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Baltic Rim Economies: special edition on the Arctic

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The Pan-European Institute publishes a discussion forum, Baltic Rim Economies (BRE), which deals with the development of the Baltic Sea region. In the BRE review, high level public and corporate decision makers, representatives of Academia, as well as several other experts contribute to the discussion.

Special issue on the future of the Arctic was published on 20.6.2016.

Expert articles:

Ola Elvestuen: 20 years of peaceful cooperation in the Arctic
Aleksi Härkönen: The role of Finland in Arctic cooperation
Hannele Pokka: Clean technology brings new prospects in the north
Marja-Leena Vuorenpää: The role of Barents cooperation in the development of the European Arctic
Fujio Ohnishi: The Arctic concert system and its challenges
Liu Xu: China-Russian Arctic cooperation: black gold and beyond
Timo Laukkanen: Action to enable more sustainable business in the Arctic
Gunn-Britt Retter: Challenges and opportunities in the development of the Arctic region from the perspective of the Saami
Satu Miettinen: Arctic design: creating innovation and competitive edge in the north
Rauno Posio: Visit Arctic Europe: making cross-border cooperation
Susan Chatwood & Greg Poelzer: Social determinants of health in Arctic regions
Ilona Mettiäinen: There is no “one-size-fits-all” in Arctic climate change adaptation
Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen: Russia’s Arctic paradoxes
Daria Gritsenko: What does the case of Sabetta tell us about the relationship between energy and regional development?
Andrey Shadurskiy: Russia’s LNG projects in the Arctic: still on track?
Tomoko Tabata: Demographic trend in the Russian High North
Masahiro Tokunaga: The Russian Arctic and environmental discourse
Shinichiro Tabata: Research on the socio-economic development of the Russian Far North
Eini Haaja & Hanna Mäkinen: Need for international research on international business in the Russian Far North

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Did you miss the General Assembly? Catch-up with our social media story

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Take a glimpse at what happened in Nordland (NO) from 22-23 June 2016 at our Bureau on (R)e-inventing Democracy, the General Assembly and the Keynote discussion on the devlopment in the High North, the Arctic. All the key moments are highlighted in our social media. Our pictures are available on our Facebook page.
Thank you to all active members on Twitter and Facebook.
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Congratulations to the new members of the Monitoring & Evaluation Group

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Three members were elected for the Monitoring & Evaluation Group (MEG) in Nordland at the General Assembly on 23 June 2016. Congratulations to the three nominees! They will be leading the work of the MEG for the next three years.

Thomas Hartman

Thomas Hartman
Västerbotten-SE
Chairman of the MEG

Ana-Verushi-MEG

Ana Verushi
Korça-AL
Member of the MEG

IMG_1462

Medzait Ljatifi
Nordjylland-DK
Member of the MEG

Find out more about the Monitoring & Evaluation group.

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On the road to digital democracy

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The 2016 AER General Assembly and Spring Bureau kicked-off with the discussion on (R)e-inventing democracy and the disruptive nature of technology.

We have all been confronted with the ephemeral feeling of confusion and frustration when faced with the updates of our applications, programmes, software, phones (etc.) and any other day-to-day ICT; we tend to rely heavily on habits when using such technology but luckily individual habits are (somewhat) easily changed. As difficult as this adaptation might be on an individual level, it is exponential when set up in the wider framework of a public administration. Innovation in the public sector is or should be a high priority for any public administration which are more and more pressed for efficiency and transparency.

Setting the scene with Pia Mancini (TED video) on how our 21st century democracy is in danger as it is stuck in the 18th century so far as the process and in the 15th century so far as the information technology tools it uses. Helpful food for thought to introduce the issue at hand.

Participation in democracy beyond the ballot boxes

If we are making such a fuss about innovation in the public sector and e-democracy, it is because we are thinking way beyond the electronic vote which may first come to mind when referring to technology in the organisation of our democracy. But above the actual tools that are used, there needs to be a shift in the way territories are managed and developed. Services need to be designed so that they respond to needs, but also to  enable citizens to contribute repeatedly and in many different ways to the collective good. Participation should not be restricted to elections, opinion polls and social media. The dialogue needs to be two-way and not limited to asking the citizens for input on issues defined by the authority.

