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REGIONerating Europe

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As part of the European Week of Regions and Cities, AER hosted an event entitled “REGIONerating Europe” focusing on the role regions can play in regenerating the European Project as well as how citizens in the regions of Europe benefit from EU membership through Cohesion Policy, structural and development funds.

The European Week of Regions and Cities is an annual four-day event during which cities and regions showcase their capacity to create growth and jobs, implement European Union cohesion policy, and prove the importance of the local and regional level for good European governance.

The timing of this event was particularly pertinent given that new European Parliament has recently been elected and a new Commission is currently being formed.

The goal of the workshop, moderated by AER Vice-President for Democracy, Nina Björby, was to stimulate debate around key challenges facing the EU today and how regions can help to create a more democratic, inclusive and sustainable Europe.

Speaking on the value of cohesion policy and its uses, Anna Wagner, Deputy Head of Unit of the European Commission’s DG Regio stressed the importance of the partnership principle as well as the territorial dimension of cohesion policy. She welcomed the emphasis on a territorial approach and the move away from looking at cohesion purely through a sectoral lens.

Ms Wagner also highlighted the importance of “cross-fertilising” or sharing best practices between regions. She recognises the work done by AER in this field and affirmed the importance of policy learning between regions as a means to promote a bottom-up approach to governance.

Anna Casini, Vice President of the Marche Region, Italy, intervened on the subject of subsidiarity and called for a common language and common narrative when communicating on European affairs. Instead of ‘subsidiarity’, we should speak about a Europe closer to citizens.

Ms Casini gave examples from the Marche Region on how Rural Development Funding has been employed both to increase awareness about the EU’s support to regional development in rural areas and also to tackle knock-on effects of climate change. She underlined that addressing climate change is not just a matter of ethics, but also economics, citing the example of viticultural harvests which have been destroyed as a result of drought or floods in her region. Access to European funding can help to offset dramatic consequences for local farmers, businesses and supply chains in Europe’s regions.

Thomas Andersson, AER member and Rapporteur on ‘Partnership between civil society and local and regional levels’ of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, spoke about threats to democracy faced by the existing gap between institutions, citizens and civil society. He outlined the work done by the CoE Congress in cataloguing methods to improve citizens’ engagement and told the participants about an upcoming toolkit which, when published, will be an excellent resource for all local and regional authorities wishing to further the involvement of citizens in multilevel governance and European affairs.

Mr Andersson, too, asserted the importance of avoiding “top-down” approaches to communicating on European affairs, favouring instead the empowerment of individuals and groups to speak up and make their needs known.

Christopher Glück, President of the Young European Federalists (JEF), continued this thread, outlining the work done by JEF and AER on the EU-funded project “Road to the Future“, which involved a bus tour across the EU in advance of the 2019 European Parliament elections to engage young people and encourage them to get out and vote.

Mr. Glück shared his experiences of speaking to young Europeans across the continent, in both capital cities and more remote areas, and told of a feeling of lost trust in democracy and scepticism towards the European Union, partly as a result of disinformation. He concluded by providing concrete examples of how Europe’s local and regional leaders can counter this trend; by making changes that inspire hope in the European project, by tackling disinformation through education & media scrutiny, and speaking openly and passionately about the many advantages of European Union membership, including the positive impact Cohesion Policy has on citizens’ everyday lives.

Takeaways

Advice for regions on Communicating Cohesion Policy

  • Thomas Andersson: don’t be afraid to ask hard questions. Constructive criticism is needed to grow and develop. Keep an eye out for the CoE Congress toolkit on engaging civil society!
  • Anna Wagner: explore how Cohesion Policy programming is conducted in your region and establish what role you can have in shaping it.
  • Anna Casini: listen to critics & teach citizens to verify news. Regions need to speak up when the next Cohesion Policy package is designed to ensure it is shaped in their best interests!
  • Christopher Glück: inclusiveness doesn’t just happen. Resources need to be allocated to facilitate genuine exchanges between institutions and citizens to bridge the gaps. Regions need to be smart in how they interact with citizens, bearing in mind, language aptitudes, the level of info citizens have and their socio-economic circumstances.

Cohesion Policy is a central element of AER’s work. Within the Bureau, we have an active Task Force on Cohesion. In addition, we are currently leading an EU-funded project “Together4Cohesion” on communicating cohesion policy in the regions of Europe.

If you would like to learn more about either of these initiatives, please do not hesitate to contact the AER secretariat.

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Global Challenges, Local Actions

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Approaching the end of this decade, it is clear that climate change is becoming an increasingly pressing issue worldwide. Local and regional involvement is required to stimulate an effective bottom-up transformation, bearing in mind that the focus must always be on people and the planet. 

As a member of the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments (LRGs), AER’s commitment to strengthen local and regional authorities action toward the successful localisation of the Goals by can have a strategic role in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. 

We are approaching the implementation decade, therefore accelerated measures are needed as a response to the climate emergency that we are currently facing: the next 10 years will be our last wind of opportunity. 

In the context of the SDG Summit, which took place from 24 to 25 September, the Global Taskforce of LRGs brought its experience and its forecasts as regards concrete actions for the SDGs’ implementation. 

To help address this, it is crucial to enhance dialogue among local and regional governments. Through intergovernmental cooperation, it will be possible to adopt mitigation strategies aimed at tackling climate change. 

Action – Cooperation – Support – these are the elements at the core of the LRGs’ strategy. The Global Taskforce of LRGs promotes the global ‘localisation’ movement, but we must be careful, localisation goes beyond city boundaries, it aims to create synergies and coordination across all levels of government and actors with the purpose to strengthen communities and achieve the 2030 Agenda.  

LRGs are committed to ‘leave no-one, no place and no territory behind’, this awareness led to formalising their expectations and their claims in the Statement of the organized constituency of Local and Regional Governments at the occasion of the SDG Summit.

The key issues arising from the Statement are:

  • The creation of new spaces of dialogue among different spheres of governments (such as the Local and Regional Governments Forum, co-organised by the constituency as a critical space for dialogue among LRGs)
  • The production of annual reports on the localisation of the SDGs (such as the Voluntary Local Review, a learning and training tool to co-create strategies to fight climate change)

It has become clear that there is a global awareness about our production and consumption habits, about our use of resources and today’s challenges, therefore it is up to us to identify and weight the cost of inaction. 

The 2030 Agenda looks ambitious only if you take a broad perspective, but taking a closer look may help to see how local actions have an effective and real impact on our world.

AER is committed to promoting these principles among its member regions, and advocating for the full engagement of regional authorities in the global, regional and national implementation, follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda. 

Find here the official Statement of the organized constituency of Local and Regional Governments. 

Photo credits: Canva

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European Biodiversity: Protecting Primary Forests

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In the context of the AER Autumn Committee Plenaries on 26 September, the AER Working Group on Rural Development hosted a Breakfast Debate on European Biodiversity: Protecting Primary Forests.

Bringing together elected representatives and civil servants from across the regions of Europe, the breakfast briefing was an opportunity to decide on joint action in Europe for the protection of primary forests.

