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Workshop on smart green and integrated transport systems

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The AER working group on Transports and Mobility held a workshop on smart green and integrated transport systems on 14 September, during the Nancy plenary meetings.

The aim was to enable AER members to discuss issues of sustainable mobility, including the European Strategy on Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS), and the role regions can play in a C-ITS environment.

European Strategy on Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS)

In November 2016, the European Commission (EC) adopted a European Strategy on Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS), a milestone on the path towards cooperative, connected and automated mobility (COM(2016) 766).

The objective of the C-ITS Strategy is to facilitate the convergence of investments and regulatory frameworks across the European Union (EU), in order to see deployment of C-ITS services in the EU by 2019.

It involves the adoption of a legal framework at EU level by 2018 to ensure legal certainty for public and private investors, the availability of EU funding for projects and the continuation of the C-ITS and the C-ROADS platforms.

By making it possible to bring vehicle that can talk to each other and to the infrastructure on EU roads, the EC intends to contribute to improved road safety and traffic efficiency and reduced energy consumption and emissions from transport, while reaping the benefits of digitisation.

As part of the evaluation of the 2010 ITS Directive (Directive 2010/40/EU), from May to July 2017 the EC carried out a public consultation to gather input on the contribution of the Directive to the coordinated deployment of ITS and the functioning of the road transport system, as well as on the need for continued EU action in this field. This will feed into the ongoing preparation of the legal framework that the Commission will set up in 2018 for the provision of C-ITS.

The European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism, for its part, is also preparing an own-initiative report on the European Strategy on C-ITS.

Key Milestones:

To accelerate the deployment of these innovative transport technologies across Europe, in 2010 the EU introduced common rules for road transport and interfaces with other modes under the ITS Directive (Directive 2010/40/EU).

Early 2014, the EC decided to take a more prominent role in the deployment of connected driving, by setting up a C-ITS Platform. A cooperative framework in which national authorities, relevant C-ITS stakeholders and the Commission provide policy recommendations for a deployment strategy for C-ITS in the EU.

In 2016, joining forces with Member States and industry, it launched the C-ROADS Platform as a set of projects on connected, cooperative and automated driving, co-funded through EU Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).

Also in 2016, EU Member States’ transport ministers adopted the Declaration of Amsterdam, where they urged the EC to develop a European strategy on connected and automated driving, adapt the EU regulatory framework and coordinate research and innovation.

For more information, visit the European Commission Directorate General for Mobility and Transport webpage here.

Read more about the European Strategy on C-ITS in the European Parliamentary Research Service Briefing available here.

AER working group on Transports and Mobility

The AER working group on Transports and Mobility has been set up to address key transport system issues, such as connectivity and permeability, seamless transport services, freight management & data, smart green infrastructure, financing of infrastructure, regulation of state aid and regional airports; as well as to promote knowledge and experience exchange among regions. It is currently chaired by Martin Tollén, County Councillor from Östergötland (SE).

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Outcome of Executive board meeting (Nancy 12/09/17)

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As the next Executive Board (EB) meeting is around the corner, here is a short recap of the main outcome of the last one.

The second executive meeting for the new board took place in the beautiful city of Nancy, Grand-Est. Many things are happening for AER, and the new board could easily fill in the three hours dedicated to the meeting. Here are some of the highlights:

  • Two new regions have applied for membership. Adanna (Turkey) has asked to become full member. Udaras na Gaeltachta (Ireland) has asked to become associate member. The EB was happy to welcome them.
  • The AER Vice Presidents were handed new portfolios. The portfolios have been suggested after bilateral discussions with the president. The portfolios are distributed as follows:
    • Nina Björby – VP for democracy
    • Albert Castellanos – VP for interregional cooperation and Mediterranean affairs
    • Andrew Gibson – VP for equal opportunities
    • Anna Magyar – VP for EU enlargement
    • Lukas Mandl – VP for institutional affairs
    • Damir Zobenica – VP for interregional diplomacy
  • Mr Rijsberman has in quality of AER rapporteur on cohesion policy drafted an advocacy plan together with the secretariat. The plan will be launched during the European week of regions and cities. Mr Rijsberman encourages AER-members to lobby their national representatives and MEPs using the AER position. In order to present a united front, AER has joined forces with the other largest networks of cities/regions and the CoR in an Alliance for a strong cohesion policy which will also be launched at the European week of regions and cities on Wednesday 11 October 2017.
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Nancy workshops: targeted experience exchange

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The value of data, smart green and integrated transport systems, regions and culture,  youth mental health and life-cycle approaches: the workshops organised on the occasion of the Nancy plenary meetings were an opportunity to exchange experiences on a series of topics close to regions’ heart.

Data, the world’s most valuable resource

We generate quantities of data each day said Agneta Granström, Chair of the AER e-health Network and Committee 2 Vice President for Health Innovation, and know only part of how this data is used and by whom. Yet data may be referred to as the new oil: complex to collect, expensive to transform, central to the economy and with endless potential.

In healthcare applications include a variety of aspects including the patient’s records, healthcare management, and the aggregation of medical information to support diagnosis and treatment.

Guy Mangin, coordinator of the NENObase big data project at the Technical University of Nancy and Marilyne Vô, collaborator to the NENObase explained how their project started from the needs of neurologists and involves doctors, hospital managers, students in an effort to offer support to neurologists for diagnosis and treatment.

The strength of the project resides in it involving different stakeholders in the co-creation of the tool. Because brain tumours are very rare and extremely diverse, neurologists often find themselves in a difficult place when they have to propose the best treatment. Moreover the treatment involves a team of different specialists ranging from radiologists to anatomopathologists. The NENObase allows to pool the knowledge of hundreds of specialists and provide patients with better quality of healthcare.

As Kenneth Johannesson, Committee 2 Representative for Equal Opportunities underlined, big data tools like the NENObase have tremendous potential to provide citizens in rural areas with better healthcare and give doctors  with access to existing knowledge.

Data and data treatment are a game changer too. They are re-organising power between stakeholders. Policy-makers therefore need to concentrate considerable efforts on the development of health innovation ecosystems. This relates also to the topics which will be discussed at the Artificial intelligence: are regions up to the challenge? event on November 30th in Brussels.

Transports: smart green and integrated

The AER working group on Transports and Mobility, which is led by Martin Tollén looked into the opportunities for members to get involved in the European Strategy on Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS). AER Coordinator for Institutional Relations & Advocacy Vania Freitas provided an update on the EC Strategy and informed about the ways she can offer members support.

Matthieu Jacquot, Director of COVIVO, a Grand Est (FR) example of shared mobility solutions offering carpooling for companies and communities, explained how public and private transport solutions complement each others. The futur of mobility is facilitated by IT applications.

Discussions included questions of access to transport solutions, inter-modality and shifting habits. The working group will continue to focus on these topics and the ways regions can promote sustainable mobility services. A recurrent topic for this group is also the support to regional airports (as opposed to larger airports), which continue to be an essential part of the connectivity of territories. Roger Estefors, the group’s expert on regional airports provided an update on the situation.

