiences

Mr. Mermans talked about how the Smart Cities and Communities partnership has been making headway in using electronic data collection from citizens and different devices to come up with innovative solutions to some of the environmental, societal and health challenges facing European cities today. Some of the work done in co-funding projects and in coordinating existing city initiatives and projects through resource pooling have already contributed to lower pollution and congestion levels in cities.

Indeed, participants affirmed that regions have the financial and intellectual capacities to be at the forefront of the fourth industrial revolution, citing Innoviris as an example who have funded numerous scientific research projects based locally in Brussels. Particularly insightful was the experience of Quebec who created a national innovation strategy by developing the infrastructure to connect AI stakeholders such as corporations, academia, and investors. This policy has borne fruit in extensive investment in AI in Quebec, helping Montreal become one of the global leaders of AI and deep learning.

Regions as Leaders in Innovation

While the United States and Asia have produced hundreds of tech start-ups, Europe’s pace has not been nearly as prolific. Many European tech start-ups have been bought out by US companies while talented computer scientists have left for Silicon Valley. Events such as AER’s AI help provide a forum where participants can learn from each other’s expertise and experiences, giving a starting point for ideas which will once again make regions leaders in AI innovation.

171018 V1.1 New Mobility Services

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Regionalisation in Slovakia: Voice of regions on the rise #RoR2017

4 December, 2017 By Editor

Slovakia is a parliamentary representative democratic republic governed under the Constitution of 1992. In terms of territorial administration, the Slovak Republic is divided into 8 regions (corresponding to the EU’s NUTS 3 level) and 2,890 municipalities (as of Dec. 31, 2014). The public administration is organised on three levels: state – region – municipality. Every level has its own elected officials, distributed responsibilities and liabilities. Regions of Slovakia are statistically divided according to EU territorial classification into four NUTS 2 level regions – Bratislava region, Western Slovakia, Central Slovakia and Eastern Slovakia.

Slovak public administration is of a dual nature, with relatively separate lines of local government (local and regional) and state administration (regional general state administration, specialised state administration). There is a clear-cut distinction at the regional and local level between the responsibilities of the local government and those of state administration.

Municipalities

Until 2002 there was a one-tier system of local government comprising more than 2,800 municipalities of varying sizes with the vast majority of very small municipalities. The regional government was established as of January 1, 2002. The creation of a regional tier of self government should have addressed the problem of the large proportion of small municipalities with limited professional and financial capacity capabilities to manage some public services as well as the problem of services where economies of scale and scope exist and services with catchment area exceed municipal jurisdictions.

The municipalities and regions are endowed with rule-making power. Every level (region and municipality) has its own elected officials, defined responsibilities, and tasks. The Constitution depicts the higher territorial units (which is the technical name given to the regions) as legal persons ‘which manage their own property and their financial means independently, under the conditions laid down by a law’. The Constitution lays down the basic institutional organisation of the municipalities and regions.

Regional governments

Governments in the eight Slovak regions were given powers over regional roads, territorial/ physical planning, regional development, secondary schools, hospitals, some social service facilities (retirements homes, social services for children, crises centre, orphanages, etc.), cultural facilities (galleries, museums, theatres, some libraries, etc.), and participation at civil protection, licences for pharmacies and private physicians. Regions can develop a strong trans-frontier co-operation, by the subscription of appropriate agreements, and even become a part of international associations. As far as delegated competences are concerned, the regions execute some tasks transferred from the state administration (for example, a part of the competencies in education, health system, and road transportation).

Representatives of regional governments (councillors of regional assemblies and regional presidents) are elected in direct, free, and democratic elections, which are open to political party candidates as well as independent candidates. However, regional elections typically show lower voter turnout than national and municipal elections. The first regional elections in 2001 were considered a disappointment because they drew only 26 percent of the voters. But recent regional elections in 2013 lured just 20, 1 percent of the country’s eligible voters to the ballot box.

There are sharp regional differences across Slovak regions. Regional inequality is apparent in terms of GDP per capita, employment and income indicators. The eastern regions have a much higher incidence of poverty, as economic activity is heavily concentrated in the west, particularly around the capital, Bratislava. Regional GDP per capita ranges from 186 per cent of the EU average in Bratislava to only 53% in Eastern Slovakia (2014). Regional disparities are not only substantial, but they also tend to be persistent.

Despite regional governments being responsible for the comprehensive integrative development of the region, their direct impact on economic, social and environmental development of their territories is still relatively small. The transfer of executive competences from the state administration bodies to the municipalities and regional governments in 2002-2003 was accompanied by a significant devolution of expenditure responsibilities from the centre to sub-national governments in the areas of education, social services, roads and health care, etc. As a result, the regions became an important component of the public sector and the whole economy. However, a 16.1% share of subnational government expenditure in total public spending can be still considered to be low in light of common practices in Europe. On the other hand, institutions that strengthen the region’s “voice” are arising to deal with different issues of regional development.

by Sona Kapkova

The Report on the state of Regionalisation in Europe.