Esa Kokkonen, Director, The Baltic Institute of Finland set the scene and introduced the strategy developed by the region of Tampere (FI). He mentioned three key factors at the core of the strategy: 1) open innovation platform, 2) open data and interfaces, 3) open participation. These are applied to many domains, including healthcare services, environment protection, energy efficiency, local transportation and business development.

Improvement or threat?

Guardian of the principle of democracy in Europe, the Council of Europe presented the regulatory framework that the Council strives to improve for more and better e-democracy and a democracy that is centered around the needs of the citizens rather than the needs of the government. Mr Andreas Kiefer, Secretary General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Council of Europe presented the most relevant Congress and selected Council of Europe documents on e-democracy and e-governance as well as on local and regional governance in general. Answering a question on the expectations of citizens on the immediate nature of democracy with social media he stated, “we certainly need to add new elements to our representative democracy but we have to have a realistic approach and cannot expect a minute to minute democracy”.

Great expectations of the “digital natives”

Traditionally, young people are quite distant from politics. This of course is counter-productive as they are tomorrow’s leaders. On the other hand, young people today are digital natives; born in the digital era they have not known the days without Internet and being socially connected is the only way to be, irrespective of social classe or culture. Aware of the great potential of technology, young people can pressure public authorities to improve eDemocracy.

Gloria Vitaly, President of the AER Youth Regional Network quoted Hillary Clinton on the freedom to connect, equivalent to the freedom to assemble, only in cyberspace. Ms Vitaly stated “I believe that we can revitalize and strengthen our democracies through internet. But that does not mean that we should not interfere in the process of internet development. We need to keep a steady hand on the wheel or else it can turn to a bumpy road, which does to increase our democracy, but rather reduce the debate and make it more polarised.” She called upon politicians and citizens to support young people, to allow them to express themselves and to protect them against those that harm them by expressing extreme views.

The regional stories

3 regions shared their experience with concrete examples of how new technologies can offer solutions to the problems of the regions and its citizens, or how new technologies open new opportunities for participation in democracy. Maurice Ropraz, Councillor of State, Fribourg (CH) spoke about their “building consents” e-government project and its benefits: better quality; clear rules for formal and physical inspection of application; process more transparent; better tracking; establish accurate statistics; enhanced information collected. Ana Verushi, President, Korça (AL) presented the many initiatives in her region and Albania and Marta Vilalta, Director General for Youth, Catalunya (ES) insisted on the initiatives developed to increase youth participation in Catalonia.

All presentations are available on our event page.

Speakers:

Ida Pinnerød, Mayor of Bodø
Hande Özsan Bozatli, President of the Assembly of European Regions
Esa Kokkonen, Director, The Baltic Institute of Finland
Gloria Vitaly, President of the AER Youth Regional Network
Andreas Kiefer, Secretary General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Council of Europe
Daniel Bjarmann Simonsen, Project leader, the Smart Bodø Programme

Regional stories:

Maurice Ropraz, Councillor of State, Fribourg (CH)
Ana Verushi, President, Korça (AL)
Marta Vilalta, Director General for Youth, Catalunya (ES)

 

Political declaration

The exchange of ideas and debate led the way to the adoption of a political declaration. The declaration will be useful to:

  1. highlight the fact that regions are aware and active of these issues
  2. declare that interregional cooperation is a tool to fast track innovation in the public sector
  3. recognise there is a need for a deep change in the way governments design their services and the way they collaborate with citizens, which has impacts in terms of time and money savings as well as engagement of citizens and legitimacy for governments
  4. list a series of recommendations on topics which AER members are or have been working on in the framework of the Committees

AER declaration on (R)e-inventing democracy

 

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Cllr Roy Perry (Hampshire-UK) on UK referendum

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Cllr Roy Perry (Hampshire-UK) could not attend our General Assembly in Bodø last June due to his responsibilities in the Remain campaign for the UK referendum. However, he sent this video to be presented at the Bureau meeting on June 22 2016. The Bureau was focused on the possibilities that new technologies offer to regional authorities to imporve governance, but was closed with a brief but intense discussion on the possible scenarios after the referendum the day after.