Primary forests have high conservation value but are rare in Europe due to historic land use. Primary forests are biodiversity-rich and provide essential ecosystem services. Even if the majority (89%) of the primary forest is mapped as in protected areas, much of it is not strictly protected in practice.

Wide patches of primary forest are being currently logged in many mountain areas, in particular in Romania. Increased demand for bioenergy, coupled with high rates of illegal logging, is leading to the destruction of this irreplaceable natural heritage. 

The future of our forests is a concern for all European citizens, not least as protecting primary forests contributes directly to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal n°15: ‘Life on land’.

Leading the discussion, Olimpia Neagoe, Chair of the AER Working Group on Rural Development gave examples from her home country, Romania, and showcased the work the working group is doing in this area.

Olimpia Neagoe, Chair of the AER Working Group on Rural Development

AER was pleased to be joined by some external experts on this topic, among them, Shiroma Sathyapala, Forestry Officer, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia. The FAO is a ‘custodian’ for 21 indicators under 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

She stressed the importance of sustainable forest management for European biodiversity:

“Managing forests in a sustainable way is central to the achievement of all SDGs. It’s critical to addressing climate change, conserving biodiversity and protecting ecosystems, supplying clean water, and ensuring sustainable cities and communities.” 

Good governance, on the part of local and regional authorities, is essential for this. She continued:


“Good governance in forest management is fundamental. A large part of good forest management is engaging local communities, land users and landowners.” 

Shiroma Sathyapala & Peter Skoberne

Peter Skoberne, from the Slovenian Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, gave insights into the situation in Slovenia, stating that Slovenian forests are a traditional good practice of forest management. However, in the last 10 years, they have faced more competition for forest resources and pressure on land use. 

He emphasised how important it is to stand up for our natural resources, saying;

We tend to think that political decisions are beyond our scope but we need to get our way in decision making to make a change. 

The AER Working Group on Rural Development will continue its work in this field. If you are a member interested in getting involved, please contact Johanna Pacevicius, AER Coordinator for Policy & Knowledge Transfer.

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Cohesion & Contrasted Regional Realities

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This year’s AER Autumn Committee Plenaries in Podčetrtek (SI), will start off with a conference on Cohesion & Contrasted Regional Realities.

Disparities within regions can hamper sustainable regional development by generating tensions and leading to difficult choices between for instance innovation on the one hand and equal provision of services on the other hand.

A holistic approach to regional development is therefore needed. Place-based strategies, participatory approaches, and multilevel governance are of major interest in this context. At the same time, international cooperation provides opportunities for mutual learning and knowledge flow. 

A shift towards inclusive growth policies

According to the OECD, the GDP per capita dispersion is now greater within countries than between countries which means that the different national economies have converged but within countries, regions have diverged.

The European Union counters regional disparities in particular through cohesion policy and next to strengthening economic and social cohesion, the European Commission introduced a new dimension which is territorial cohesion. With each new country joining the EU, territorial cohesion received more and more importance focussing on different issues:

  • Ensure having the same quality of life in all the territories.
  • Capitalise on the strengths of each territory to contribute sustainably to the whole of Europe.
  • Manage the positive and negative impacts of cities and regions. An example of positive and negative impacts would be that cities would like to intensify innovation and productivity but, at the same time, cities increase pollution and social exclusion.
  • Develop cooperation over administrative borders between regions and countries, or even between urban and rural territories, to tackle transversal challenges such as climate change or traffic congestion.

A policy shift towards inclusive growth policies constructed through an appropriate governance system could counter the development of diverging regions. Inclusive growth policies would integrate policy packages that address both physical/environmental capital and human/social capital to foster equity and cohesion in cities and regions. Key actors involved in such policies would be partnerships across levels of government, as well as partnerships between public and private spheres, and civil society.

Sharing experiences

The conference will explore the topic of regional development in the face of contrasting regional realities and take the Sustainable Development Goals as a framework, in particular:

  • GOAL 3: Good Health and Well-being
  • GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
  • GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

The following speakers will share their experience:

  • Lilijana Madjar, President, Development council of Cohesion, region Zahodna (West-Slovenia)
  • Ivan Žagar, President, Development council of Cohesion, Host region Vzhodna (East-Slovenia)
  • Luc Paque, Director, European Union External Relations, Wallonia, BE
  • Ronan Mac Con Iomaire, Director of Community Development and Language, Udaras na Gaeltachta, (IE) tbc

Join the conference to learn from our speakers’ experiences and get various insights on the topic of regional development and territorial cohesion.

Photo by Tom Fisk on Pexels.

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Committee 1 Progress Report Autumn 2019

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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 development of a joint work programme and to evaluate progress every six months.

During the AER Spring Committee Plenaries 2019 in Örebro (SE), AER members identified joint actions they wanted to implement with fellow regions and came up with a work programme for 2019-2020 which was integrated in the AER Action Plan. Six months later it is time to evaluate progress, celebrate achievements and share experiences!

The progress report below is organised into 3 categories and gives an overview of the current situation and progress of the different activities going on within AER.

Projects
Good practice sharing
Lobbying

Projects

Together for Cohesion: let’s rEUnite! project: ongoing

“Together for Cohesion: let’s rEUnite!” is a project submitted under a call launched by DG REGIO. On the one hand, this project aims at raising awareness on the importance of programmes, projects, and services funded by the cohesion policy funds. On the other hand, the project will encourage the participation of citizens and stakeholders to turn them into active players in the dialogue on cohesion policy. AER coordinates the project and it will collect experiences on cohesion policy together with regions.

Within AER this project was officially launched during the General Assembly in Larnaca (CY) in June 2019. With the project partner mc Group, also six AER member regions have taken up the challenge of becoming core partners: Varazdin (HR), Csongrád (HU), Trentino (IT), Timis and Alba (RO), and Catalonia (ES).

E-health in rural areas: planned

Members discussed the possibility to develop a pan-AER regional e-health rural project based on innovation and digitalisation.

  • Regions interested in developping such a project should share their idea with the Secretariat in order to start developping this initiative.

Project development on farming, rural planning and infrastructure: planned

Members of the AER working group on rural development would like to develop a project to compare and incorporate good practices in farming (cattle, dairy) and infrastructure.

  • Regions interested in developping such a project should share their idea with the Secretariat in order to start developping this initiative.

Project on rural development: planned

Members of the AER working group on rural development would like to develop a project on how to invest and develop basic infrastructure in rural areas. For example, water, waste, gas, roads, education, health care .

  • Regions interested in developping such a project should share their idea with the Secretariat in order to start developping this initiative.

Good Practice Exchange

Breakfast seminar “Sustainable Development Goals and regional growth”: finished

On 15 May 2019, a breakfast seminar was organised by Oppland (NO) on how to integrate the SDGs in regional planning. This event which gathered speakers from the region and from the OECD revolved around the question whether it is possible to reach the SDGs and have economic regional development, or if they are mutually exclusive? The Powerpoint presentations and videos are available on the AER event page.

