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Assembly of European Regions

Connecting regions, inspiring Europe since 1985

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Partner Search: New project proposal to boost the circular economy!

9 December, 2020 By Valeria Simonte

Are you looking for partners to join and contribute to your project proposal under the Horizon2020 Green Deal Call – Demonstration of systemic solutions for the territorial deployment of the circular economy?

The paper-making consortium ECOVPRINT based in Città di Castello, in Umbria, one of the AER member regions, could be the right partner to join your project!

About the European Green Deal Call

Green Deal Call, worth €1 billion, has been launched on the 18th of September. It is the last call of the Horizon 2020 Programme and just ahead of the launch of Horizon Europe, the next research and innovation programme kicking-off in 2021.

The Green Deal Call is all about making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, with a sustainable and inclusive economy. This is the opportunity to contribute to shaping a fair and greener society.

The structure of the call is mirroring the European Green Deal. Among the ten thematic areas, Demonstration of systemic solutions for the territorial deployment of the circular economy – LC-GD-3-2-2020 seeks for proposals enabling to decouple economic growth from resource use and to ensure a swift transition to climate-neutral and circular solutions.

About ECOVPRINT

ECOVPRINT is a consortium of companies specialized in paper-making and it is willing to put their expertise into the development and implementation of concrete actions. To this aim, ECOVPRINT is eager to get involved as a partner in projects in the framework of the Green Deal Call, Topic LC-GD-3-2-2020 “Demonstration of systemic solutions for the territorial deployment of the circular economy“.

Small Medium Enterprises’ members of the consortium produce packaging of paperboard, the printing of all kinds,  paper and paperboard products, durable and non-durable displays with components also of metal, plastic, and wood. In particular, ECOVPRINT can provide his experience in order to improve the social and environmental impact of the life cycle of the products concerned.

Considering the increasing global consumption and growing pressure on resources, boosting circular economy solutions can limit the environmental impact and waste of resources, increase competitiveness, improve the security of the supply of raw materials. This is even more relevant at the current time in light of the EU’s recovery from the adverse socio-economic and environmental impacts of the COVID-19 crisis.

If you are interested in ECOVPRINT to join your project proposal and contribute to its further development, contact AER Project Unit by 16 December 2020.

Agnese Pantaloni (AER)[email protected]

Photo by Josh Power from Unsplash

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Intercultural Regions: Improving Labour Market Inclusion

24 November, 2020 By Valeria Simonte

On November 10th, the Assembly of European Regions in cooperation with IOM and the Intercultural Regions Network hosted the webinar “Intercultural regions: improving labour market inclusion“. This was the second webinar co-organised within the framework of Includ-EU project which works towards building more inclusive and cohesive European Societies.

The webinar, which was moderated by Geertrui Lanneau, Senior Regional Labour Mobility and Human Development Specialist from the IOM Regional Office for the European Economic Area, the European Union and NATO, presented different experiences on how regions work to improve labour market integration policies and provided insights from IOM, and the European Commission.

Multistakeholder approach to support cultural diversity

Fereshteh Jalayer-Hess, co-chair of the Intercultural Regions Network, County Councillor of Värmland (SE) opened the webinar by sharing her personal experience of escaping a totalitarian regime and embracing a society which tolerates and appreciates cultural diversity.

The Intercultural Regions Network, she explained, is all about cultural diversity and encouraging all levels of government to better coordinate and adopt an intercultural approach. In this context, the multistakeholder approach is key to achieve a society where all inhabitants are included and given the chance to contribute and develop.

Ms. Jalayer-Hess explained how lowering barriers for the access to the labour market is instrumental in delivering on other objectives such as improved education, active participation, political engagement and social cohesion. The Intercultural Regions Network, provides teherfore a platform for regions to share knowledge resources, experiences.

Upcoming changes at EU level

Antoine Savary, Deputy Head of Unit, DG HOME, European Commission, provided the latest development in the field of integration of migrants in the labour market, announcing that on 24 November the European Commission is going to adopt the Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion.

This Action Plan will focus on inclusion as a whole instead of focusing on migration specifically. It lays out two key commitments in the area of integration: 

  1. Adopt a comprehensive Action Plan on integration and inclusion for 2021-2024;
  2. Implement the renewed European Partnership for Integration with social and economic
    partners and look into expanding the future cooperation to the area of labour migration.