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Welcome to Bodø: ready to kick-off!

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The rooms are set, papers, badges and lists are ready, presentations are being fine-tuned and rehearsed, the team from Nordland County Council is in the starting blocks, members are arriving… let the show begin!

We will kick-off tomorrow with the Bureau discussion on (R)e-inventing democracy and our panelists:

speakers-bureau

Stay tuned! #AERGA2016 @EuropeanRegions

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Looking back on what was accomplished: our activity report is out!

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We are pleased to share with you the 2015-2016 Activity Report.

“It has been a busy year and we are proud to show what we have accomplished, for and with our members. The results and outputs are both impressive in their quantity but most importantly in their quality” said Dr Hande Özsan Bozatli, AER President. The AER Secretary General, Mr Mathieu Mori added “We would like to thank all members and partners for their active involvement in the network (for hosting our events, leading activities, drafting positions, managing the Committees, taking part in activities, traveling for events, etc.) and their dedication to the AER cause. We look forward to continue the current projects and activities and launch new ones”

Grab your copy of the report next week in Nordland (NO) at the General Assembly and download the electronic version here.

The report is also available in our Library.

We wish you a pleasant read!

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Why the Arctic matters

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On 23 June, the region of Nordland (NO) invites you to a keynote discussion on “Development in the high North: the Arctic” in the framework of the AER General Assembly and Spring Bureau.

The timing of the debate coincides with the European Commission’s joint Communication to the European Parliament and the Council on “An integrated European Union policy for the Arctic”, published on 27 April 2016, which reflects on the strategic importance of the region for its 4 million inhabitants but also for Europe and the rest of the world; the Arctic is rich in providing fish, minerals, oil and gas to other parts of the world and is a key regulator of climate change.

The region is recognised as an example of constructive international cooperation and is also a strategic component of the EU’s foreign policy playing a key role in terms of regional and global security.

Increased human development in the Arctic will inevitably impact global weather patterns, oceans, ecosystems and local biodiversity. The Arctic’s role in climate change has been recognised as pivotal and the EU has a duty to protect the region, to strengthen the ecosystems resilience as a means to implement the global agreements of the COP21. Further development should be managed sustainably, respecting the regions, its resources, its inhabitants and livelihood and protecting the fragile environment.

The Communication outlines proposals for the EU’s enhanced action and engagement in three priority areas:

  1. climate change and safeguarding the Arctic environment: research, adaptation and mitigation strategies and protecting the environment are key answers to this point.
  2. sustainable development: innovative technologies, the European Arctic stakeholder forum, investment, space technologies, safe and secure maritime activities are identified in the communication to answer this point.
  3. international cooperation: international organisations and fora, dialogue with Arctic indigenous peoples, fisheries management and scientific cooperation are required to guarantee this point.

The key note discussions in Bodø will concentrate on different themes, seen both from a more central European Perspective, from a Nordic and from an Indigenous People’s Perspective. The following themes will be addressed:

  • Economic development and community building
  • Blue growth –seafood industry and more
  • Green Tourism
  • Minerals
  • Technology, infrastructure and better logistic
  • Safety and Emergency Preparedness
  • Climate and Energy questions

The speakers represent EU, the Norwegian Government, the University sector, the Regional political level and the Indigenous peoples.

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Call for nominations: Monitoring and Evaluation Group

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Mandate

The mandate of the AER Monitoring and Evaluation Group is defined in the Statute article 4.8:

The General Assembly elects, for a mandate of three years, three members, not involved in other governing structures of AER, to form a Monitoring and Evaluation Group. One of the politicians will have a coordinating role. The group, reporting to the General Assembly, will be responsible for:

a) Monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the mission and objectives of AER, in compliance with the provisions of the Statute and the Procedures;

b) The efficient and sound use of financial and human resources. The members of the group will be supported by an officer/officers from their region.

The group will assess the outcomes of the actions and activities and make strategic recommendations. They will have unrestricted access to all AER documents and meetings.

Application procedure

The elections will take place at the upcoming General Assembly on 23 June in Nordland (NO). Three seats are open for nominations. Applicants should send their CV to the Céline Dawans ([email protected]) by 3 June. The list of candidates and CVs will be disseminated with the working documents of the General Assembly.