2019 AER Autumn Committee Plenaries – Podčetrtek (SI): ongoing

The annual Autumn Committee Plenaries of the Assembly of European Regions will take place on September 24-26 2019, in Podčetrtek, Slovenia.

The topic of the thematic event of the plenaries will be Cohesion & Contrasted Regional Realities. The aim is to share experiences especially from regions with considerable disparities within their territories to learn about different strategies and practices as well as enablers and barriers to more cohesive regional development.

Workshop ” connectivity vs sustainability?”: ongoing

On the occasion of the Autumn plenary meeting in Podčetrtek (SI), the working group on transports & mobility chaired by Martin Tollén is organising a workshop on connectivity and sustainability.

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

The AER Secretariat disseminated information about the TAIEX-EIR peer to peer learning programme and is 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.

Gelderland (NL) and the European Commission organised a TAIEX-EIR workshop on “Maintaining and Enhancing Ecosystem Services in Urban Regions” on 4 and 5 July 2019. 

In the context of the joint action to protect Romanian forests, the AER Secretariat has been in touch with DG Environment, to identify ways to use the TAIEX-EIR programme. This should help improve legislation and practices for the protection of primary forests and biodiversity in Romania.

Mutual learning event on economy 4.0: ongoing

Each year Brussels Capital proposes a mutual learning event on a current and transversal topic. On 4 December 2019, Brussels Capital will organise a mutual learning event on economy 4.0. Economy 4.0 describes a new era of productive, industrial and economic development characterized by the implementation of big-scale automatization, artificial intelligence (AI) robotic instruments, computational big data analytics software, and high tech infrastructure. It aims to gather experiences from all three AER Committees and regions who will be welcome to share inputs and regional examples.

Creation of a working group on how to attract more workforce: planned

Several regions in AER have expressed the need to exchange experiences on how to attract more workforce to regions which are largely rural.

  • This action could be developped within the contect of the working group on business and SMEs. Regions interested in working on this topic should share their idea with the Secretariat in order to start developping this initiative.

Effective legislative frameworks: planned

Tulcea would like to collaborate with other regions to elaborate good legislative frameworks for tourism, business, industry, research. The goal would be a simplification of administration and the reduction of red tape.

Workshop on sustainable transport and mobility: cancelled

AER member regions Gelderland (NL) and Östergötland (SE) planned a workshop on sustainable transport and mobility during the European Sustainability Energy Week on Clean Energy from 18-20 June in the House of Dutch Provinces in Brussels.

Lowering emissions in transport: planned

AER member region Norboten (SE) would like to organise good practice exchange on identifying how to lower emissions in transports within the Working group on Energy and Climate Change.

Waste collection in rural areas: planned

Within the working group on rural development, members would like to have an exchange of good practices on how to raise awareness on recycling and waste collection in rural areas.

  • This topic could be addressed either in the context of a meeting of the working group on rural development or in separate events, such as Breakfast seminars in Brussels. Regions which would like to develop something aroud this topic should contact the AER Secretariat.

Small hydropower plants: planned

Exchange of good practice on noise reduction with (small) hydro powerplants (finding suitable location also from environmental point of view). Lobbying and advocacy with NGOs and governments about environmental point of view, partnership, and exchange of good practice. National stimulations for developing projects on national tourism strategy on a local and regional level.

Energy efficiency: planned

Good practice sharing on stimulating energy efficiency, for instance, competition between organisations and OECD. Indicators on energy efficiency and EC energy efficiency directive.

New mobility services: ongoing

Good practices exchange on electric cars and infrastructure both at AER meetings and in events of the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities (EIP-SCC), where Östergötland (SE) is representing AER.

European Week of Regions and Cities: ongoing

The European Week of Regions and Cities (EWRC) is an annual four-day event during which cities and regions showcase their capacity to create growth and jobs, implement European Union cohesion policy, and prove the importance of the local and regional level for good European governance. It will take place from 7-10 October 2019 in Brussels.

AER is hosting a workshop during the EWRC with the title REGIONerating Europe on 8 October 2019 from 9.00am in Brussels. More information is available on the AER event page.

AER Delegation at Smart City Expo World Congress: ongoing

AER will again be taking part in the Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) from 19-21 November in Barcelona (ES). This 2019 edition aims to be the meeting point to encourage all stakeholders (from technology industries to policy-makers and entrepreneurs) to engage in dynamic action to enable a sustainable and inclusive future.

  • Members interested in attending should contact Tina Wu. AER has received 10 free Expo passes and a 25% discount on the 3 day congress pass.

Advocacy/Lobbying

Mobility: engagement in the EIP-SCC: ongoing

AER is involved in the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities (EIP-SCC). This framework is an opportunity for strategic intelligence, state of the art information, partnership building and influence.

Protection of Romanian forests: ongoing

Primary forests are rare in Europe and the ones in Romania are threatened by excessive logging. AER members therefore agreed at the Committee 1 Spring plenary meeting in Örebro, to support Romanian regions to protect this invaluable natural heritage. As a first step, a breakfast debate will be organised at the 2019 AER Autumn Committee Plenaries in Podčetrtek (SI), on the topic of European Biodiversity: Protecting Primary Forests. The situation will be presented and different opportunities for concerted action and next steps will be discussed. The goal will be to establish a joint initiative for the protection and preservation of the Romanian forests.

Action for the protection of Romanian forests will also entail a mutual learning dimension (see above in “good practices”)

Joint initiatives for advocacy

Member regions can decide to initiate joint actions and find partners among AER members. Regions can get support from the Secretariat to connect with other regions, get an overview of the existing legal framework and identify relevant actions and target institutions. The AER Secretariat will also organise Breakfast Briefings to help regions organise their advocacy activities.

AER Bureau Task Forces

The Bureau established the creation of Task Forces on dedicated topics. These Task Forces will gather examples, identify and formulate policy messages which will be brought together in position papers which will then be used for advocacy. Members who would like to contribute to one of the below Task Forces should contact AER Coordinator for Advocacy & Institutional Relations Vania Freitas.

-Task Force on Food Security

-Task Force on Cohesion Policy

-Task Force on Digitalisation

-Task Force on Migration

-Task Force on Sustainable Development Goals

The Committees’ work programmes and the AER Action Plan

The development of the Action Plan is a collective process to enable all participants to specify needs and decide to initiate activities that add value to their region. The principle is the following: as long as an action fits with the AER values, is in line with the AER priorities and has support from other regions, it can be included in the Committee’s work programmes. The Committees’ work programmes are developed in spring each year.

The AER action plan is the consolidation of the three Committees’ work programmes with all other activities led by the Bureau and the Executive Board. It is adopted at the General Assembly.

Members can propose new joint initiatives at any time during the year, these are then approved by the Executive Board and included in the Committee’s work programmes and the AER action plan.

Photo by Thomas on Pexels

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The 2020 European Youth Event is around the corner– make yourself heard!

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The flagship event for youth is back for its 4th edition. From 29 to 30 May 2020, the European Youth Event will bring thousands of young people coming from all over Europe to Strasbourg (FR).