Regions for culture and vice-versa

The breakfast briefing on culture was an opportunity to reflect about the role of regions for the development of culture and the role of culture in regional development. Grand Est Vice President in charge of Culture Pascal Mangin provided insights on the region’s role and action in this field. Magnus Berntsson, in his quality of President of the Regional Council of Västra Götaland (SE) shared an example of how the region’s support in the film industry enabled to propulse the sector and get significant returns on investments, in terms of quality, international recognition and regional development. Katarina Tolgfors, County Councillor from Örebrö, shared the experience of the theatre where she also works as a communication professional and Alf Norberg, County Councillor from Gävleborg provided more insights on his region’s action in the framework of the 2018 European Year for Cultural Heritage.

AER Coordinator for Finance of European Projects Luca Magri updated members on opportunities which will be available for regions in the context of the European Year for Cultural Heritage. 2018 will see activities and initiatives all around Europe to get people interested and involved in cultural heritage. The calls for projects were published after the Breakfast Briefing and are now available on the European Commission’s webpage. The deadline is 22/11.

Youth mental health: creating real added value

Any project proposal should always aim to create useful outputs for stakeholders. Linda Moestam explained how the SAM project in Norrbotten (SE) has been able to engage all interested parties in a co-creation process on good mental health. They jointly developed an toolbox to promote good mental health at all stages of life. Participants identified jointly the stakeholders they would like to benefit with this project and then worked together to define outputs which would actually be efficient.

The AER Subcommittee on Youth led by Marta Vilalta has been working on the identification of needs for regional action in the field of youth since November 2016 in Izmir. The group identified the difficulty for young people to relate to others as a shared concern across wider Europe. This led to the idea to developing a joint initiative involving Committee 2 and Committee 3 members. A preparatory meeting took place on the occasion of the AER General Assembly and resulted in the decision to develop an EU-funded project.

Life-cycle approaches

The last workshop of the week was the one led by Fritz Balkau on life-cycle approaches for regional development. This approach which takes into account all the steps of elaboration of products and services is useful for regional development planning and blends well with AER activities on the circular economy such as the 2016 Regional Innovation Award.

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The AER Committee Plenaries –  Thank you for an eventful week!

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The AER Autumn committee plenary week was very busy indeed.

Hosted by the city of Nancy and the region of Grand Est, we were pleased to welcome our members in the grand setting of Nancy town hall (Grand Est-FR).

As the week went by, we covered an incredible range of topics and gave concrete tips and cooperation opportunities to our members.

Many things were accomplished during the week. The Executive Board (EB) gathered and decided on the Vice Presidents’ portfolios. Their action plan will be discussed at the next October EB meeting.

Another gathering occurred: the renewed AER team comprised of the Strasbourg and Brussels staff and the Seconded officers team. This was quintessential to align working methods, and ensure great cooperation in the months to come.

Committee meetings shined a light AER’s services on European projects and advocacy as well as how to use the Interreg Europe policy learning platform, of which AER is a key leader for the next 8 years.

To list only a few of the topics of the week in Nancy:

  • A debate on culture in the digital age in presence of the director on culture and creativity of the European Commission;
  • next steps on cohesion policy;
  • e-health and the value of data;
  • the latest innovation on carpooling and sustainable mobility solutions;
  • our next advocacy actions on regional airports;
  • next steps on our European project on youth mental health;
  • an introduction to the lifecycle for renewable energy.

It was quite impossible to leave Nancy without at least one cooperation opportunity!

Finally, please see below a few words from AER President Magnus Berntsson, who offered words of summary during the Committee Plenaries last week.

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AER Committee Plenaries – 12/14 September – Relive the week here!

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#AERCP2017

From 12 to 14 September, AER was in Nancy, France for their Autumn Committee Plenaries.

The programme focused on the following topics:
For presentations, please visit the event’s webpage. >>HERE<<

As the autumn committees’ plenaries have come to an end, we look back on three very interesting and intense days, gathering more than 130 people from approximately 50 regions.

The theme for the plenaries was “Is there a future for culture in the digital age? The rhetorical question was vividly discussed the first day by the moderators as well as by our member regions. Several regions shared their experiences and best practices, and many good examples on how to make culture more accessible and how to empower the citizens were given. The regions also got an update on the European Year for Cultural Heritage 2018 and projects to come.

The Culture debate was followed by an update on AER’s task force work on the Cohesion Policy paper, which is one of the main advocacy works done by AER this year. This discussion brought many members into the task force, which shows the importance of advocacy. In addition to the task force’s work, a recently launched call for proposal for a project regarding Cohesion Policy was presented. The call was launched by DG Regio and the objective of the call is clear: to produce and disseminate information and content linked to EU Cohesion policy.

These engaging topics were followed by the three Committees’ Plenaries.

Committee 1

Jean-Luc Vanraes, Committee 1 President, opened his Committee’s session describing the status of their activity plan. It was followed by a debate on Artificial Intelligence (AI), and if the regions are up to the challenge. The participants were divided into groups to discuss the following AI in the following areas, education, jobs and innovation, health and citizen’s engagement.

The outcome will serve as a base for the event on Artificial Intelligence the 30th of November in Brussels organised by AER’s member, Brussels Capital.

Committee 2

Mihai Ritivoiu, Committee 2 President, opened the Committee 2 session with a current state of the Committee 2 Action Plan. After that a debate was held around inclusion and what the regions are working on and what their focus is. Groups were formed to exchange ideas and good practices on senior citizens, young people, immigrants and minorities. The result of the discussions will lay ground for potential joint projects on inclusion, to share good practices from all over Europe and try to define a general approach to inclusion.

Committee 3

Dag Rønning, Committee 3 President, started by giving a view on the action plan, then Mr Rønning presented a proposal of a cultural cooperation between AER and The Norwegian Youth Festivals of Art, UKM.

The objective of UKM is to stimulate young people’s creativity and make their cultural activity visible. The UKM is designed to be flexible and informal; it aims at tickling the participants’ curiosity and broaden their cultural horizon. The UKM is rooted in the regions in Norway and it’s therefore natural to use the regional level as a basis for developing international cooperation. The Assembly of European Regions (AER) with its Youth Regional Network could to be an ideal structure to realise this.

Several regions expressed their interest in the presentation and discussions will follow on how to realise this project starting in 2018.

During the day, Shine Bright recognitions, were given to 6 regions for their excellent work, engagement in the network and work to promote interregional cooperation. The regions were as following; Upper Austria (AT), Izmir (TR), Örebro (SE), Abruzzo (IT), Covasna (RO) and Grand Est (FR).

The following day, regions got the opportunity to debate and discuss around several interesting topics, the role of regions in culture, E-health network and the role of data, transport and mobility, smart and integrated, Youth Mental Health and Sustainable Development. The regions shared best practices and exchanged information on the various subjects, and the day also served as an arena for our members to meet and discuss potential cooperations and joint projects. Many new ideas were born and several regions learnt that they were sharing the same challenges. The challenges and the opportunities that follows will help to create better interregional cooperation and a stronger Europe.