More than 40 experts contributed to this work, by delivering detailed reports about the state of regionalisation and multilevel governance in chosen European countries. The study covers 41 countries, and each country report is based on a similar structure, thereby allowing a comparative approach among all studied countries.

The first part of the report gives the political impetus from the main European stakeholders
The second part of this report entails a summarised version of the country reports. The objective is to provide interested readers with a short overview of the main features of regionalisation in various European countries. The complete versions of the country reports are available on the AER website, under LINK
The third part provides a thematic approach based on the main findings delivered by the country reports and the current state of regionalisation in Europe. The trends and outlooks lead to open questions on the future of the regions in the European landscape, and more broadly on the role of subnational authorities in the shaping of the continent.
The fourth part gives the floor to the actual regional decision-makers in Europe, across a series of interviews and statements by Presidents, Vice-Presidents and elected representatives of the European regions.

Over the next months, we will be focusing on a different European country’s approach to regionalisation. During these months, look out for #RoR2017 on Twitter and/or Facebook and follow us at @europeanregions.

Strong European regions are a pathway to a stronger Europe.

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The Future is Now: Innovation in AI

29 November, 2017 By Editor

Innovation in artificial intelligence (AI) is turning what was once science fiction into reality. With the exponential pace at which technology develops, barriers are being broken in AI faster than many have thought possible. On 30 November, AER’s event Artificial Intelligence: Are Regions Up to The Challenge? will bring together field experts, academics, and stakeholders giving attendees the opportunity to learn about the latest trends and innovations in AI.

A Tool of the Present and Future

Discussions around AI often involve looking far into the future where the world is inhabited by autonomous robots, sometimes minimising the large role that AI currently plays in our lives. While like Google’s Alpha Go beating Master Go player Ke Jie or Tesla’s self driving cars may attract the headlines, innovation in AI is ongoing and has produced many other inventions which are changing the nature of longstanding industries. Being attentive to these more subtle present day changes and continuous innovation in AI allows people to predict the direction each industry may take in the near future. Understanding the trends in each industry paints a more accurate picture of the roles AI will come to play in society, giving policy makers some of the knowledge needed to help integrate AI into society.

Smart Technology

While the abilities of smartphone assistants like Apple’s Siri, Facebook Messenger’s bots, and Google’s Assistant have long been chronicled, closely related home assistants are proving increasingly capable themselves. Amazon’s Echo and Google Home can already switch lights on and off, set timers while people cook, and play songs or answer questions on demand. Other tasks that each can do range from telling users about nearby restaurants, checking people’s calendars for them, and playing trivia games. For now little separates phone assistants from smart homes but tech giants future plans may change this. With landlines becoming obsolete, Amazon and Google are positioning their devices to take its place. Both companies are investing in voice-calling features for their devices, with their goal of making digital phone calls like Skype completely hands free. Additionally, to improve the functionality of their devices the companies are integrating their smart homes with more and more other smart devices. The ultimate vision of smart homes is to make everything from adjusting the thermostat, turning on and off lights, to locking doors all integrated under one system. Such a system would give people the power to not only do these things with a simple command but all the way from another continent as well. One of the most promising uses of smart technology is helping elderly citizens with active and healthy ageing, a topic with AER has been active on in the past. Smart homes are already being employed in ambient assisted living which utilises smart sensors and other wearable devices to capture data about patients’ daily activities and present state of health, making it easier for elderly citizens to live in their own homes as the age.

Predictive Shopping

Smartphone users are already familiar with machine learning using personal data to automatically add events to their calendar and planning the best route home based on current traffic conditions. Now, one of the next frontiers for machine learning will be integrating itself into the daily lives of consumers to provide personalized online shopping. One app, called Pinterest Lens, lets users take a photo of a desired object and finds the item online. Another image detection algorithm can identify an object and searches for similar ones online, making it easier for consumers to buy a desired product. These apps offer a glimpse into the future of predictive shopping where programs and smart devices will be able to mine massive amounts of data ranging from “consumers’ purchase histories, product preferences, and schedules; competitors’ pricing and inventory; and current and forecasted product demand” to give consumers a highly personalized shopping experience.

When people are running low on Tide laundry detergent they can already press Amazon’s wireless Dash Button for it to order more through Amazon Prime. As predictive shopping evolves it will be able to learn users’ behavioural and environmental habits to produce more personalized options. The more data that retail store’s programs collect the better they will become at determining customers’ specific needs. Certain stores are currently using smartphones to pick up on consumers’ behaviour and provide them with context-specific recommendations. Soon, it is very possible that an appliance such as a Samsung Smart Fridge will be able to calculate when users are running low on certain foods and notify them in the morning before they leave for work. Furthermore, in the not too distant future it is likely that retailers will be able to deliver personalized content according to what mood someone is in, the activity they just finished, how much time they have to shop, or the time of day it is. Going forward, beyond developing the right algorithms challenges for retailers will include the protection of consumer data and being subtle enough to avoid giving users the sense that their personal lives are being intruded upon.