Young people as change-makers

The event is aimed to make young people active agents of change in the European democratic life rather than passive beneficiaries, so the EYE2020 is the perfect opportunity for youth to share their thoughts, concerns, hopes and meet and inspire each other. And on top of that, some participants will also be able to present the most impactful ideas directly to the Members of the European Parliament.

360-degree view

The EYE2020 will please everyone, through debates, workshops, hearings and digital activities, where all participants will be able to deal with an extremely diversified range of topics. Education, health, technology, climate change, migration, employment, health, human rights, political issues, just to name a few.

If you want to find out more, take a look at the tentative programme!

Make your contribution to the EYE programme!

What makes this event impactful is the contribution that everyone can make to shape this 4th edition of the EYE. All the activities are co-created with partners, youth organisations and the participants.

If you are interested in taking part in this event and contribute to the programme with an activity, then this call is for you! Check HERE the call for activities and submit your application before November 17th!

The European Parliament is committed to promoting inclusiveness and civic engagement. Groups can apply under certain conditions for financial contributions until Tuesday, 15th October 2019.

For further information, just visit the European Youth Event webpage.

Partner with AER for the 2020 EYE!

Youth participation is at the top of AER’s agenda as it is admittedly an important value for our member regions. AER is looking to form a group of 10 or more participants (aged 16-30 years old) from our member regions and host an interactive activity during the EYE2020 in line with our political priorities.

Therefore, if you wish to participate at the EYE2020 and apply to organise an activity together with AER, please express interest to Gisela Guari (e: [email protected] / t: +32 (0) 2 400 10 21)

You’re the architect of your own future, you’re the architect of this event

Photo credits: @The European Parliament

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Thinking about embarking on an EU project on transport? Attend the infoday on EU funding opportunities for transport projects!

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The Assembly of European Regions and our members must play a role in European transport policy. We are driven by the principle that mobility should meet efficiency and inclusion, being eco-friendly and competitive for the regions and their citizens.

Several examples of good regional practices and their concrete impact and added value in comparison to European and national initiatives have been shared at workshops and meetings organised by AER in the past within the framework of European funding programmes for transport (INTERREG IIIB, PHARE, ISPA…).

In previous years, the AER sub-committee on “Sustainable transport development and the environment” has highlighted that the “Common Transport Policy is an instrument for harmonisation, but the regions must develop their own transport policies”, adding that “the transport network must allow for sustainable economic development and not simply turn the Regions into transit zones”.

With the challenges of climate change, limitation of resources and demographics, models of mobility must be re-thought for a more sustainable and efficient transport.

Interested to learn what transport challenges could be funded by a project? Curious to know how your transport idea could be financed?

The European Commission will organise an information day within the various Horizon2020 calls dedicated to smart, green and integrated transport, with an overall budget of approximately €356 million . The event will take place on Monday, 7 October 2019 from 09:30 to 15:00 CET in the European Commission’s Charlemagne building in Brussels – and will present upcoming funding opportunities under the following budget lines:

•  Mobility for Growth (MG)
• Automated Road Transport (ART)
• Green Vehicles (GV)
• Next Generation Batteries (BAT)

It will also give an overview of the application and evaluation process, and present tips for writing a good proposal, followed by a brokerage session for partners-searching and networking.

Registration is already open, please visit the official website and register. Download the official programme of the event.

For more detailed information related to this information day meeting, please contact directly:

EU Project Manager
Eduardo Nadal

Phone: +32 2 400 10 12
E-mail: e.nadal(at)aer.eu

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Looking back at the 2019 AER Summer Academy in Vojvodina!

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The Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (RS) hosted the 2019 AER Summer Academy, engaging almost 100 participants from all over Europe. Youth participation, equality, migration, environment and unemployment were some of the topics addressed during all the plenaries and parallel workshops. For all these reasons it was a great opportunity to discuss not only the problems that young Europeans are facing in Europe today but also the solutions and alternatives that can ensure a prosperous future.

Valuable insights and unforgettable experiences

Thanks to both the effort of the hosting region of AP Vojvodina and the proactivity of the participants, the Summer Academy 2019 became a great forum not to just discuss ideas and policies but also of informal knowledge-sharing. Some activities within the program encouraged the young participants to get to know each other and to create bonds among them.

A Tour around Novi Sad followed by a “Graffiti party” in the city beach “Strand”, the international dinner that took place on the next day, the several concerts during all the week in the Liberty Square and the Exit festival on Thursday night made the delights of the regional delegates and young participants. 

Besides that, it contributed to bringing up the importance of a dynamic and sustainable urban life in order to face the challenges ahead of us. These challenges were also discussed within the different workshops and plenary sessions. Youth participation was the main subject during the first day of sessions. The County of Jönköping (SE) and the Canton of Zürich (CH) inspired the audience through two different workshops about the importance of taking part in the public arena in order to defend the interests and rights of youth people all around Europe.

The second and the third day, sectoral concerns such as migration, equality, environment or the labour market were covered. In addition to the regions of Maramureș (RO), Østfold (NO) and Brussels-Capital (BE), participants had the chance to rely on the presence of experts from the AMiD- Access to services for Migrants with Disabilities project or Smart Coop, who provided a wider perspective than the institutional one to the debates.

Written by: Juan Antonio Gallardo Roca, Eurodyssey Trainee at Brussels International (BI) – Brussels Capital Region (BE)

Acknowledgements

The Assembly of European Regions would like to thank the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, the representatives, experts and volunteers of the region whose joint endeavour ensured the Summer Academy success.

A big thank you also to the Summer Academy Organizing Committee (SAOC) members, whose compromise is crucial to uphold every year’s program.

And last but not least, thank you to all the participants, you are the reason why the Summer Academy continues creating unforgettable memories year after year!

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Discussing the Future of European Youths at the 2019 Summer Academy

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Now that the 2019 Summer Academy is over, it is very fair to say that this year’s edition was a complete success with a total of 100 participants from 32 different regions and 19 countries from all over Europe and beyond!

The 2019 AER Summer Academy with the motto Youth is Future, Youth is Europe! was hosted by the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (RS) in the beautiful city of Novi Sad from the 1st to the 5th of July. Throughout the week, the youth delegates and regional officials participated in plenary sessions, seminars, workshops and other activities that allowed them to have their saying and exchange their perspectives regarding the #FutureofEurope.

Opening of the AER 2019 Summer Academy!

On the 1st of July, the opening session gathered high-rank politicians from the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and from the European arena. Following the performance of a choir singing live the national Serbian anthem and the European anthem, the AER 2019 Summer Academy was officially inaugurated by Mr István Pásztor who welcomed the participants to Novi Sad, Vojvodina. The AER Vice President for Interregional Democracy, Damir Zobenica, wished the participants a fruitful and joyful week in Novi Sad, and so the President of the AER Summer Academy, Rune Fredriksen, did. Furthermore, AER and AP Vojvodina were also honoured with the presence of the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, Tobias Flessenkemper, the recently elected Vice President of the AER Youth Regional Network, Paula Holst, as well as the AER Vice President for Equal Opportunities, Andrew Gibson.