The Action Plan on integration and inclusion for 2021-2024 will:

  • provide strategic guidance and set out concrete actions to foster inclusion of migrants and broader social cohesion;
  • bring together relevant stakeholders and recognise that regional and local actors have a key part to play;
  • draw on all relevant policies and tools in key areas such as social inclusion, employment, education, health, equality, culture and sport, setting out how migrant integration should be part of efforts to achieve the EU’s goals on each;
  • ensure migrants fully benefit from the European Pillar of Social Rights;
  • recognise in its actions that people with a migrant background often face similar integration challenges to third-country nationals;
  • directly support those active ‘on the ground’ and cover the full range of measures needed to accompany migrants and their families along the path to successful integration and social inclusion.

Mr. Savary stressed the importance of the partnership of cooperation with local and regional authorities in the preparation, implementation, and revision of the programme.

Experiences from the regions

The webinar presented three experiences from the regions

The Netherlands: a one stop shop for smoother integration pathways

Iris de Kok, Policy Advisor Asylum & Integration – City of Tilburg, presented the evolution of integration processes in the City of Tilburg. The new legislation to come into force in July 2021, allows a procedure where each migrant is guided throughout the program in order to make it easier to get familiar with the municipality they are living in. This approach combines the three-elements of participation activities, skills training, and language courses in order to enable migrants to be self-reliant.

This broader and interactive programme is developed in three phases:

Phase 1 – IntakeAn early-stage to choose the direction of integration, to understand talents & skills
Phase 2 – OrientationPractical and tailored approach with a Personal Integration Plan which stipulates the route for the Dutch labour market
Phase 3 – Work & Skills routeThe participative part were migrants actually work within the Dutch labour market

Greece: support towards self-reliance

Kostas Kousaxidis & Anastasia Arapidou, from IOM Greece, shared the example of the HELIOS project – Hellenic Integration Support for Beneficiaries of International Protection. It aims at increasing the beneficiaries’ self-reliance working on five areas of integration:

Integration coursesHELIOS provides courses at Integration Learning Centres (ILCs) on the Greek language and soft skills.
Accommodation supportHELIOS helps beneficiaries of international protection to find accommodations by providing economic contributions and through networking with apartment owners
Employability supportIndividual job counseling is provided to acknowledge strengths and weaknesses and prepare the Career Action Plan
Integration monitoringAssessment of the integration process to valuate the self-reliance of the migrant once the program ends
Sensitisation of the host communityThrough initiatives and activities, the interactions between the migrants and the host communities bring value to the integration process

Italy: the experience from the business sector

Several sectors of the labour market suffer from a shortage of skilled labour, especially in the informatics sector. In this context, Roberto Strocco, Head of Projects and Local Development Area, Unioncamere Piemonte presented the MATCH project – Migration of African Talents through the Capacity-building and Hiring is a 36‑month initiative funded by the European Union (EU) aimed at providing highly skilled talents from Senegal and Nigeria, where the IT, engineering and new technologies workforce is highly qualified, to private sector companies whose needs for qualified staff cannot be satisfied by the offer available on the EU labour market.

What can be done further?

Labour market integration is not only essential to migrants, but also to receiving societies: it reduces the costs to the welfare system, and ultimately the cost of the asylum system. Some of the barriers to the labour market highlighted during the session constitute a challenge, such as languages, and cultural differences, which can marginalise migrants. The recognition of qualifications was identified as a major obstacle to labour market integration. A stronger collaboration between both private an public stakeholders is needed for better results.

Next steps

The next webinar will be organised in March 2021 and will focus on active participation and social inclusion.

Regions interested in joining the Intercultural Regions Network should contact Vania Freitas [email protected]

This webinar is organised in the context of INCLUD-EU, an EU project funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration fund (AMIF) which contributes to building more inclusive and cohesive European societies by enhancing knowledge, driving innovation, and stimulating cooperation between local and regional authorities in the European Union. To know more about the project, visit the project webpage, and consult this info sheet.

Watch back Click here
AgendaClick here to download
HandoutsInclud-EU infosheet
City of Tilburg Netherlands
HELIOS project Greece
Click to discoverCorporate Social Responsibility Strategy
Unioncamere Piemonte homepage
MATCH project Piemonte
(in Italian)
Contact[email protected]

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Eurodyssey Forum 2020

23 November, 2020 By Editor

The first-ever virtual Eurodyssey Forum took place on 19 & 20 of November 2020. These online sessions brought together the correspondents from Eurodyssey regions, hosting companies and youth alumni. In these sessions, participants discussed the functioning of the programme, and shared experiences and best practices to adapt learning mobility to the “new normal” of COVID-19.

An online Eurodyssey Assembly

In the afternoon of 19 November, following the AER General Assembly and Bureau meeting, the Eurodyssey Assembly gathered representatives from 20 member regions. The Assembly provided members with an opportunity to assess the state-of-play of the programme and exchange views on the regions’ prospects of hosting Eurodyssey participants in 2021, given the COVID-19 pandemic.