Digital Media

One of the most rapidly progressing areas of AI is in multimedia. Right now, using AI people can already create 3D face models from a 2D image, generate sound effects for a silent video, and insert smiles onto any celebrity using Twitter bot Smile Vector. These are just some of the AI assisted multimedia tools people now have at their disposal and new technologies are developing at a breakneck pace. In just one year a program went from producing pictures such as this to this. While these advances in multimedia could be a boon to the creative arts industry, they will almost certainly have negative side effects as well. With society already having problems combating the proliferation of misinformation online giving nearly anyone the ability to create believable images and videos could exacerbate the issue.

AI and Agriculture

Since humans shifted from a hunter gather lifestyle to a more sedentary agrarian lifestyle, farmers’ crops have been plagued by crop diseases. In the past, pathogens have destroyed everything from the world’s most popular coffee beans to people’s preferred variety of banana. Today, nearly 40 percent of crops are annually lost to diseases. Fortunately, the latest developments in AI may decrease that figure dramatically by improving the accuracy in diagnosis of crop disease. At the forefront of the industry is a team researchers from Pennsylvania State University in the U.S. and the Ecole Polytechique Federale in Switzerland who have created a program which will detect crop diseases before they spread. By giving the program massive datasets-over 50’000 photos-the researchers taught it to detect 26 diseases in 14 plant species with 99.35% accuracy. Unlike many other AI programs where a drawback is the program’s price point, the researchers’ program will enable anyone with a smartphone to take a picture of a crop and receive a diagnosis in seconds. As it moves past its trial phase, the next step for researchers will be improving the program’s ability to detect diseases in a wide range of settings.

Advances in the agricultural industry due to AI are not just limited to the diagnosis of crop disease, but can now play a role in the treatment of them as well. Another machine learning program, this time an automated tractor, can identify weeds in lettuce crops within 0.2 seconds and spray them with great precision. Project worker Ben Chostner claims that farmers can reduce their pesticide usage by 90 percent using his company’s robots. If rolled out successfully, the program could transform how farmers deal with threats to their crops. The current approach to using pesticides is akin to “carpet bombing fields”, causing chemicals to descend among the healthy crops as well. The precision used by the LettuceBot not only promises to make usage of pesticides more efficient but, could lead to less pesticides ingested by consumers while decreasing their environmentally damaging side effects such as chemical runoff.

Regions and Innovators

At AER’s event on AI, attendees will have the opportunity learn from innovators about where their work is taking them. While it can seem like big corporations hold a monopoly on technological development, stimulating innovation in AI will allow regions to be active players in the 4^th industrial revolution and create new opportunities for employment. AER’s event will provide information on how regions and innovators can get funding for research and projects, with a presentation from DG Connect’s Cecile Huet. As illustrated above, the impact of AI is cross cutting and promises to transform the way many industries are run. With a study visit to VUB’s AI lab, attendees of AER’s event will have the opportunity to witness this innovation first hand.

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Regionalisation in The Netherlands: Regional reform discussed, but limited #RoR2017

27 November, 2017 By Editor

The current administrative structure of the Netherlands consists of three levels: central government, provinces and municipalities. The administrative set-up of the Dutch nation state has been rather stable since 1830 and changes to the territorial structure of the provinces have been marginal (as opposed to the municipal level where restructuring and merging has been a constant). Currently there are 12 provinces in the Netherlands.

The tasks and competencies of the provinces are laid down in the Dutch Constitution and in the law on provinces (the “Provinciewet”, which originates from 1850). Rules regarding provincial finances and the financial relations between the various levels of government are laid down in the “Financiële-verhoudingswet” (originating from 1897).

The Dutch provinces have tasks in many fields. Competencies in these fields are often shared with the central government and with the municipalities (and increasingly with the EU). The report analyses the fields where the provinces are considered to be a very important and in some cases the primary public actor: spatial planning, infrastructure and transport, nature conservation and environmental policies, regional economic development, regional culture and conservation of monuments, ( financial) supervision of municipalities and water boards, and rural development.

It is important to note that in the Netherlands in 2015 a large decentralization operation (“Decentralisaties social domein”) was put in motion, by which many tasks in the domain of health and social affairs, especially regarding youth care, have been shifted from the central government and provincial levels to the level of municipalities.

The members of the provincial assemblies (“Provinciale Staten”: Provincial Council) are directly elected every 4 years by the residents of their province. The parties that compete for their votes are mainly national parties, but over the last 15 years, we have seen an increase (both at the level of provinces and of municipalities) in participation by regional and local parties. The head of the province is the Commissioner of the King, who is nominated by the central government and appointed by the King. The Commissioner presides over both the Provincial Council and the Provincial Executive.