From left to right: Andrew Gibson, István Pásztor, Damir Zobenica and Tobias Flessenkemper

“Youth is Democratic Participation and European Citizenship”

After the official kick-off of the 2019 Summer Academy, the 1st Plenary Session started under the topic “Youth is democratic participation and European Citizenship”. In this session, moderated by Hrvoje Kovac, Chair of AER sub-committee on youth, Jovana Majstorović (European Youth Forum) stressed the importance of having young people involved in politics and being politically educated in schools.

From left to right: Hrvoje Kovac, Alejandra Piot, Jovana Majstorović and Igor Novaković.

Igor Novaković, International & Security Affairs Center (ISAC) Fund, added to Jovana’s insights that today education system should instruct children and students on European democratic and civic values. Alejandra Piot Pérez-Abadín, AEGEE Europe – European Students’ Forum, considered that the potential of social media and other digital tools to promote youth participation is not being fully exploited by the public administrations.

“Youth is Diversity and Equal Opportunities for all”

The Plenary Session 2, moderated by Tamara Glišić-Krivošija (AP Vojvodina), brought up various relevant topics that have direct impacts on young Europeans: the right to have equal opportunities no matter their background, gender, or physical conditions.

Panellists and audience at the 2nd Plenary Session “Youth is Diversity and Equal Opportunities for all”

Angela Unufe-Kennedy, Migrants and Minority Disability Network Europe, raised awareness about the enormous obstacles that the young migrant population has to face to thrive in the society they are part of. Bojana Gladovic, National Organization of Persons with Disabilities of Serbia (NOOIS), called on public administrations, private sector, NGOs and civil society to their joint responsibility in harnessing the abilities of young people with special needs and to create more job opportunities for this specific sector of the population.

Concerning youth opportunities in the labour market, both Joakim Sennesvik, Nordland County Council (NO), and Stefan Vladislavjev, Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence, coincided in the fact that society itself has to offer young people more educational and training opportunities so they can effectively enter and remain in the labour market.

“Youth is Social Entrepreneurship and Sharing Economy”

The 3rd Plenary Session under the topic “Youth is Social Entrepreneurship and Sharing Economy” gathered four experts in this specific area. Sarah de Heusch, Smart Coop, explained that the sharing economy is an evolving concept as the young people have unlimited capacity and creativity to boost new forms of economy. Vladimir Nikic (Business Incubator) pointed out that young people may be afraid of taking risks and there is always a resistance to innovate and change the pre-established state of things. Luca Spissu, Sardinia-ASPAL (IT), described innovation as a creative idea that leads to a revolution in thinking at the benefit of the whole society. Aleksandre Davitadze, Deputy Minister of Education in Ajara (GE), expressed concerns regarding the lack of stable regulation frameworks for entrepreneurs so a more secure system should be put in place to incentivise innovation.

From left to right: Luca Spissu, Sarah de Heush, Alexandre Davitadze, Tamara Glišić-Krivošija and Vladimir Nikic.

“Youth is a driving force for green development”

The last Plenary Session of the 2019 Summer Academy tackled the topic of how youth can contribute to building and advocating for climate resilience at the regional and local levels. The President of AER, Magnus Berntsson, the AER Vice President for Democracy, Nina Björby, and Aleksandra Illijn, OPENS 2019 Foundation, exchanged views and agreed upon the fact that the regional authorities and young Europeans can be more responsive and deliver with more efficiency on the challenges of preserving the environment and preventing climate change. Furthermore, the Summer Academy youth participants took the floor and interacted with the speakers making questions about the role of youth in taking up these challenges.

A farewell celebration!

The 2019 edition of the Summer Academy concluded with the speeches from the AER President, Magnus Berntsson, and the AER Vice President for Democracy, Nina Björby, who expressed their gratitude to the host region, AP Vojvodina, and handed out the certificates of participation to all the Summer Academy delegates.

AER President, Magnus Berntsson, and AER Vice President, Damir Zobenica
AER Vice President, Nina Björby, and Sanja Shiflish, AP Vojvodina.

AER would like to express its warmest gratitude to all the participants, the speakers, the volunteers but, especially, to AP Vojvodina and OPENS Foundation for hosting the event and making this 2019 AER Summer Academy a great success!

Visit the event page of the AER 2019 Summer Academy to get all the presentations, pictures, videos and more takeaways!

Photo Credits: @Aleksandar Vasilic (AP Vojvodina)

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Mersin Metropolitan Municipality (TR) is eager to join projects!

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European Youth Together 2019 is a call for proposals within Erasmus+ Key Action 3, Support for Policy Reform. The main objective of this call is to promote young people’s participation in European civic life by encouraging them to create networks aimed at organising exchanges, promoting trainings and allowing them to set up joint projects.

In this context, Mersin Metropolitan Municipality is looking to join projects as a local public body partner.

Charming open-air museum!

Mersin is a large city and port on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey.

It does not only offer 321 km long sea shore with unique natural beauties like sea, sand and sun trio but also offers variety of tourism opportunities such as: culture, faith, congress, uphill, tracking, rafting, paragliding and mountain climbing.

Often called “the Pearl of the Mediterranean”, Mersin is an important economic center as well as an open-air museum, a home with many historical and touristic places like numerous ruin sites and magnificent ancient castles.

Get in touch with this partner!

Mersin Municipality has previous significant experiences in European funded projects, particularly within the IPA, Capacity Building in the field of Climate Change in Turkey Grant Scheme (CCGS) and Town Twinning.

As the deadline of the European Youth Together Call is 18th July 2019, don’t hesitate to contact AER Secretariat which is happy to liaise you with Mersin Metropolitan Municipality.

This active institution is opened to cooperate also in other calls of proposals, as their experience in project management is diverse and their interests are addressed to different fields.

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

European Projects

Agnese Pantaloni

Phone: +32 2 400 10 52 E-mail: a.pantaloni(at)aer.eu Skype ID: agnesepanta Languages: it, en, pt Articles by Agnese
  • EU funding
  • Calls for projects and tenders
  • Partner search

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Sustainable Development Goals – Engaging Regions

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In 2015, United Nations (UN)
Member States adopted the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs). In that same year, at the twenty-first session of the Conference of the
Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC), Parties to the UNFCCC adopted the Paris Agreement, addressing the
need to fight climate change.

In 2020, the SDGs will have a comprehensive review and the Paris Agreement will come into force.

Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) is debating how it can lead in the sustainability transition and follow up on the SDGs by 2030. In January 2019, the EC launched a Reflection Paper Towards a Sustainable Europe by 2030 putting forward illustrative scenarios for the future to steer the discussion on how the EU can best contribute to the SDGs by 2030.  The implementation of sustainability objectives, in line with the 2030 Agenda, including the reinforcement of EU efforts to fight climate change, also features prominently in the EU new strategic agenda 2019-2024 adopted by EU leaders in June 2019.

The annual meeting of the High-level Political Forum – the UN platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs – will be held on 9-18 July 2019. The COP-25 will take place from 2 to 13 December 2019 to stocktake the climate actions and strengthen the efforts towards the Paris Agreement targets by 2020.