And we're back! 👐

The first ever virtual @eurodyssey forum kicks-off with welcoming remarks from AER President @MagnusBerntsson and Eurodyssey President, @estany_esther ! 💫 pic.twitter.com/oiaDDfFWWU

— AER (@europeanregions) November 19, 2020

In their opening remarks, AER President, Magnus Berntsson, and Eurodyssey President, Esther Estany, raised a toast to mark thirty-five years since the creation of the Eurodyssey programme. This was followed with the premiere of the anniversary video:

Eurodyssey facts & figures

The day continued with an assessment of the Eurodyssey programme by AER programmes coordinator, Andrés Muñoz, who delivered a presentation on the 2019 statistics, which underlined the significant, positive impact the programme continues to have on young trainees’ employment prospects.

The programme allowed a total of 303 young Europeans (+16% compared to 2018) to benefit from genuine professional experience and linguistic training in another European region. Other remarkable outcomes include the rise in the number of both the internship offers published (+30%) and the candidates (+33%) compared to 2018.

Looking at the employment prospects for Eurodyssey participants in 2018, regions can be proud that 40% of interns find a job within 1 month of completing their traineeship. What is more, 64% of the survey respondents declared that Eurodyssey was decisive in finding a job and 20% of them attributed such a fact to the language training received.

You can read all the 2019 statistical findings and 2018 employment results from the summary report HERE.

The numbers don't lie! 🔢📈

The positive impact of taking part in a @eurodyssey traineeship is clear. Youth mobility increases employability, and we're looking forward to getting young Europeans moving again very soon! 🛫🚉 #eurodyssey pic.twitter.com/DZIwpd2uhO

— AER (@europeanregions) November 19, 2020

Sharing on social media is caring about Eurodyssey

The last presentation by the Secretariat was conducted by Justin Sammon, AER Communications Officer, who shared with member regions guidelines to harness the potential of social media for promoting the programme and to communicate Eurodyssey’s long-term positive impact on young people, regions and society.

View HERE the presentation Sharing is caring: making the most of social media.

Break-out sessions

On Day 2 of the Forum on 20 November, the Eurodyssey online break-out sessions provided members with further opportunities to exchange experiences and good practices to keep up learning mobility through the pandemic. For these events, we were also joined by hosting organisations and Eurodyssey alumni, who had the opportunity to share their testimonials.

The day kicked-off with an introductory talk by Safi Sabuni from Eurodesk and Manel Sánchez from the European Youth Card Association (EYCA), who provided a broader overview on how youth organisations are adjusting their work “to continue to be there for young people” who face unique challenges socially, economically and personally because of the pandemic. They also made a number of recommendations from their respective organisations on how to minimise the impact on learning mobility projects. Participants then broke-off into into multilingual ‘break-out’ sessions, where they had the opportunity to brainstorm ideas for keeping the Eurodyssey programme moving despite the pause on mobility caused by COVID-19.

Manel Sánchez underlines that contrary to negative perceptions about them, young people have shown real solidarity since the pandemic started; volunteering in their regions to help vulnerable people in their communities. 🤝 #eurodyssey pic.twitter.com/y6YkDwAuz1

— AER (@europeanregions) November 20, 2020

From education and employment, to mental health and personal relationships, the impact of the pandemic on young people has been vast. Safi Sabuni says that the youth sector has adapted to this new digital reality "to be there for young people." #eurodyssey pic.twitter.com/8mp4FwJSH7

— AER (@europeanregions) November 20, 2020

Ackowledgements

Closing the Eurodyssey Forum, AER Secretary General, Christian Spahr thanked all those who had made “this visionary programme of cross-border professional learning a reality for thirty-five years”. In her speech Eurodyssey President, Esther Estany – speaking in French, Spanish and English – pointed to the spirit of optimism that fills Eurodyssey family and the “very bright future” that lies ahead. She called on regions to keep up the hard work for the decades to come and to defend mobility as an essential source of regional development.

Visit the 2020 Eurodyssey Forum event page to download all the working documents, presentations and other key takeaways.

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Shape the Vocational Education Training scene in Europe!

17 November, 2020 By Valeria Simonte

Skills for the industry of the future

The digital transformation, the greening of the economy, and demographic change all generate a large and structural need for employees with technical and digital skills.

The lack of adequately skilled workers is a major issue in this context, which is only partially addressed by current Vocational Education and Training systems in Europe.

In this context, the SKILLNET project – Sector Skills Network of Vocational Education and Training centres in Advanced Manufacturing-, co-funded by the Erasmus+ program, is developing a transnational and national network for Vocational Education Training providers. This network offers opportunities for mutual learning, information on funding, and fosters partnerships to improve the quality and efficiency of VET in Europe.