Although reform of the regional level is discussed on a regular basis, actual reform is rather limited. In 2012, the current government (Rutte-II, a liberal-socialist coalition) proposed to create 5-7 larger regions (“landsdelen”) to replace the current 12 provinces, starting with the merger of Noord-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland into the “Noordvleugel”-province (the northern part of the Randstad). The provinces concerned were against this idea and mobilized support from the Dutch Senate. As a result, the legislative process to bring about the merger was shelved in 2014. Shortly after that, the government decided to abandon the idea of provincial mergers altogether.

by Nico Groenendijk

The Report on the state of Regionalisation in Europe.

The first part of the report gives the political impetus from the main European stakeholders
The second part of this report entails a summarised version of the country reports. The objective is to provide interested readers with a short overview of the main features of regionalisation in various European countries. The complete versions of the country reports are available on the AER website, under LINK
The third part provides a thematic approach based on the main findings delivered by the country reports and the current state of regionalisation in Europe. The trends and outlooks lead to open questions on the future of the regions in the European landscape, and more broadly on the role of subnational authorities in the shaping of the continent.
The fourth part gives the floor to the actual regional decision-makers in Europe, across a series of interviews and statements by Presidents, Vice-Presidents and elected representatives of the European regions.

Strong European regions are a pathway to a stronger Europe.

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Highlights from the AER Youth Regional Network’s Autumn Plenary Meeting!

13 November, 2017 By Vania Freitas

On the 3-5 November in Brussels, the AER Youth Regional Network held its Autumn Plenary Meeting, with three days of discussions, experience exchange and decisions on some of the most topical issues regarding youth.

The meeting outlined debates and reactions to the integration of young migrants, youth mobility and youth participation in sustainability.

The Plenary kicked off with a workshop debate with Yoomi Renstrom, Member of the European Committee of the Regions and Mayor of the Municipality of Ovanåker, on the integration of migrant young people. YRN delegates stressed that regionally based policies and strategies can more effectively support young migrants to integrate and that a multi-level governance approach, with the engagement of youth, is fundamental to the social, economic and civic inclusion of migrant young people.

Céline Dawans, AER Coordinator Governance & Communications, also addressed the plenary, speaking about youth mobility and the AER exchange programme Eurodyssey. Followed a presentation by the President of YRN Economy Committee, Vahram Vardanyan, on the European Charter on Quality in Learning Mobility and its set of principles to deliver high quality mobility projects. Participants were keen to note that youth mobility is essential in promoting cultural awareness and intercultural understanding, developing skills and competences, boosting employability, exchanging good practices and embracing diversity.

The YRN also rebranded with a new visual identity and logo.

The three YRN Thematic Committees – Economy and Regional Development; Social Policy and Public Health; Culture and Education – also looked at its own priority issues and actions.

Read the minutes of the meeting here.

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Regionalisation in Armenia: improvements of local self-government needed

30 October, 2017 By Editor

The Republic of Armenia is part of the Eastern Partnership, which is an initiative that enables closer political, economic and cultural relations among the EU, its member states and 6 eastern European partners. Armenia gained independence from the Soviet Union on 21 September 1991. For seventy years Armenia had been under Soviet rule, which had imposed the Soviet system of governance based on “democratic centralism”. Since Armenia had been entrenched in the traditions of the highly centralised Soviet state, the introduction of a new territorial administrative division and the establishment of local self-governance proved to be rather difficult. The transition to a more decentralised model of governance was further impeded by a number of factors, including the war in Nagorno-Karabagh, the blockade and the economic crisis, which displaced the government’s attention from fundamental reforms for a new democratic state to the aforementioned factors.

implementation of a local self-government

A system of local self-government was finally established after the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia on 5 June 1995, by way of referendum. Following the adoption of the Constitution, there were three waves of reforms in local self-governance. The first wave marked the years 1995 – 1996 as a period in which the new territorial and administrative division was introduced and the Law on Local Self-Government was adopted, which allowed for the segregation of the local self-government from the state government for the first time in the history of the young Republic. The second wave was marked by the adoption of a new Law on Local Self-Government in 2002 and subsequent reforms reflected in the amended Constitution in 2005. Finally, the third wave was marked by the adoption of the Law on Local Self-Government in Yerevan in 2008, which allowed for changes in the entire system of local self-government.

The implementation of local self-government in Armenia is regulated by Articles 104-110 of Chapter 7 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, which is defined primarily by the Law on Local Self-Government. This law is based on the European Charter of Local Self- Government, which Armenia later ratified in 2002. In accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, the public administration bodies are divided into three groups: state administration, regional administration, and local self-government. However, it may be more accurate to say that the Armenian government has a two-tier structure, as administrative power is principally divided between the Central Government Ministry of Territorial Administration and the communities.

Marzes: Armenia’s administrative powers

In fact, the administrative power of the regions (marzes) is derived directly from the state, with marz governors implementing the territorial policy of the state government in the regions. Marzes are not a separate level of government since they do not have their own budgets nor elected officials, but are governed by marz governors, who are appointed and dismissed by government decrees, which are subject to ratification by the President of the Republic. The activities of the marz governor’s offices consist of implementing the territorial policies of the state government, supervising activities of the local governments, and ensuring the link between the state government and the local government authorities.