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Political declaration: call for amendments

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The AER Bureau in Nordland (NO) on 22 June will address the issue of (R)e-inventing Democracy and the impact of technologies on the democratic process. All member regions are invited to submit amendments to the proposed political declaration. Please use the comment box below, providing the name of your region, to submit amendments or send us an email.

(R)e-inventing Democracy
A regional approach

Whereas: participation in elections is decreasing steadily in Europe;

Whereas: governments are faced with increasingly complex challenges ranging from economic development to countering radicalisation or fighting climate change;

Whereas: new technologies are multiplying the opportunities for citizens participation by means of sharing opinions, advice, evaluation, financial support, co-creation;

Whereas: new technologies must be used in respect of the citizens’ privacy;

Whereas: tapping into the human capital both inside and outside institutions via IT applications could boost innovation, increase engagement, save time and financial resources;

Whereas: In a democracy the role of citizens is central and their participation is the corner stone of legitimacy;

Whereas: AER has a history of defending the recognition of the principle of subsidiarity and its implementation;

Whereas: AER’s leading theme for 2016 is “revitalizing democracy”;

We, the Assembly of European Regions:

  1. commit to strengthen cooperation between all the regions of Europe to share experiences and continuously innovate in the public sector;
  2. recognise the need for multi-stakeholder approaches for economic, social and political participation to face societal challenges;
  3. encourage the public, private and non-governmental sectors to incite citizen-led initiatives;
  4. underline the importance of design in public services to provide citizens with opportunities to contribute to the public good with their talent;
  5. deem education to be critical in creating a climate of innovation, openness, inclusion and entrepreneurial spirit;
  6. insist on the importance of youth involvement in policy-making: youth participation should be fostered from an early age;
  7. call on all EU, national and regional stakeholders to speed up the deployment of broadband across the European territory;
  8. highlight the need for e-literacy across generations and communities;
  9. call on tech companies to increase their teams’ diversity to enhance their innovation potential and ensure the contraction of the gender and minority gaps in technology.
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(R)e-inventing Democracy

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The AER Spring 2016 Bureau (22-24 June, Nordland-NO) will focus on the ways technology helps innovation in democracy, highlighting the disruptive nature of technology and the need to renew existing models.

The debate will be lead by key actors from the public and private sectors experienced on topics such as new forms of citizens engagement and participation; big data for policy making; design thinking in the public sector; e-litteracy, etc. A declaration will be presented during the event to:

  1. acknowledge the awareness of regions on a series of hot topics such as: IT participatory tools, big data for policy making, design-thinking, innovation for by and with the people, co-creation etc
  2. declare that interregional cooperation is a tool to fast track innovation in the public sector
  3. recognise there is a need for a deep change in the way governments design their services and the way they collaborate with citizens, which has impacts in terms of time and money savings as well as engagement of citizens and legitimacy for governments
  4. list a series of recommendations on topics which AER members are or have been working on in the framework of the Committees

We look forward to finding out what measures regions have taken in this field, the challenges they have encountered and good practices set up to improve democracy and citizens’ participation. Are had been active in this field for some time now and has already gathered food for though on digital democracies:

  • It’s not about tools it’s a shift in the way territories are managed and developed
  • It’s all about design: services need to be designed in a way that respond to needs, but also in a way that enable citizens to contribute repeatedly and in many different ways to the collective good. Design has been discussed both in COM1 and in the context of e- [email protected] and integrated care systems in COM2
  • Improving participation is more than organising debates: citizens participation is generally restricted to elections, opinion polls and social media. Even crowdsourcing of expertise has its limits because it doesn’t ask citizens what they would like to contribute to, but asks their expertise when the public sector deems it relevant. New technologies on the contrary potentially enable to map skills and tap into unused talent, both from civil servants who may have competences and skills not revealed in their CV or job description, and from experts outside the administration (a little bit the way LinkedIn functions). This mapping of skills is for instance used by smartphone apps, the idea is to match individuals to what matters to them or, in this case, match people to problems based on what they can do

Join us in Norway! register now.

 

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