Regions play a crucial role in
achieving a sustainable European future. AER members have been working together
to provide stronger leadership on the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs and the Paris
Agreement. They have been sharing experiences in maximising the opportunities presented
by the Goals and in embedding them in their regional planning.

Because a stronger engagement of
regions is needed to match this ambition, AER members agreed to set up their
efforts to meeting the global Goals and climate targets and set up a Task Force
to convene an even stronger joint action towards the full implementation of
this Agenda by 2030.

At a pivotal moment for the implementation
of the SDGs and the Paris climate targets, the AER Task Force on SDGs offers
a timely opportunity for AER members to secure the changes in policy and
practice they seek by building a more effective influencing work on climate
change and sustainable development processes.

If you/your region want(s) to be involved in the Task Force on SDGs, please contact us at: [email protected] 

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Developing sustainable and inclusive food systems at regional level

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The AER Bureau Meeting in Larnaca (CY) on 6 June included an in-depth panel on “Sustainability from Farm to Fork”, moderated by Irén Lejegren, Chair of the AER Task Force on Food Security, Region Örebro (SE).

The session looked at the challenges and opportunities involved in developing sustainable and inclusive food systems at regional level.

The Agricultural Research Officer at Agricultural Research Institute of Cyprus, Dionysia Fasoula, spoke about the major social, environmental, political and scientific challenges facing food security in Europe. She said that adopting a participatory approach, investing further in organic farming and agroforesting, and creating better awareness and education are key to deliver the solutions to these challenges and a prerequisite to accelerate the transition to sustainable food systems. 

Yannis Fallas, Member of the European Bioeconomy Stakeholders Panel, added that food security is a complex interplay of different but connected factors, policy areas and actors that regional authorities must take into account to develop sustainable food systems. The Director of the West Macedonia Bioenergy and Environment Cluster referred to the link between bioeconomy food objectives and energy, touching upon a wide range of aspects such as bioenergy, food waste, circular economy, better agricultural education, rural-urban linkages, rural development and innovation. 

Rastislav Trnka, Member of the European Committee of the Regions, presented the opinions of the EU’s assembly of local and regional elected representatives on promoting food security. The Chairman of Košice Self-Governing Region stressed that a comprehensive EU food policy, in line with a multi-level governance principle is the right way to achieve future-proof food systems. Rastislav Trnka asserted that addressing climate change and environmental challenges, sustainability, food waste, healthy diets and public procurement rules, together with information campaigns, will be key to developing innovative food strategies across Europe.  

Maria Nikolopoulou, Member of the European Economic and Social Committee, highlighted the importance of all relevant stakeholders from the food system to work together to tackle the food security challenges and develop innovative food strategies, notably through food policy councils. If we want to achieve food security in Europe, we need a comprehensive food policy and a shift to “food citizenship”, she said. 

The outcomes of the debate will inform the development of the AER position paper on food and nutrition security to be presented at the Autumn Bureau Meeting 2019.

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AER President takes part in panel discussion at the R20 Austrian World Summit

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“We are in a crisis – a climate crisis”. During the R20 Austrian World Summit, Greta Thunberg, the 16 year old activist from Sweden delivered a moving speech calling on the world leaders to influence, to make an impact and to start protecting our world. Indeed, the Summit saw world leaders joining together calling for nations to reaffirm their commitment to the Paris Agreement. Leaders such as Alexander van der Bellen, Federal President of Austria; the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres; and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chair of the R20 and former governor of California delivered key note interventions calling on us to act now. Antonio Guterres delivered a strong message that we needed to “end fossil fuel subsidies and to stop using taxpayers’ money to destroy the world”. At the current rate of action, the world would warm by 3C not the 1.5C envisioned. The main message of the Summit was to reaffirm the need for climate action, goal 13 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

As such, during this Summit there
have been discussions on many different topics related to the SDGs. Today, the
AER and R20 President, Magnus Berntsson participated in a panel on Sustainable
Cities (goal 11) and specifically carbon-neutral housing & mobility. He
shared the stage with Arnout Smit from the Arnhem Nijmegen City Region, Rana
Adib, Executive Director of REN21 and Claire Roumet, Executive Director of
Energy Cities. During his intervention, Mr Berntsson stressed the importance of
partnerships and cooperation with one another. Furthermore, the need to share
and spread the example to other regions and the world.

  • Meeting with Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann of Baden-Württemburg to discuss electrification and future collaborations between their regions.
  • Meeting with ICLEI President/Mayor of Bonn Ashok Sridharan

Mr Berntsson also provided examples
regarding the topic of mobility and the how the move to electrification is moving
much quicker than what was originally planned. This means that there is much
more planning that needs to be done in order to pass this benefit to the
citizens. Additionally, he advised that in his region of Västra Götaland, they
showcased how the electrification of buses has other effects such as lowering greenhouse gases in urban environment as well
as the decrese in sound changing how city can plan their city. This was demonstrated
by having a bus stop in a library.

Following Mr Berntsson’s
intervention, Fran Pavley, former California State Senator
provided concrete examples of what is being done in California to combat
climate change. Many of her examples showcased how climate action comes from
the cities, exemplifying the importance of regions, cities and local
governments play in being the change to reach the Paris Agreement.

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AER to attend the R20 Austrian World Summit in Vienna

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Next week, the R20 Austrian World Summit will again be taking place in Vienna. This long-term initiative to create a network platform to help regions, states and cities implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals and meet the global climate protection targets outlined in the Paris agreement stems from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s R20 Regions of Climate Action and is now in its 3rd edition.

The effects of climate change can be felt globally via the
increase of heatwaves, floods, droughts, melting glaciers and rising
sea-levels. An estimated 9 million deaths are attributed to pollution every
year. Additionally, a recent study found that the melting Artic permafrost
could add nearly 70 trillion to the global cost of climate change if the planet
warms by 3C by 2100. Even if action is taken to limit this increase to 1.5C, it
would still add 25 trillion to overall climate costs.

Following the increased call for climate action and strikes for the climate worldwide, the United Kingdom and Ireland have declared a national climate emergency. Indeed, one of the goals of the R20 Austrian World Summit is to amplify the call on nations to act and to step up their ambition under the Paris Agreement by publishing new commitments before 2020 and cut emissions on a science-based trajectory that limits this warming. During the Summit, innovative solutions, policies, best practice projects, examples of cooperation and role models from different countries, cities, regions and sectors that are dealing with pollution and championing a future of renewable energy will be showcased. 

AER delegates will be attending the R20 Austrian World Summit, which will include almost 1500 participants from over 50 countries. The AER President and R20 President, Magnus Berntsson, will be in attendance, and will be contributing in a panel session on Sustainable Cities: Carbon-Neutral Housing & Mobility on 29 May. Additionally, delegates from Västra Götaland (SE), Värmland (SE), Kosice Self-Governing Region (Slovakia), West Slovenia Cohesion Region, Lower Austria, Upper Austria and the AER Secretariat will be attending the R20 World Summit.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

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Committee 2 Annual Report June 2018 – May 2019

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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 developed and implemented within Committee 2 between the 2018 General Assembly in Lillehammer, Oppland (NO) and the 2019 General in Larnaka (CY).