Within the bounds of the authority vested by the law, marz governors carry out the state’s regional policy in following areas: nance, urban development, housing and utilities, transport and road construction, agriculture and land use, education, healthcare, social security, culture and sports, nature and environmental protection, commerce, public catering, and services. Marz governors also coordinate the activities of regional services of the executive authority in the following areas: internal affairs and national security, defence, communication, energy, taxes, emergency situations, civil defence and others.

Communities play their part in local governance

Although most administrative power is held by the Central Government Ministry of Territorial Administration, some administrative power is exercised at the level of the communities, which can thus be considered a separate tier of government. This second tier of government exists in both rural and urban communities, which consists of one or more settlements. There are 1000 settlements in Armenia, which are unified into 926 communities, of which 48 are urban, 865 rural, and 12 considered as Yerevan district communities. Within the local government structure of the communities, the Community Council Elders (Avagani) and the Head of the Community (often referred to as a Mayor) play major roles, as they comprise the local decision-making bodies. They are elected for a four-year term by secret ballot on the basis of universal, equal, and direct suffrage in accordance to the law.

Together, they comprise the local administration and fulfill the following responsibilities: “to provide for the rights of citizens and the interests of local self-government; to provide local development planning; to manage financial matters and community property; to implement projects and achieve strategic goals; to define, calculate, and forecast citizen needs, and prepare the relevant draft resolutions; to assign resources for public services; and to supervise the implementation of the four-year development plans”.

The finances at the level of the communities are heavily dependent on state budget transfers, which often comprise over fifty percent of local budget revenues, and are regulated by the Law On Financial Equalization, which was promulgated in 1998.

Further developments

The reforms that were made in the Constitution in 2005 are a reaction to the provisions and proposals set out within the framework of cooperation between the Republic and the Council of Europe. These changes aim to foster the improvement of local self-government, democratisation and correspondence of the legislation according to the principles of European Charter of Local Self-Government.

by Susannah GO

The Report on the state of Regionalisation in Europe.

The first part of the report gives the political impetus from the main European stakeholders
The second part of this report entails a summarised version of the country reports. The objective is to provide interested readers with a short overview of the main features of regionalisation in various European countries. The complete versions of the country reports are available on the AER website, under LINK
The third part provides a thematic approach based on the main findings delivered by the country reports and the current state of regionalisation in Europe. The trends and outlooks lead to open questions on the future of the regions in the European landscape, and more broadly on the role of subnational authorities in the shaping of the continent.
The fourth part gives the floor to the actual regional decision-makers in Europe, across a series of interviews and statements by Presidents, Vice-Presidents and elected representatives of the European regions.

Strong European regions are a pathway to a stronger Europe.

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Regionalisation in Italy: “components of the republic”

1 October, 2017 By Editor

In Italy, regions are grounded in the Constitution, which lists them in Article 131 and identifies them in Article 114: a region is a “component” of the republic, together with the state and other territorial entities. Regions and the state share legislative powers, all the territorial entities have autonomy in finance and expenditure.

Regions can have an Ordinary Statute approved with an ordinary law (Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto, Liguria, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria, Marche, Lazio, Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata and Calabria) or a Special Statute approved with a constitutional law (Valle d’Aosta / Vallée d’Aoste, Trentino-Alto Adige / Südtirol, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Sardinia and Sicily). Regions with special statutes are also entitled to special conditions of autonomy according to the first paragraph of article 116. The regions are the electoral constituency for the election of the Senate, but this fact does not lead to a regional representation in the strict sense.

Reforms and regional leadership

The Constitutional Reform of 2001 produced results below expectations and landed in a framework of regional leaderships in decline in many Italian regions, often involved in scandals. Some political parties call for the overthrow of the regional system in favour of a centralized state – including the “5 Stars Movement” of Beppe Grillo (25.5% of votes in 2013), and some areas of the centre-right and centre-left parties. However, a strong alternative to the regional system is not concretely foreseen. The media and citizens also frown upon centralization of resources and decision-making at the central level, marked by serious scandals, repeated since the unification of Italy and increasingly on newspapers’ front pages. Ongoing institutional reform sees a clash between two models coming from the debate on the past reforms: the first centralist, and the second faithful to the decentralization process set out since the post-war times. The two trends coexist in the new proposal: on the one hand in favour of a Senate of the Regions, on the other hand with a depletion of regional powers, although they have never actually been transferred to the ordinary regions. The special statute regions are worried by the new reforms, although the constitutional method of bilateral agreement with the state keeps them safe from the new centralism, for the time being.