 

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Committee 1 debates artificial intelligence

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On the occasion of AER 2017 Autumn Plenaries, Committee 1 will host a debate on Artificial Intelligence. Proposed by Jean-Luc Vanraes, President of the AER Committee on Regional Developpement and Economy, the debate will aim to capture needs, challenges and remarquable practices from the regions. This will help to prepare the “Artificial intelligence: are regions up to the challenge?” event hosted by Brussels capital on 30 November.

After e-everything comes #AI

The AER Committee on Economy and Regional Development is a space for exchange of experiences where members discuss policy innovation and engage in interregional cooperation. The cooperation with the AER Committee on Social Policy and Public health, which has been working on e-health for over 10 years led to a joint stakeholder mapping for the development of health innovation ecosystems and in december 2015 the organisation of a multistakeholder event “E-health: let’s find a common language“. This event brought together regional policy makers, SMEs, universities, NGOs to explore challenges and share experience about barriers and enablers for the deployment of e-health.

Topics discussed ranged from innovation procurement to stakeholder engagement and the connection between universities and the industry. But innovation goes fast and discussing e-health and the digitalisation of most policy areas without looking at artificial intelligence would simply not be fair.

#AI, why all this fuzz?

The 2016 OECD Technology Foresight report on AI reveals that “a number of leading artificial intelligence experts warn that the likely impact of artificial intelligence in the years ahead is still underappreciated by policymakers and the public at large”.

This is why AER is organising the “Artificial intelligence: are regions up to the challenge?” event on 30 November. The event will bring together experts from all fields, we’ll hear about state of the art technologies, new perspectives. But here’s the deal: AER is not just organising nice events, we care about mutual learning. AER is all about experience exchange, policy learning, territorial innovation.

To prepare for this event we want to ensure discussions will actually answer regional needs. Discussions should provide valuable inputs for policy makers from across Europe. This is  why we’re organising a debate this wednesday 13 September in Nancy. We’re interested to hear about regional outstanding examples, companies that make your region thrive, the stakeholders which are true changemakers, but also the failures you wish you’d not been through. Be bold, share your experience, your worries and hopes!

 

Photo of Pepper, the first humanoid robot capable of recognising the principal human emotions and adapting his behaviour to the mood of his interlocutor, mostly used in E-health. By Alex Knight on Unsplash

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Call for proposal on Cohesion Policy: the perfect call for AER region members!

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There are no topics that fit AER’s mission more than cohesion policy. During its Bureau meeting in Lower Austria, AER issued its statement on the future of cohesion policy post 2020. Led by the task force on Cohesion policy, this discussion will progress during the upcoming Fall Plenaries hosted by the Grand-Est Region in France. Participants will be able to get informed and take part in the future of AER’s project on Cohesion policy.

The call “Support for information measures relating to the EU Cohesion policy” by DG Regio

DG Regio is not well known for calls for proposals, but in this case they have come up with the right call at the right time. The objective of the call is clear: to produce and disseminate information and content linked to EU Cohesion policy.

Specific objectives of the call are the importance to promote the understanding of Cohesion policy and the engagement of citizens. From policy-makers to citizens, everyone can be a target group. The detail of the specific objectives gives a better picture of the aim of the call:

  • To promote and foster a better understanding of the role of Cohesion policy in supporting all the EU’s regions;
  • To increase awareness of projects funded through Cohesion policy in particular, and their positive impact on people’s lives;
  • To disseminate information and encourage an open dialogue on Cohesion policy, its results, its role in delivering on the EU’s political priorities and on its future;
  • To encourage civic participation in Cohesion policy and to foster citizens’ participation in setting future priorities.

The call highlights the need to link Cohesion policy with some of the major priorities of the EU agenda. The call refers to the EU mantra of  jobs, growth and investment, but also to efforts to cope with climate change, environment or innovation and globalisation. Social and territorial cohesion represent social pillars in this call as citizens are direct beneficiaries of European Projects and Cohesion policies.

Eligible organisations, countries and budget

Public authorities are among the eligible organisations. Each territorial level is covered: national, regional and local. The only exception is for managing authorities.

Other organisations can access the call for proposals: other public institutions, such as universities, educational institutions or research centres, or private, as media partners or news agencies. Non-profit organisations are eligible as well.

Only eligible organisations from EU member states can take part in a project.

Organisations can count on a grant of maximum €500,000. Of the total expenses of the project, 80% of the costs will be reimbursed by the grant.

Duration, timetable and deadline

The call aims at effective and short projects. The duration should be 12 months, starting in February 2018.

The evaluation period should end in December 2017.

Most important, the deadline to send your application is short notice: 16 October 2017. Apply today!

AER wants its member regions to play a key role

There is no time to lose. The AER Secretariat is already taking action to support member regions to act together to work on a successful application. In case you or your region want to know more about the call or to express your interest in taking part in it, contact Luca Magri ([email protected] – +32 2 400 10 53).

 

 

 

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Friendlier Healthcare for all regions? We’re working on it!

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Have you ever found yourself stuck for hours in your doctor’s waiting room, waiting for a consultation that turns out to be useless, or leading to further, more stressful examinations? If the answer is “yes”, you share this with many others from all around Central Europe. DH-SMART is here to help everyone overcome similar issues, once and for all, and is seeking partners to join in!

Want to know more?

As Europe grows old, healthcare services are under increasing pressure, and a conceptual revolution is needed. AER is well aware of this need, and is answering a call for proposals from INTERREG Central Europe, together with LHA Bologna and CUP2000. This project seeks to provide general practitioners with an information exchange platform, enabling them to seek help from a specialist when dealing with patients’ examinations. Such a platform could enable doctors to provide their patients with more tailored diagnosis and prescriptions based on the advise of specialists. Specialists will be contacted directly by general practitioners and be given some time to give their advise when the case is simple enough, thereby avoiding waste of time and money for both central healthcare service and end users.

Join the club!

Does all this sound interesting to you? Project initiators are currently looking for partners, and you would be most welcome to join the club! If you are

  • a doctor 
  • a central European healthcare organisation willing to develop a small pilot action and learning activities to promote equal access to healthcare
  • if you have expertise on impact evaluation or could provide innovative technical support and improve already existing platforms…

The project and your region need you!

What’s in it for Regions?

In a nutshell, the project aims at setting up smart practices in the healthcare field through the use of digital services, to promote an integrated person-centred healthcare system, to improve the resilience of healthcare systems, train professionals and make the most out of their competences. To achieve this goal, backing from local administrations is fundamental, both for making local needs known and providing other partners with the best environment to ensure follow-up to their pilots.

How do I get involved?