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.

Projects

SCIROCCO Exchange project – Personalised knowledge transfer and access to tailored evidence-based assets on integrated care: ongoing

The SCIROCCO Exchange project, under the 3rd Health Programme, is
based on the SCIROCCO project, which has resulted in the development of
an online self-assessment tool for integrated care. The project will run
from end 2018 to end 2020. It will support regions, mainly health and
social care authorities for the adoption and the scaling-up of
integrated care. The maturity matrix, at the core of the project, offers
a tool for regions to better deliver integrated care for their citizens
while at the same time empowering citizens. With this tool regions can
assess their current status, revealing areas of strengths and also gaps
in their capability managing the many activities needed in order to
deliver integrated care.

The lead partner is the Scottish Government Health Agency Service, a
new AER member. The consortium is composed by 14 organisations.

AER is leading the Working Package on knowledge transfer, helping the regions in preparing the local environment for implementation and scaling-up integrated care. This article on SCIROCCO Exchange explains how Regions can share expertise and examples and how they can use the tools developed by the project

Together for Cohesion: let’s rEUnite! project: ongoing

This project is funded by DG REGIO. It will:

  • raise awareness on the importance of programmes, projects and services funded by Cohesion Policy funds
  • encourage the participation of citizens and stakeholders to ensure they are active players in the dialogue on cohesion policy.

The project officially started on 1st of April 2019 and will last for 12 months. The following regions, which have sent a letter of support for this project will be involved in different actions funded by the project to engage citizens and communicate about Cohesion Policy in their territories:
Trento (IT), Alba (RO), Timis (RO), Catalonia (ES), Varazdin (HR) and potentially Csongrad (HU).
All AER members are invited to share examples of communication campaigns on Cohesion Policy and to participate in the launching event of the project on 5 June 2019 in Larnaka on the occasion of the AER General Assembly.

The project is led by AER with the international communication agency MC Group (DE). The application was submitted to the DG Regio on the media calls for proposals. The project is part of AER’s work on Cohesion Policy.

AMiD project for the inclusion of migrants with disabilities: ongoing

This project is led by the European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities and aims to improve the access to services for migrants with disabilities. AER is a partner and Valencia, Timis and Värmland are all members of the Advisory Board. The AMiD project will provide opportunities for experience sharing and capacity building in this area for all AER members.

  • The project co-organised the event on migrants inclusion in Barcelona
  • facilitated a workshop at Committee Plenaries
  • and will organise 2 intense workshops at the AER General Assembly in Larnaka.

Silver Economy Awards (SEED): finished

The Silver Economy Awards aimed 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 were 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. SEED was a two-year project: 10/2016 to 09/2018. Last year the Silver Economy Awards replaced the traditional AER Regional Innovation Award.

Models of Child Health Appraised (MOCHA): finished

The MOCHA team is led by the Imperial College London and involves 19
scientific partners from ten European countries and 30 country agents
from each European Member State and EEA country. MOCHA appraises the differing models of child health
that are used across Europe. The project identified gaps in knowledge,
on surveillance of children’s primary care and children’s specific needs
in primary care, lack of coordination of care, models of care that are
not based on current child health epidemiology, and low prioritisation
of children’s needs in e-health strategies. AER is a member of the
Advisory Board. AER is benefitting from the connection with the MOCHA
experts, which have been invited at AER events (workshop on health innovation ecosystems in Izmir, workshop on social capital for integrated care
in Norrbotten) and also shared expertise and advice for the development
of the project on youth mental health led by Catalonia and Norrbotten.
The project is now in the final year where results will be published.
The final conference took place on 15-16 November in The Hague.

Event: EU funding for Croatian & Albanian regions: finished

The event on EU funding for Croatian regions, hosted by Varaždin (HR) and Committee 3 President Radimir Čačić, and the event on EU funding for Albanian regions,
hosted by Korcë (AL) and MEG member Ana Verushi brought together about
70 participants, both members and non members of AER to:

-hear about AER’s activities
-learn more on AER services for projects and services
-obtain information on the areas of cooperation with EU
-get a relevant update on the current and forthcoming EU funding opportunities
-become aware of the successful experiences of project applicants

HOME4LIFE – Certified smart and integrated living environments for ageing well: pending approval

AER joined this project as supporting partner, upon the request of AGE Platform which is partner in the consortium. No budget or specific tasks assigned. This project has been submitted within Horizon 2020 – CSA on “Supporting investment in smart living environments for ageing well through certification” and aims at the development of a European certification scheme fostering safe investments and supporting physical and technological retrofitting for what concerns age-friendly environments and accommodation.

INTEGRATE PERMED project – The inter-regional linking infrastructure for implementation in personalised medicine:project rejected

The INTEGRATE PERMED has been submitted under the Horizon 2020
Programme. It aims at linking the efforts in personalised medicine
across European Regions by mapping them and then exchange of experiences
between selected regions. The project will focus on breast cancer as a
launching pathology to maintain focus. After validation, the approach
will be replicated to other pathologies.

PATHWAY project – Pathway to social entrepreneurship: project rejected

The PATHWAY project, under the Erasmus+ Programme, aims at providing
learners with a training programme which meet their needs in the sector
of social entrepreneurship. It also aims to raise awareness on the role
social entrepreneurship can play in local development, fostering also be
the establishment of links and cooperation between different
stakeholders.

The multiplier event will be a collateral activity of the AER Summer Academy. Submitted within the Erasmus+ Programme, the Social Entrepreneurship Key competences (SEK) project strives for providing learners with specialized training in the sector of social entrepreneurship with a special focus on tourism.

Social Entrepreneur Key competencies – SEK project: project rejected

Within this project, AER is in charge of organising an international
information day, which will be the opportunity to share the project
outcomes and to foster networking. AER is also in charge of a training
session to test training course for social entrepreneurs. On top of
that, AER will perform advocacy work in order to raise the attention on
the project findings at regional and EU level.

The activities realised by the AER will take place in the scope of the Eurodyssey and the AER Youth Regional Network.

PIKTOGRAMA project – Visual thinking for social innovation: project rejected

PIKTOGRAMA is a project submitted within Erasmus+ Programme. It
focuses on design thinking approach as a method to empower non-profit
organisation and implement original visual thinking tools to face new EU
societal challenges (e.g. climate change). The project aims at raising
awareness on this approach and the advantages it has in the social
innovation context as well as stimulating its use by training the
youths.

The project will provide regions with recommendations regarding
design thinking, which can be an interesting method for non-profit
organisations to approach social challenges.

The multiplier event will be a collateral activity within the Youth
Regional Network General Assembly, thus creating synergies between AER
programmes and the project.

Good Practice Sharing

Equal access to healthcare: ongoing

The AER Group on Equal Opportunities has identified equal access to
health as the main topic to be addressed in Committee 2. This includes:

-vulnerable groups: meet them where they are & help them
– exchange good practices on reducing barriers to care & access to services. The AER Transversal Group on Equal Opportunities held regular phone calls to identify joint actions on the topics identified by the Group.