The reform process for public finances and political stability arose in a very dramatic framework, leading to President Berlusconi’s resignation on 12 November 2011, to Mario Monti’s cabinet and to political elections on 24 and 25 February 2013. In three months, the project was ready. While the parliament was laboriously looking for a majority and a new government that would be born only on 24 April with Enrico Letta, on 30 March 2013, the President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, appointed a group of experts (“The Wisemen”) to make proposals on reforms. On 11 June, the Senate started the debate on the project of constitutional law submitted by the government. However, the text was approved at first reading by the Senate on 8 August 2014, a few months after the government of Matteo Renzi took office. It is now under scrutiny at the Chamber of Deputies. Despite the short kick off in 2013, the debate has waned, making room for other urgent issues on public accounts and other structural reforms. However, the process of political reforms has been weakening recently. The opposition and some representatives of the majority do not want the removal of the “equal bicameralism”. They are also against a Senate not directly elected and with regional brand on the doorbell.

The constitutional bill changes the functioning of the institutions (legislative procedure, quorum for the election of the President of the Republic, referendum) and streamlines it (Provinces and “National Council for Economy and Labour” wind up). The most important changes are about the share of legislative powers between the state and regions, and the transformation of the Senate into a territorial Chamber with less power. The Chamber of Deputies will have the main relationship with the government (vote of confidence), the political guidance and control, and the largest part of national legislative decision-making. The Senate would be elected indirectly, with 95 members elected by regional councils among their members and the mayors of the region, while five senators will be appointed by the President of the Republic for 7 years.

The political forces agree on the revision of the legislative powers shared between the state and ordinary regions, winding up the category of shared competences, mainly transferred to the state (e.g. transport networks), and giving it new competencies, like coordination of public finance and taxation, standardization of labour rules in the public sector, and in the field of social security. The ordinary and special regions will carry on the exercise of participation in the ascending and descending phases of EU decision making process.

The constitutional reform finally introduces a “supremacy clause”, which bears out and strengthens the governmental possibility to act in the field of regional competences to preserve legal or economic unity of the Republic or the national interest. The parliamentary debate has confirmed that the special statute regions will keep their differentiated autonomy through article 116 of the Constitution. However, the special statutes of the five regions and of the two autonomous provinces will be updated according to the reform, on the basis of bilateral agreements between each of them and the state.

Further efforts to balance the state/region power

The success of the constitutional reforms depends not only on the stability and strength of the government in office but also on the country’s ability to move forward on structural reforms. Several forces hinder them: political, corporate and social; for example, on spending reviews or school reforms. Against the new bill on electoral system, they prefer a majority bonus in favour of the coalition than a single party, a direct election of the senate, and a general conservation of the status quo.

The next political steps remain difficult and the mood of the country does not help reforms. The protest expressed through political forces represents at least 40% of the votes, and 30-40% of the citizens who do not vote. Newspapers and the television do not miss a chance to despise and fault the regional texture of the Republic. The slight economic recovery of 2015-2016 could soften hearts, but it could also make structural and constitutional reforms appear less urgent.

Top decision-making officials know that the reforms do not change much the balance of power between the state and regions. The competencies of the ordinary regions will remain as residual as they are today, except in health and in local transportation. Special statute regions will remain unchanged, despite the budget cuts. Out of the vivid media debate, the constitutional reform does not seem so scary: it serves primarily to make the decision- making system faster, concentrating it primarily in the Chamber of Deputies. So, despite some resistance and perhaps some changes, the reform could be approved soon, unless the protest grows faster and the general political framework becomes entangled.

by Enrico Martial

The Report on the state of Regionalisation in Europe.

The first part of the report gives the political impetus from the main European stakeholders
The second part of this report entails a summarised version of the country reports. The objective is to provide interested readers with a short overview of the main features of regionalisation in various European countries. The complete versions of the country reports are available on the AER website, under LINK
The third part provides a thematic approach based on the main findings delivered by the country reports and the current state of regionalisation in Europe. The trends and outlooks lead to open questions on the future of the regions in the European landscape, and more broadly on the role of subnational authorities in the shaping of the continent.
The fourth part gives the floor to the actual regional decision-makers in Europe, across a series of interviews and statements by Presidents, Vice-Presidents and elected representatives of the European regions.

Strong European regions are a pathway to a stronger Europe.

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#ShineBright Vojvodina improves waste management systems

18 September, 2017 By Editor

On the Occasion of the Regional Innovation Award on Circular Economy, ShineBright on the region of Vojvodina, in Serbia that presented its project on a Regional Waste Management Center.

The overall objective of the project is to develop an EU-standard integrated sustainable solid waste management system in the region of Zrenjanin, Vojvodina.

In the region, there is no control, treatment or systematic monitoring of emissions, leachate waters or landfill gas.

In that sense, the initiative aims to build a regional sanitary landfill; a composting facility; a transfer station; local recycling centres. Adding improvements to waste collection services and the closure and rehabilitation of selected existing waste disposal sites.

Improvements in the waste management system will contribute to significant improvement of health and environmental conditions in the region.

For more information visit Vojvodina’s website!