If this idea is of any interest to you, if you want to become partner and start a pilot, or if you believe that your region should support this project, please do contact Mr. Luca Magri at his email address [email protected] , or call the AER secretariat at the +32 (0)2 400 10 53. Do not miss the opportunity; the opening date for application is approaching fast! Applications welcome from September 21st! Please check the main website for more information.

Photo credit: @visualhunt: https://visualhunt.com/photo/8839/stethoscope-and-ballpen-on-prescription/

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The SEED Project is knocking on your door again!

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We do not tire of saying how proud the AER is of being a partner of the SEED Project!

Following the 2017 General Assembly in Sankt Pölten (AT) – which was an important milestone in terms of promotion –, AER would like now to share with member regions more information being the time for the launching of new activities concerning the Silver Economy Awards.

What’s next?

On the occasion of the 2017 Autumn Plenary in Nancy (FR), the AER will take this opportunity to promote the Awards providing key information on the application process and encouraging the participation among the AER network. To this end, just as it happened at the General Assembly, the AER team will set up an info stand accessible to all the participants during the three-day event.

AER wants member regions to submit all the great experiences they are sharing on how regional authorities and stakeholders are committed and innovative in this field.

The third webinar edition is almost here!

Save the dates: Thursday 21st September from 11 AM to 12 PM CEST

On this occasion, SEED consortium members will explain the aim of the Award Scheme and where and how to apply for the first edition of Silver Economy Awards. Benefits and possible outcomes for those that will apply will be highlighted and some time will be also dedicated to answer questions from potential applicants.

What are you waiting for to get registered? Click here to join the webinar!

What else?

The SEED Consortium is organizing on the 10th of October, within the 2017 European Week of Regions and Cities (EWRC), a joint event titled “An alternative for the future: Silver Economy for cities and regions” which will be open to the participation of all audiences.

This workshop will take its participants through four inspiring examples of how a Silver Economy can help regions and cities to better match the needs of their ageing population while supporting local businesses and solution providers. It will be the opportunity to discuss the complementarity between these examples and the initiatives at EU level. The networking session that follows will bring together potential partners around issues related to the Silver Economy.

If you wish to attend this event, click on this link, select the indicated event and fill the registration form.

For more information, you can contact Andrés Muñoz from the AER Secretariat at the following email address: [email protected] or by phone dialling +32 (0)2 400 10 50

What’s in for regions?

The Silver Economy Awards is a unique opportunity to enhance both the visibility and recognition of Silver Economy in the Digital Era. The aim is none other than to reward ICT-based innovative solutions that improve the lives of European seniors, and thus support the growth of this cross-cutting sector across Europe.

From our perspective, this initiative can definitely contribute to heightening awareness on the opportunities of the European Silver Economy. On top of this, SEED project represents a good achievement for AER within the project side, having a big potential for the three Committees and member regions both in terms of content and activities.

Do not miss the opportunity to apply! The deadline to submit proposals is set for November 15th.

For further information, click on the following link: http://silvereconomyawards.eu/2017/home

 

Photo credits: @SEED: http://silvereconomyawards.eu/2017/home

 

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Preserving cultural landscapes in Europe? A fight we can win!

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Hello there! It seems like you are doing great, but… would you really leave your cultural landscapes behind, in your march towards economic progress? If your region is looking for a way to balance economic development with traditions, this project is here for you to join!

Want to know more?

2018 will be known as the “European Year of Cultural Heritage”. In this framework, “Documenting Cultural Heritage Landscapes in Europe”, promoted jointly by Norconsult AS and AER, aims at identifying and safeguarding cultural landscapes around Europe, documenting and advertising them through various channels. The project is still in its ideational phase, and we are looking for partners to join and contribute to it. By participating in the project you will preserve and highlight links between producers, land, your traditional products, and the culture which lies behind the final product.

If you are committed to preserving your landscapes, especially those linked with your food traditions, answer the call! The project promoter and his amazing team will pay a visit to your landscapes between October 2017 and September 2018; they will take pictures, make interviews and collect pieces of landscapes’ history. Articles will be published on websites, and a blog will showcase the most interesting stories, reaching for the widest possible audience through all 2018. Once the consortium will be made up, the project idea will be perfected, and final outcomes will be delivered in November 2018.

Main targets

To give you an example of the subjects this project is especially thought for, we could think of the following (non-exhaustive list):

  • Cultural and productive landscapes producing edible products (food/drink)
  • Landscapes with a strong connection between local and traditional knowledge, production and people.
  • Landscapes that are facing challenges and/or obstacles in up-keeping production and traditions and therefore the maintenance and preservation of the area and/or regions that are implementing initiatives to meet these challenges
  • Productive landscapes related to (or similar):
    • Vineyards (wine) Orchards (oils, ciders or other products)
    • Dairy farming (cheese, yogurt and other dairy products)
    • Fishing (fish and other seafoods)
    • Brewing (Beer, hop farming, malteries)

For example, we are convinced that this idea could be good for the Colares region, in Portugal; by joining, the region could preserve their historical vineyards, and boost the impact of such an excellent production on both regional and national economy. In order to build up a strong consortium, we’re looking for similar cases from the widest possible spectrum of regions. The more countries represented in the consortium, the stronger its appeal.

What’s in it for regions?

We are convinced that this idea has a strong potential, and could be interesting for all administrations experiencing competition among tradition and development. By implementing this project, regions would make their strengths known to a wider public, and turn competition into fruitful synergies. This project could make your tradition, history and cultural landscapes powerful agents of development. As an interested partner, AER encourages its member regions to take part in this promising initiative and make the most of it.

How can you express your interest?

Anyone interested in getting involved should contact Luca Magri from the AER Secretariat at his email address: [email protected], or by phone dialing the  +32 2 400 10 53.

Photo credits: @visualhunt: https://visualhunt.com/photo/4352/

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Committee 3 Progress report 2017

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

Evaluating progress

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

The below progress report was compiled for the autumn 2017 plenary meeting in Nancy. It gives an overview of the situation, 6 months after the adoption of the work programme.

Projects

  • Involvement of YRN in AER projects: ongoing

AER is supporting the YRN’s participation in European Projects in 2 main aspects:

  1. support in the development of own projects, as in the case of the development of an environment project based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). YRN representatives met with AER Coordinator for European Projects & Private Partnerships Agnese Pantaloni to learn about project development steps and potential funding opportunities. The YRN will work on the definition of an EU project.
  2. Systematically think of including the YRN when AER is invited to join a consortium

  • Project development, Youth Mental Health: ongoing

On the occasion of the Nancy plenary meeting a project development workshop on youth mental health will be held. All regions are welcome to join!
During the Committees Plenary meetings in London, Committee 2 and Committee 3 decided to join forces for the development of a European project on youth mental health. This is the follow-up of a workshop which was held in Izmir and which identified the difficulty for young people to relate to others as a shared challenge for many very diverse regions in Europe. During the AER General Assembly a first project development meeting was held to discuss the type of focus and funding programmes.

In the context of this project development the AER Secretariat also engaged with diverse experts from organisations working on mental health and held a meeting with DG EAC on youth mental health.