Spring Plenary meeting Committee for Social Policy & Public Health: finished

Committee 2 gathered in Örebro (SE) on the occasion of the Spring Committee Plenaries to assess progress, elect new representatives and define its new work programme. The results of the elections are the following:

  • Committee President : Mihai Ritivoiu, Timis (RO)
  • Vice-President for Health Innovation : Kenneth Johannesson, Värmland (SE)
  • Chair of the E-Health Network : Donna Henderson, Scotland (UK)

Autumn Plenary meeting Committee for Social Policy & Public Health: finished

The 2018 Autumn Committee Plenaries were hosted by the region of Vojvodina in Serbia from 25 – 27 September 2018. A detailed recap of all the meetings that took place is available here. The Committee on Social Policy and Public Health members said farewell to Agneta Granström, Vice President of the Committee and Chair of the AER e-Health network. Albert Castellanos, Catalonia (ES) was elected Vice-President for Health Innovation, other positions were left open for future candidacies.
On the occasion of Committee 2 plenary meeting in Novi Sad, Vojvodina (RS), members decide to focus on social entrepreneurship & inclusion
Good practices from Umbria (IT) and Maramures (RO) were presented

Breakfast Briefing on welcoming unaccompanied migrant children: finished

Committee 2 members decided to share experiences on welcoming
unaccompanied migrant children. In this context a Breakfast Briefing was
organised on welcoming unaccompanied migrant children in Novi Sad on 27 September 2018,
which was led by the European Programme for Integration and Migration,
an initiative of currently 25 private foundations, which has the goal of
strengthening the role played by civil society in advocating for
constructive approaches to migration in Europe.
A background article on youth on the move was published by the AER Secretariat.

Panel discussion at the Vojvodina plenaries on Open data for regional development: finished

On the occasion of the Autumn plenaries in Vojvodina, the panel discussion “Open data for regional development: governance, start-ups and innovation” took place.

The discussion focused on how public institutions collect and
generate enormous quantities of data in areas as varied as unemployment,
air pollution, hospital consultations etc and how this data can best be
re-used to create or improve both public and private services. There is
a need to change the political perception of Open Data and instead view
it as opportunity for policy-making.

Meeting of the Working Group for Equal Opportunities: finished

The AER Group on Equal opportunities has regular phone meetings and met as well in Novi Sad to discuss the development of a Code of Conduct for AER.

Mutual learning event on the Sharing Economy: finished

Each year Brussels Capital proposes a mutual learning event on a
current and transversal topic. On December 4th 2018, Brussels Capital
organised a mutual learning event on the sharing Economy
together with Catalonia, in Brussels, Brussels Capital Region (BE).
This event organised upon the invitation of Committee 1 President Jean
Luc Vanraes, aimed to gather experiences from all three AER Committees
and regions were welcome to share inputs and regional examples.

The event brought together policymakers, entrepreneurs, academics and
representatives of the third sector for vivid exchanges. A follow up article with updates on what happened in Brussels was published.

International Migrants Day: Promoting Diversity in Regions: finished

The three AER committees and the AER Task Force on Migration worked closely together to develop messaging ahead of the International Migrants Day: Promoting Diversity in Regions event in Barcelona on Tuesday 18 December 2018.
Participants
shared their experiences and good practices in diversity management at
regional level, including examples of policies, programmes and projects
promoting inclusion, participation in civic, economic and political
life, positive intercultural interaction and the sense of belonging.

AER e-health network activities: planned

The AER e-health network has achieved the objectives it had set at
its creation. The plenary meeting in Arad was the opportunity to set new
objectives. These include good practice sharing on

-risks of digital exclusion
-business models
-data protection, profiling & mass surveillance
-Artificial intelligence, bots
After the 2018 Spring plenaries, no concrete initiatives were identified. This was mainly due to the fact the AER e-health network didn’t have a chair to give impulse to its activities. At the Spring 2019 Committee 2 plenary meeting, members will elect a new chair and get an opportunity to define new actions they would like to implement jointly.

Under a new leadership from Scotland, the e-health network will focus on digital health and explore synergies with fellow networks

Leadership programme for policymakers on e-health, integrated care systems and health innovation: cancelled

The AER e-health network wants to share good practices on leadership
for the deployment of integrated care systems. After the 2018 Spring
plenaries, no concrete initiatives were identified. New opportunities
may arise with the implementation of the Scirocco Exchange knowledge hub
which will be developed and will also provide tools to improve
readiness to change, leadership and governance in general.

Advocacy/ Lobbying

Cohesion Policy Activities: ongoing

Members agreed in September 2018 that the Task Force on Cohesion will now be under the responsibility of the Bureau, which is also in charge of the other Task Forces. Joint actions include:
– Convene joint advocacy: Bureau Members adopted an updated position on the European Commission legislative proposals for the future EU cohesion policy, setting out the specific changes European regions propose to make to the new framework.
– Advocate towards the European Union and Member States
– Work in alliance with other relevant stakeholders and European associations
Flevoland (NL) is coordinating the implementation of the action and the cohesion policy task force help implement the action.

AER Bureau Task Forces

The 2018 Spring Bureau established the creation of Task Forces on
dedicated topics. These Task Forces will gather examples, identify and
formulate policy messages which will be brought together in position
papers which will then be used for advocacy. Members who would like to
contribute to one of the below Task Forces should contact AER
Coordinator for Advocacy & Institutionnal Relations Vania Freitas

-Task Force on Food

-Task force on Digitalisation

-Task Force on Migration

-Task Force on Social Innovation

Joint initiatives for advocacy

Member regions can decide to initiate joint actions and find partners
among AER members. Regions can get support from the Secretariat to
connect with other regions, get an overview of existing legal framework
and identify relevant actions, target institutions. The AER Secretariat
will also organise Breakfast Briefings to help regions organise their
advocacy activities.

The Committees’ work programmes and the AER action Plan

The developement of the Action Plan is a collective process to enable
all participants to specify needs and decide to initiate activities
which add value for their region. The principle is the following: as
long as an action fits with the AER values, is in line with the AER
priorities and has support from other regions, it can be included in the
Committees work programmes. The work programmes are developped in
Spring each year.

The AER action plan is the consolidation of the three Committees’
work programmes with all other activities led by the Bureau and the
Executive Board. It is adopted at the General Assembly.

Members can propose new joint initiatives at any time during the year, these are then approved by the Executive Board and included in the Committees work programmes and the AER action plan.

Committee 2 Coordination & implementation of the work programme

The new Presidium of the AER Committee on Social Policy & Public health will meet met on 4 June 2019 in Larnaka, to discuss the implementation of the Committee’s work programme for 2019-2020. They will agree on a series of actions to support the actions proposed by members on the occasion of the Spring Plenaries. This work is coordinated by Agneta Kardos, the seconded officer for Committee 2 President Mihai Ritivoiu, Timis (RO)

Photo by Alessia Cocconi on Unsplash

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