The next Regional Innovation Award will take place in 2018 and will be dedicated to the Silver Economy in the context of AER SEED project.

Photo credits: Filip Zrnzevic @Unsplash at https://unsplash.com/@filipz

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Democratic innovation: are regions up for the challenge?

12 June, 2017 By Editor

OPINION PIECE by Valentin Dupouey

Regions are, along with cities, the first ring of the democratic chain that links local to global, cities to continents, grassroots initiatives to global challenges, citizens to institutions. This democratic chain is under heavy pressure but we cannot afford to see it break.

The health of democracy is extremely heterogeneous across the different rings of the chain. At the scale of the wider rings, the nation states and the European Union, democracy is under direct and serious threat. Citizens’ growing disinterest in political matters, the so-called disenchantment for democracy, the growing gap citizens perceive between their decision makers and their daily lives appears very sharply. Ever lower records of voter turnout, in particular among young people, and the rise of extremist parties with openly anti-democratic claims are just two symbols of the challenges democracy is facing today. Should further concrete examples be needed, one can turn his or her eyes towards Hungary and Poland, where democratically elected leaders are openly advocating for an ‘illiberal state’ jeopardising fundamental freedoms.

At the European level, these threats are equally affecting the object of democracy: the need for thriving coexistence. The inexorable movement of border opening known in Europe since the end of the Cold War has suddenly come to a halt. The refugee crisis is showing the limits of our desire for more open societies. The recent talks for a restricted Schengen area are additional signs of the same regressive movement.

Among the main causes would probably be the growing distance between citizens and policymakers; the complexity of democratic structures; the defiance to policy makers tied to private, vested interests; and the perceived inability of representative democracy to improve the state of things and common well being.

The need for young people and for all citizens to understand their own democratic structures, their desire to see their choices turning into changes, and their willingness to be actively participating in the decisions affecting their life must be taken into account if the hopes to revive democracy are to be turned into reality. A paradigm shift is now crucially needed among policy makers.

Grassroots democracy as embodied by local and regional authorities is the first link in a long chain and we cannot afford to see break. The proximity with decision making places allows individuals to better understand the democratic structures they live in. It offers citizens platforms for participation that no other level can offer. The low geographical gap and regional scope of decisions allow everyone to witness more discernibly the impact of their choices and actions. Tools and practices are available for policy makers to revive and renew grassroots local democracy. It is all about uptake and dissemination.

How can regions help rebuilt empowering democracies, that gives young people the means and will to be engaged for the common good?

Through competences for democratic culture

A whole book could easily be written on that concept…oh wait! It already exists! The work of the Council of Europe to develop a framework for competences for democratic culture composed of a set of 20 competences divided into values, attitudes, skills and knowledge is possibly the most important work recently done in the field of civic and citizenship education. The document “describes a conceptual model of the competences which need to be acquired by learners if they are to participate effectively in a culture of democracy and live peacefully together with others in culturally diverse democratic societies.”

The project is still on-going and aims at developing tools and resources for educators in order to facilitate this new approach to civic education.

Check the work of the Council of Europe on Competences for Democratic Culture:

http://www.coe.int/en/web/education/competences-for-democratic-culture

Through applied civic and citizenship education

Civic and citizenship education cannot be a simple top-down sharing of knowledge anymore. A passive transfer of knowledge was, partly, relevant, in a more rigid, less open, society where representative democracy was almost unique democratic pillar. Participatory democracy, direct democracy, civil dialogue, democracy through intermediary structures such as NGO requires a much wider range of knowledge, skills and attitudes.

Civic and citizenship education should aim at developing these skills and attitudes: team work, how to run an NGO and a project, how to collectively organise to run a campaign, critical-thinking and media literacy, understanding of active participation, etc.

It should equally offer opportunities to apply the learnt competences: co-management structures within schools, local youth councils, time and support to be engaged in NGOs at a younger age. We could possible imagine credits for civic engagement (with the utilitarian limits that it poses) or facilitation of gap years for engagement.

A complete overhaul of our approach to civic education is necessary.

Through Co-management structures and meaningful youth participation

Co-management of some structures designed for the common good such as sports facilities, libraries, schools could provide a very good ground to share responsibilities between authorities and citizens, to collectively develop a sense of shared responsibility and to give opportunity for civic engagement at the local level. The best example is probably sports facilities that could quite often be much more efficiently used if real co-management systems would be put in place between local sports clubs and authorities.

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe has adopted a charter of participation of young people in local and regional life. A very concrete tool to make regional authorities more innovative in youth participation: https://rm.coe.int/16807023e0

Through encouraging and supporting youth work

While the reality, diversity and complexity of youth work is still not fully understood, there is a strong common agreement that provision of quality youth work is vital in helping young people, in particular the most disadvantaged in their transition periods, as it develops critical thinking, increases the sense of belonging, and strengthens young people’s capacity to resist negative influences and behaviour.