  • Silver Economy Awards (SEED): ongoing

The Silver Economy Awards aim to catalyse a sustainable European digital Silver Economy movement by promoting and rewarding innovative solutions to improve the quality of life for over 50s. The Silver Economy is a topic which is relevant for all 3 AER Committees. This market is growing even faster than the Green Economy, which means new and different jobs and therefore adequate education and training. The Silver Economy also includes culture for people of 50+ years.

The Awards are the perfect opportunity to raise awareness around the lesser-known notion of the Silver Economy. They will illustrate the breadth of the consumer markets and the public spending involved and the size of the opportunities available for entrepreneurs, investors, public authorities and civil society.

This year the Silver Economy Awards replace the traditional AER Regional Innovation Award. Regions are invited to submit their innovative solutions for active healthy and happy ageing until 15 November 2017 on the SEED website. SEED runs regular webinars.

  • Youth Caravan: ongoing

This interregional project was developed to follow-up on the workshop organised by Harghita at the 2016 EWCR. It aims to foster the dialogue between youth and policy makers. The YRN will have the possibility to participate to the main project meetings (mainly the youth consultations and the final conference) having travel & accommodation costs covered, will have the possibility to contribute to the elaboration of the joint action plan as well as to be involved in the other project activities. This is a 3 years project which, if approved, will start in autumn 2017.

  • Project development, Cultural Heritage: ongoing

On the occasion of the Plenary meetings in London a project development workshop was organised on the topic of cultural heritage. Several topics were suggested for project development, such as cultural heritage routes and digitalisation. The region of Nordland presented their project proposal, Via Querinissima, which was also presented on the AER website. The AER Secretariat supported the region for the consortium building.

AER regularly receives invitations to join projects or requests for support to consortium building. These are generally shared on the AER website.

Other regions regions discussed potential areas for collaboration. Regions willing to get support for the development of a project can contact the AER Secretariat.

 

 

Good Practice Sharing

  • Committees Autumn Plenaries in Nancy: ongoing

This Autumn’s committees’ plenary will take place in Nancy, France, from the 12th to the 14th of September. The events will feature a debate on culture in the digital age, a breakfast briefing on regional culture strategies, a workshop for the development of a project on youth mental health,  and the Committees Plenary meetings.

A discussion on Cohesion Policy and its the issues at stake will also take place in Nancy.

  • INTERREG Europe Policy Learning Platform (IEPLP): ongoing

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

  • Event on a current transversal topic: ongoing

Jean-Luc Vanraes, President of the AER Committee on Regional Development and Economy is inviting all AER members to contribute to the preparation of an event on artificial intelligence to be held in Brussels, on November 30th 2017. A debate at the Committee 1 Plenary meeting will pave the way for this event. This event, “Artificial Intelligence: are regions up to the challenge” will be organised on the same format as the event “E-health let’s find a common language” which took place in December 2016 with the contribution of very diverse stakeholders.

  • Cultural heritage: ongoing

On the occasion of the workshop on cultural heritage, AER members shared their experiences, challenges and good practices. Another means of sharing good practices is via the AER website. The region of Gävleborg for instance shared their vision and activities in the context of the European Year for Cultural Heritage

  • AER Most Youth Friendly European Region: finished

The MYFER award ceremony took place on the occasion of the AER GA in Lower Austria and recognised the particularly impressive achievements of Vojvodina and Catalonia. The evaluation and selection of the projects was carried out together with representatives from the AER Youth Regional Network, Eurochild, the European Youth Forum (EYF), the European Youth Parliament (EYP), and the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe Youth Department. Each of the projects submitted received a detailed evaluation and advice for improvements. The youth-friendly initiatives shared were highlighted in a series of #shinebright articles on the AER website in order to inspire other regions.

  • Awareness-raising & engagement about Eurodyssey: ongoing

While Eurodyssey is the oldest AER programme its achievements and the way it works are not always well known to AER members. Eurodyssey provides young Europeans a work experience abroad. This has proven to be extremely positive in increasing employment perspectives for young people. The programme is for youth 18 to 30, unemployed or recently qualified, living in a participating region. The work placements are organised and financed by the host regions. Since its creation, over 10,000 young people have benefited from Eurodyssey work placements. New regions can join and benefit from the programme. The feedback from the last Eurodyssey Forum can be found on the AER website and the next Eurodyssey Forum will take place in Croatia from 3-5 October.

  • Par/Tea, culture and inclusion: ongoing

This initiatives aims to integrate migrant people by organising cultural events. The exchange of cultural values and learning by dialogue are the 2 main objectives. It will be organised as non-formal gathering of people on a weekly basis and more formal workshops.
Vojvodina will organise a “PARtea” seminar end 2017 and discuss results with AER members. Interested members can join this initiative.

  •  Culture & Health: tbc

Follow-up on previous actions and conferences in Istanbul & Västerbotten on topics such as culture on prescription, culture and sports. After the workshop on culture and health in Nordjylland an AER handbook on Culture and Health was published in 2015. Regions willing to engage in further policy learning on this topic can contact the Secretariat to define activities they can lead within the AER network.

  • Compilation of good practices on school dropouts: finished

The region of Västernorrland brought together regions to share good practices to combat early school leaving through the AER working group on school dropouts. They set up an Erasmus+ project to further develop the exchanges and mutual learning. They finalised the work with a very useful handbook which brings together good practices from 11 regions in wider Europe.

  • Awareness raising on YRN activities: ongoing

Awareness raising on YRN activities is carried out through:

  1. information on the AER website
  2. communication around YRN activities, such as high-level meetings, conferences or capacity building activities
  3. inclusion of YRN representatives in the AER slack teams for online collaboration
  4. invitation of YRN representatives to AER activities, partnership development, and plenary meetings

  • Training on European regional affairs: ongoing

AER is a partner of the European College of Cluny, a new training offer 100% dedicated to local democracy, territorial engineering and innovation in Europe. An AER delegation participated in the Cluny Summer School to further develop the collaboration for the training as well as for the AER Summer Academy.

AER AT THE EUROPEAN WEEK OF CITIES AND REGIONS

  • Workshop on the Silver Economy: ongoing

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

  • Workshop of the INTERREG Europe Policy Learning Platform: ongoing

Looking for new solutions for regional policy? 2000+ institutions have already exchanged experiences through interregional cooperation. You can learn from other cities and regions and their tried-and-tested solutions. The Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform is launching an expert-validated Good Practice Database. Visit our show-case corner, learn more and get inspired!

Lobbying

  • Cohesion Policy Activities: ongoing

The Assembly of European Regions (AER) is closely following the ongoing European debates on cohesion policy, whose future is uncertain. Aiming at defending regions’ interests in this field and make their voices heard, AER has been and will continue to work intensively on this issue. The next Bureau Meeting will be held in Maastricht.