Check more about the newly Council of Europe adopted resolution on youth work: http://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/quality-youth-work-key-to-preventing-a-lost-generation-in-europe

Through observatory for democratic innovation and civic participation

Finally, I believe most of the ideas and practices we need to secure strong democracies through the rebuilding of trust between citizens already exist. It comes down to dissemination and transfer of successful initiatives. Public authorities at all levels should equip themselves with ‘democratic innovation and civic participation intelligence units’ in charge of exploring what works in other context and of importing these operational initiatives in their own contexts. It doesn’t require to reinvent the way we do things, it requires an open mind and open eyes and a political will for innovation.

Valentin Dupouey has been working in the education, youth and sport NGO sector for the last 10 years. As a proud member of the Erasmus generation, he has lived, worked, volunteered and studied in France, Slovenia, UK, Denmark and Belgium. He’s currently Secretary General of the Young European Federalists (JEF Europe) and an elected member of the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe on behalf of the Erasmus Student Network. See his blog: A European Citizen

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Search Results for: mental health

Welcome words and introduction

Position on new EU cohesion policy budget

New political horizons for the Bureau meeting!

Social innovation is now on the Bureau Agenda!

Silver Economy Awards (SEED): ongoing

ARLEM project – Capacity building for an integrated and sustainable urban development: planned

Citizens for Cohesion. 351 times closer to Europe: cancelled

Brokerage event in Partnership with ERRIN on health innovation: finished

Development of an environment project based on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): in progress

MULTIPLE, MULTI-layer Governance PoLicy-making for the Environment: cancelled

Migrant Entrepreneur Support Scheme Against Gap of Economic System: cancelled

From local to global: Connecting the Dots in the EU’s 2030 energy transition: cancelled

RAINBOW project – Raising Awareness INitiative for a Beautiful Open World: cancelled

Committees Autumn Plenaries in Nancy: finished

Committees Spring Plenaries in Arad: finished

INTERREG Europe Policy Learning Platform (IEPLP): finished

Study visit on the Energy transition: finished

Event on a current transversal topic: finished

Follow up on photonics: finished

Conference on biomass: finished

Cooperation with the World Sustainable Energy Day: finished

Workshop on Public procurement for green innovation: finished

Supporting members to use the TAIEX-Environmental Implementation Review : ongoing

Awareness raising on sustainable mobility: ongoing

Meeting of the AER working group on transports and mobility in Nancy: finished

Digitalisation of transports: ongoing

Promotion of knowledge about innovative technologies in transports: ongoing

AER AT THE EUROPEAN WEEK OF CITIES AND REGIONS

Workshop on climate and energy transition: finished

Workshop on the Silver Economy: finished

Workshop of the INTERREG Europe Policy Learning Platform: finished

Cohesion Policy Activities: ongoing

AER Report on Regionalisation: ongoing

COP23 Local and Regional governments Leaders´ Summit: finished

R20 Summit: finished

Financing climate action: ongoing

33rd Session of the Congress Local and Regional Authorities: finished

ERDF Funding for Regional Airports & State Aid for regional airports: ongoing

Sustainable biofuels: finished

Legislation on biogas: finished

The JUMA Refugees Map Services: more that a web tool

The Washington Group Set of Questions on Disability

A final word

Evaluating progress

Projects

Silver Economy Awards (SEED): ongoing

ARLEM project – Capacity building for an integrated and sustainable urban development: planned

Citizens for Cohesion. 351 times closer to Europe: cancelled

Brokerage event in Partnership with ERRIN on health innovation: finished

Development of an environment project based on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): in progress

MULTIPLE, MULTI-layer Governance PoLicy-making for the Environment: cancelled

Migrant Entrepreneur Support Scheme Against Gap of Economic System: cancelled

From local to global: Connecting the Dots in the EU’s 2030 energy transition: cancelled

RAINBOW project – Raising Awareness INitiative for a Beautiful Open World: cancelled

Good Practice Sharing

Committees Autumn Plenaries in Nancy: finished

INTERREG Europe Policy Learning Platform (IEPLP): finished

Study visit on the Energy transition: planned

Event on a current transversal topic: finished

Follow up on photonics: finished

Conference on biomass: finished

Cooperation with the World Sustainable Energy Day: finished

Workshop on Public procurement for green innovation: finished

Supporting members to use the TAIEX-Environmental Implementation Review : ongoing

AER event on EFSI: finished

Nudging: finished

Awareness raising on sustainable mobility: ongoing

Meeting of the AER working group on transports and mobility in Nancy: finished

Digitalisation of transports: ongoing

Promotion of knowledge about innovative technologies: ongoing

AER AT THE EUROPEAN WEEK OF CITIES AND REGIONS

Workshop on climate and energy transition: finished

Workshop on the Silver Economy: finished

Workshop of the INTERREG Europe Policy Learning Platform: finished

Advocacy/ Lobbying

Cohesion Policy Activities: ongoing

AER Report on Regionalisation: ongoing

COP23 Local and Regional governments Leaders´ Summit: finished

R20 Summit: finished