  • AER Report on Regionalisation: ongoing

More than 40 academic experts accepted to give their contribution to this work, by delivering detailed reports about the state of regionalisation and multilevel governance in chosen European countries. The study covers 41 countries, and each country report is based on a similar structure, thereby allowing a comparative approach among all studied countries.national Climate Fund to finance climate projects in European regions. In August AER met the European Investment Bank to pursue negociations.

  • 33rd Session of the Congress Local and Regional Authorities: ongoing

AER has a partnership status with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. It sends high-level representatives to the meetings of the Congress and sits in the Chamber of Regions Bureau.

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Committee 2 Progress report 2017

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

Evaluating progress

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

The below progress report was compiled for the autumn 2017 plenary meeting in Nancy. It gives an overview of the situation, 6 months after the adoption of the work programme.

Projects

  • Brokerage event in Partnership with ERRIN on health innovation: ongoing

After the success of the brokerage event on the green economy and innovation, we are this time proposing a new type of event in collaboration with ERRIN to stimulate project development: the Horizon 2020 Project Development Week. This 5 days event replaces the half day brokerage event on e-health initially foreseen. It will bring together 400 different regional stakeholders around a series of selected EU calls to initiate project partnerships. These events are open to your regional stakeholders, don’t hesitate to invite them to join and share project ideas!

  • Project development, Youth Mental Health: ongoing

On the occasion of the Nancy plenary meeting a project development workshop on youth mental health will be held. All regions are welcome to join!
During the Committees Plenary meetings in London, Committee 2 and Committee 3 decided to join forces for the development of a European project on youth mental health. This is the follow-up of a workshop which was held in Izmir and which identified the difficulty for young people to relate to others as a shared challenge for many very diverse regions in Europe. During the AER General Assembly a first project development meeting was held to discuss the type of focus and funding programmes.

In the context of this project development the AER Secretariat also engaged with diverse experts from organisations working on mental health and held a meeting with DG EAC on youth mental health.

  • Silver Economy Awards (SEED): ongoing

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

This year the Silver Economy Awards replace the traditional AER Regional Innovation Award. Regions are invited to submit their innovative solutions for active healthy and happy ageing until 15 November 2017 on the SEED website. SEED runs regular webinars.

  • Models of Child Health Appraised (MOCHA): ongoing

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 recently shared expertise and advice for the development of the project on youth mental health led by Catalonia and Norrbotten.

  • Active and Healthy Ageing Network AHA-NET: project on reserve list

The project proposal aimed to implement a Leadership programme for the coaching and training of future reference sites. The development of a Leadership Programme for e-health innovation was agreed on by Committee 2 in 2012. Since then the methodology has been developped and ad-hoc training academies have taken place on the Silver Economy and integrated care systems. This project would have provided an ideal framework for the deployment at larger scale of this programme.

  • ACT2Bridge: project on reserve list

This project proposal aimed at facilitating knowledge flow for health research and innovation activities between EU regions. One of the main aspects was the support to health innovation ecosystems. The aims and activities of this project corresponded to needs expressed by AER members and would have offered AER regions a set of useful services.

  •  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 project is will provide opportunities for experience sharing and capacity building in this area for all AER members.

  • European network for harmonising self, society, and systems to facilitate integrated care, COST action proposal: project was not accepted

This project led by partners we have been working with previously aimed at pursuing the work of AER in the field of integrated care systems.

  • Project development, Social inclusion of vulnerable groups: ongoing

With views to the preparation of a project gathering regional good practices on inclusion a debate will take place on the occasion of the Committee 2 Plenary meeting. The idea with this project is to define a general approach to inclusion, helping policy makers appraise their policies and develop effective policies for inclusion.

  • Project development, Combatting isolation and social exclusion: ongoing

The region of Timis would like to develop a project to address the isolation of 2 social groups:
-orphans, who at the age of 18 find themselves without support and homeless because orphanages do not support youth after their 18th birthday.

-elderly people, who often live on their own and would need minimal support and company.

The idea is to gather good practices which have been implemented in similar contexts and to look at transferability and adaptation of such good practices.

  • Project development, Public-private cooperation for social inclusion: ongoing

In order to initiate a project  for good practices exchanges on the collaboration between regional governments and the private sector for the social inclusion of vulnerable groups, AER published an article outlining the different issues at stake. Following the publication of this article several regions have expressed interest in developping a project. In order to move ahead with the project development, a lead partner willing to take a leading role in the proposal writing needs to be identified.

  • Project development, Equal Health: tbc

Possible project (seek funding opportunities). Exchange of experiences from different programs offering parental support. At the moment this project idea would need to be further specified.

 

Good Practice Sharing

  • Committees Autumn Plenaries in Nancy: ongoing

This Autumn’s committees’ plenary will take place in Nancy, France, from the 12th to the 14th of September. The events will feature a debate on culture in the digital age, a workshop on the value of data, a workshop for the development of a project on youth mental health,  and the Committees Plenary meetings.

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

  • INTERREG Europe Policy Learning Platform (IEPLP): ongoing

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

  • Event on a current transversal topic: ongoing

Jean-Luc Vanraes, President of the AER Committee on Regional Development and Economy is inviting all AER members to contribute to the preparation of an event on artificial intelligence to be held in Brussels, on November 30th 2017. A debate at the Committee 1 Plenary meeting will pave the way for this event. This event, “Artificial Intelligence: are regions up to the challenge” will be organised on the same format as the event “E-health let’s find a common language” which took place in December 2016 with the contribution of very diverse stakeholders.

  • Follow up on ALEC: ongoing

The Arctic Light E-health conference is an emblematic example of a succesful cooperation between an AER member region and the AER network. The workshop on data of the AER e-health network will follow-up on issues addressed during the conference. Articles elaborating on topics of the ALEC conference, which are of specific interest to AER members will be published in the coming months.

  • Healthcare without harm: tbc

The idea which was presented on the occasion of the Committe 2 Plenary meeting was to combine the topics of healthcare and environment. Activities have not yet been specified and can range from the publication of articles on the AER website showcasing good practices to the organisation of a mutual learning event (online webinar, workshop in Brussels or on the occasion of another AER event). Any such activity needs to be lead by an AER region and supported by a few others.

  • Equal opportunities: tbc

Members were interested in sharing experience through articles on the AER website, exchange of good practices, and the sharing of regional data. Members interested in doing so can get support from the AER Secretariat.

AER AT THE EUROPEAN WEEK OF CITIES AND REGIONS

  • Workshop on the Silver Economy: ongoing

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

  • Workshop of the INTERREG Europe Policy Learning Platform: ongoing

Looking for new solutions for regional policy? 2000+ institutions have already exchanged experiences through interregional cooperation. You can learn from other cities and regions and their tried-and-tested solutions. The Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform is launching an expert-validated Good Practice Database. Visit our show-case corner, learn more and get inspired!

Lobbying

  • Cohesion Policy Activities: ongoing

The Assembly of European Regions (AER) is closely following the ongoing European debates on cohesion policy, whose future is uncertain. Aiming at defending regions’ interests in this field and make their voices heard, AER has been and will continue to work intensively on this issue. The next Bureau Meeting will be held in Maastricht.

  • AER Report on Regionalisation: ongoing

More than 40 academic experts accepted to give their contribution to this work, by delivering detailed reports about the state of regionalisation and multilevel governance in chosen European countries. The study covers 41 countries, and each country report is based on a similar structure, thereby allowing a comparative approach among all studied countries.national Climate Fund to finance climate projects in European regions. In August AER met the European Investment Bank to pursue negociations.

  • AER participation in the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing: ongoing

AER is a member of the B3 Action Group on integrated care systems. In this framework AER has a commitment towards raising awareness & building capacities for integrated care systems. Participating in the EIP-AHA enables AER to connect with the right stakeholders, provide state of the art knowledge on health innovation and raise the voice of regions in European discussions on health innovation.

  • 33rd Session of the Congress Local and Regional Authorities: ongoing

AER has a partnership status with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. It sends high-level representatives to the meetings of the Congress and sits in the Chamber of Regions Bureau.

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Committee 1 Progress report 2017

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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 elaboration of a joint work programme. Progress is evaluated, achievements are celebrated and experiences shared.

Evaluating progress

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

The below progress report was compiled for the autumn 2017 plenary meeting in Nancy. It gives an overview of the situation, 6 months after the adoption of the work programme.

Projects

  • Silver Economy Awards (SEED): ongoing

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

This year the Silver Economy Awards replace the traditional AER Regional Innovation Award. Regions are invited to submit their innovative solutions for active healthy and happy ageing until 15 November 2017 on the SEED website. SEED runs regular webinars.

  • Brokerage event in Partnership with ERRIN on health innovation: ongoing

After the success of the brokerage event on the green economy and innovation, we are this time proposing a new type of event in collaboration with ERRIN to stimulate project development: the Horizon 2020 Project Development Week. This 5 days event will bring together 400 different regional stakeholders around a series of selected EU calls to initiate project partnerships. These events are open to your regional stakeholders, don’t hesitate to invite them to join and share project ideas!

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

YRN representatives met with AER Coordinator for European Projects & Private Partnerships Agnese Pantaloni to learn about project development steps and potential funding opportunities. The YRN will work on the definition of an EU project.

  • Migrant Entrepreneur Support Scheme Against Gap of Economic System: project proposal not accepted

This project proposal aimed to share approaches and lessons learnt for migrant entrepreneurship support schemes. Migrant entrepreneurship had been raised in specific during the 2016 Spring plenary meetings in Timis. The proposal brought together public administrations, business support organizations, non-profit organisations and NGOs, educational institutions and other organisations active in the field across cities, regions and countries.

 

Good Practice Sharing

  • Committees Autumn Plenaries in Nancy: ongoing

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

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

  • INTERREG Europe Policy Learning Platform (IEPLP): ongoing

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

  • Study visit on the Energy transition: ongoing

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

  • Event on a current transversal topic: ongoing

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

  • Follow up on photonics: finished

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

  • Conference on biomass: in progress

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

  • Cooperation with the World Sustainable Energy Day: ongoing

On the occasion of the AER Committees plenary meetings in London, members highlighted their interest in participating to the World Sustainable Energy Days in a meaningful way. A delegation of 4 politicians from across Europe will be able to attend the World Sustainable Energy days for free on behalf of AER. This delegation will have an active representation role and is expected to participate in meetings on the spot too. How to get involved!

  • AER event on EFSI: finished

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

  • Nudging: finished

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

  • Awareness raising on sustainable mobility: ongoing

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

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

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

  • Digitalisation of transports: ongoing

Promote digitalisation of transports networks both in urban and rural areas.

  • Promotion of knowledge about innovative technologies: ongoing

  • High Speed Rail: tbc

 

AER AT THE EUROPEAN WEEK OF CITIES AND REGIONS

  • Workshop on climate and energy transition: ongoing

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

  • Side-event on Public procurement for green innovation: tbc

How to use innovative public procurement as a tool and a changemaker in regional development towards a greener future.

  • Workshop on the Silver Economy: ongoing

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

  • Workshop of the INTERREG Europe Policy Learning Platform: ongoing

Looking for new solutions for regional policy? 2000+ institutions have already exchanged experiences through interregional cooperation. You can learn from other cities and regions and their tried-and-tested solutions. The Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform is launching an expert-validated Good Practice Database. Visit our show-case corner, learn more and get inspired!

Lobbying

  • Cohesion Policy Activities: ongoing

The Assembly of European Regions (AER) is closely following the ongoing European debates on cohesion policy, whose future is uncertain. Aiming at defending regions’ interests in this field and make their voices heard, AER has been and will continue to work intensively on this issue. The next Bureau Meeting will be held in Maastricht.

  • AER Report on Regionalisation: ongoing

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

  • COP23 Local and Regional governments Leaders´ Summit: ongoing

The Conference of the Parties (COP23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will take place in Bonn on 6-17 November 2017, under the presidency of the Fiji government and hosted by the UN Climate Change Secretariat. AER will actively contribute to the agenda of local and regional governments at the Conference, including the Leaders´ Summit on 12 November and associated events.

  • R20 Summit: finished

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

  • Financing climate action: ongoing

AER works alongside R20, Blue Orchard and Leonardo Di Caprio Foundation to set up a 350 million $ Subnational Climate Fund to finance climate projects in European regions. In August AER met the European Investment Bank to pursue negociations.

  • 33rd Session of the Congress Local and Regional Authorities: ongoing

AER has a partnership status with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. It sends high-level representatives to the meetings of the Congress and sits in the Chamber of Regions Bureau.

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

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

  • Sustainable biofuels: tbc

Promote 2nd generation sustainable biofuels, for example from waste and forest resources.

  • Legislation on biogas: finished

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

 

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Join the Committees’ Presidiums!

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AER is looking for candidates to fill out newly vacant positions in the Committees’ Presidiums. It includes Vice-President positions and various representative posts inside all three AER Committees. Join the Committees’ leadership and get a profound involvement into AER decision making process!

What’s a Committee Presidium?

The AER Committees are the backbone of our activity. They are the place where knowledge and experience exchange happen and where new collaborations are shaped. To this end Committee members meet at least twice a year on the occasion of their Spring and Autumn plenaries. Workshops are organised along with the statutory meetings in order to dig deeper in specific topics and identify areas for policy innovation. Through experience sharing, including both good and bad practices, AER members engage in mutual learning. Whenever a need arises for focused cooperation on a topic, specific projects are set-up, to ensure the experience exchange will be sustainable and co-funded.

The Committees are led by a Committee President, who is supported by a seconded officer. Each Committee has its own structure and organisation, despite differences in names, they share the following basic structure:

  • Committee level: President + Vice-President(s)
  • Subcommittee level: Chairs of ad-hoc structures which can be working groups, subcommittees, focus groups or networks
  • Representatives for Equal Opportunities: 1 male & 1 female

Members of the Presidium are elected politicians from AER member regions. The members of the Presidium share a vision for the Committee and provide the necessary impulse for action. They advise the Committee President, who sits in the AER Executive Board, thus contributing to strategic decision making.

Committee Presidium members are also invited to represent AER in external events and get extra media coverage via our partnerships with media and events organisations.

Open for candidacies:

Committee 1 on Regional Development & Economy

Committee 1 works on issues covering Cohesion Policy, economic development, innovation and research, climate change, energy and rural development. For the past year, there has also been a strong focus on the circular economy, the development of business/SMEs in specific in the field of health innovation. Long term investments and green investments are also high on the Committee 1 agenda.

The following positions are open for candidacies:

  • Vice President for Rural development, Energy and Environment
  • Vice President for Economic Development and Mobility

The Committee 1 Vice Presidents advise the Committee 1 President on policy and strategy and they support him to represent AER and speak at external event.

  • Representative for Equal opportunities, we are preferably looking for a man with views to gender balance

Mandates last 2 years and are renewable

Candidacies can be sent to the Committee 1 Seconded Officer: Pierre Gérard at [email protected]

Committee 2 on Social Policy & Public Health

Committee 2 is supporting members in implementing e-Health services and exploring the potential of integrated care. It aims at building leadership on change management and innovation in the public sector. Active ageing is a major topic, especially for cooperation at EU level. Inclusion and social entrepreneurship are other key topics.

The following positions are open for candidacies:

  • Vice President for Inclusion & Social entrepreneurship

The Committee 2 Vice Presidents advise the Committee 2 President on policy and strategy and they support him to represent AER and speak at external events

  • Representative for Equal opportunities, we are preferably looking for a woman with views to gender balance

Mandates last 2 years and are renewable

Candidacies can be sent to the Committee 2 Seconded Officer: Agneta Kardos at [email protected]

Committee 3 on Culture, Education and Youth

Committee 3 focuses on culture, education and youth policies. The Committee has been particularly active in the fight against school drop-out. This resulted in the implementation of an ERASMUS+ interregional project to share good practices and improve regional policies for youth inclusion and empowerment. Committee 3 furthermore shared regional good practices in the field of culture for inclusion and cultural heritage.

All positions are fill

Photo by Quino Al on Unsplash

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Cohesion Policy: are you getting anything out of it?

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Cohesion policy represents a key investment in the social, economic and territorial development in EU regions. The current debate on the post-2020 – where this is all under threat – is therefore central for regional authorities and a major opportunity for them to shape a future cohesion policy that is able to deliver on the sustainable and inclusive development of European regions. And the time to do that is now!  

At a pivotal moment for the debate on the future EU cohesion policy, with institutional actors starting to work on a consolidated position on the reformed policy, the Committees’ Autumn Plenary in Nancy brings a timely opportunity for AER to look at some of the key policy developments and consider next steps for its joint advocacy work towards EU Institutions on the cohesion policy beyond 2020.

With this discussion we aim to:

  • Keep members informed about latest policy developments on cohesion policy and ways to get involved.
  • Bring members on board with the next phase of AER advocacy plan for cohesion policy, with information and open feedback process on the strategy proposed by the Cohesion Policy Task Force.
  • Mobilise active participation and support of member regions for concerted and collaborative advocacy actions.

What we want to achieve in Nancy for AER advocacy plan?

Following the adoption of AER position paper on the future of cohesion policy post 2020 at the Bureau meeting in Sankt Pölten, Lower Austria (AT) on 1 June,  members identified the key issues related to cohesion policy and changes they would like to see after 2020. At a pivotal moment for the debate on the future EU cohesion policy, with key institutional actors starting to work on a consolidated position on the reformed policy and stakeholders forming alliances to push for their common agenda; The Committees’ Autumn Plenary in Nancy brings a timely opportunity for AER to look at some of the key policy developments and consider next steps for its joint advocacy work towards EU Institutions on the future cohesion policy.

With this discussion we aim to:

  • Keep members informed about latest policy developments on cohesion policy and ways to get involved (nothing better than with everyone together and face-to-face).
  • Bring members on board with the next phase of AER advocacy plan for cohesion policy, with information and open feedback process on the strategy proposed by the Task Force for transparency and shared ownership of common advocacy objectives and actions.
  • Mobilise active participation and support of member regions for concerted and collaborative advocacy actions.

What’s in for AER member regions?

  • Increase the effectiveness of individual member regions influencing work, by participating in AER collective advocacy.
  • Platform to plan and coordinate advocacy activities, facilitating access to intel, unified advocacy voices and collective action for common objectives.
  • Opportunities to connect with other European networks and stakeholders to generate even broader support for AER regions interests and proposals.
  • Opportunity to directly engage with EU officials and policy-makers.

How can AER member regions be involved and contribute to the success of the cohesion policy advocacy strategy? What should they bring to the table?

We want AER member regions to actively engage in the ongoing debate and influencing work in-country and in Brussels for endorsement of AER issues and advocacy asks by:

  • Reaching out to national policy-makers, including Ministers responsible for Cohesion Policy to influence the discussions and conclusions adopted by the Council (General Affairs Council – including Informal Ministerial Meetings of Ministers responsible for Cohesion Policy – discussions and conclusions on Cohesion Policy and as well as on the next Multiannual Financial Framework – of the EU)
  • Contacting Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to influence EP reports on Cohesion Policy and EP position on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
  • Mobilising their regional EU Offices to influence at EU level, notably by reaching out to Permanent Representations and their representatives following the COREPER and Working Party on Structural Measures, which deals with cohesion policy.
  • Contributing to the Committee of the Regions opinions (for those regions represented in the CoR).
  • Supporting the Alliance for a Strong and Effective EU Cohesion Policy Beyond 2020, led by the Committee of the Regions in partnership with European networks of local and regional authorities, including AER.
  • Bringing intel on the debate and negotiation process for Cohesion Policy and the next MFF, as well as the access to policy-makers.

Discussion in Nancy

  • 10 min: Update on policy developments and timeframe for future CP post 2020
  • 10 min: Presentation of the Task Force proposal on next steps for the AER CP advocacy strategy & how we want AER regions to be involved
  • 35min: Discussion/Q&A

Why is this so important?

A more in-depth discussion at the Committees’ Plenary will ensure that AER and its member regions have a better understanding of the cohesion policy/political environment and come to an agreement on the direction and the key steps, actions and roles needed to achieve the common advocacy goals at a critical moment in the decision-making process.   

The knowledge and intel that such a debate will be able to aggregate, with all member regions together, will also generate better proposals to AER advocacy planning and implementation.  

This way, we will bring clarity to AER advocacy strategy – a strategy that members will own and support, giving AER and its regions the drive that will help move their joint advocacy strategy forward and make the plans happen with greater chance of success.

Register here for the AER Committees’ Autumn Plenary (12 September 14:00 – 14 September 18:00).

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