Opportunities for regional stakeholders

To raise the quality and attractiveness of the provision of Vocational Education and Training, SKILLNET has created 4 thematic permanent groups composed of members belonging to the VET provider networks, and invites all stakeholders from the European VET scene to join the discussion.

  • For regional authorities, SKILLNET is an opportunity to engage VET organisations in their territories in European activities & raise awareness on opportunities for collaboration & co-financing of activities
  • for VET organisations, the clubs are an easy way to connect with peers and relevant stakeholders abroad
  • The clubs provide mediated knowledge both general and specific on VET in Europe, and information that stakeholders can actually use (especially on funding opportunities)
  • The clubs provide a framework for the development of joint initiatives and projects

The Peer Learning Clubs provide speaking opportunities at events for experts as well as the possibility to receive special mentions in sector-focused research papers. They are the main way for stakeholders to contribute to shaping the main trends of the future VET.

Topics addressed

PLC1 Advanced Manufacturing  Sector: This peer-learning group aims at pinpointing and analyzing challenges related to skill adaptation and anticipation as well as stakeholder relations.

PLC2 Advocacy & Policy  Influencing: The Vocational Education and  Training sector has its own voice in the EU, national, and regional areas. Coordinated actions ensuring that all actors’ interests are taken into account are key for policy development, and this peer-learning group will allow a deeper understanding of them.

PLC3 Work-based learning and standards: This peer-learning club tackles the assessment and the challenge of the implementation of the VET systems.

PLC4 Train the trainers: The aforementioned challenges will require a reinforced human dimension of the VET sector to build resilience and identify synergies among actors. Capacity building will have a key role in the future of VET, and this peer-learning club will allow the identification of key gaps and needs.

Join in 3 clicks!

The below illustrations shop how to join the platform in 3 easy steps (less than 30 seconds)

On the Skillman website, click on “Activities”, then “Events and Conferences” and then ” Peer Learning Clubs”

The next page will show an illustration with 4 coloured dots, showing the different Peer Learning Clubs. You can join either one or more groups by clicking on the dot of your choice.

Fill in name email and password, you’re there: join the conversation and meet peers to develop new projects!

AER’s role

AER joined the Skillnet consortium during Spring 2020 specifically because of the opportunities the project is offering for online activities relevant to both Committee 1 and Committee 3. At a time when face-to-face meetings are not possible, this project offers unparalleled opportunities for members.

Indeed the project is organising a high number of webinars and offers online platforms for the exchange of knowledge.

AER’s role is to facilitate mutual learning activities, to in fine improve the effectiveness and attractiveness of Vocationnal Education Training in Europe. AER provides information on EU funding opportunities and regional examples via a series of webinars and bulletins.

In order to make sure project activities provide value to members, the topics of SKILLNET webinars are chosen based on the AER Action Plan and further specified together with members who have expressed needs in the process of the definition of work programs at Committee meetings.

AER encourages members to engage stakeholders responsible for life long learning and vocational training across wider Europe to join one or more of the four topic-specific SKILLNET peer- learning clubs. Experts from diverse backgrounds: VET providers, companies, government representatives, and individuals are all welcome!

The SKILLNT – Sector Skills Network of VET centres in Advanced manufacturing- is a project co-financed by the Erasmus + programme. It has the objective to improve the quality of Vocational Education and Training centres systems while merging stakeholders to overcome the mismatch among education and industry’s need. It is coordinated by the Assembly of European Regions (AER) as a leading partner.

Click to join!

For more information on the SKILLNET peer learning clubs, please check the presentation below:

Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

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Digital Health Network: Knowledge Exchange Webinar

17 November, 2020 By Valeria Simonte

The rapidly evolving digitalisation of health and wellbeing requires new knowledge and collaboration models to accelerate growth globally. Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need to increase their business development expertise and capabilities in the field of digital health. Health care providers need to speed up their adoption of digital innovations and assess the impact of digital solutions on healthcare processes. New collaborative action models at the European level will speed up this development and knowledge building.

Digital Health, Wellbeing and Smart Specialisation

The AER Digital Health Network is pleased to invite you to the webinar Digital Health, Wellbeing and Smart Specialisation organised on 18 November 2020, 10.00 – 11.30 CET.

The objective of this webinar is to learn and exchange experiences of two AER regions in supporting the development of digital solutions that underpin healthy living and foster collaboration between the public sector, universities, civil organisations, entrepreneurs and business.

It will be a practical opportunity to discuss how we intend to achieve business growth and efficiency in public health services. how digital health innovation fits with our regions’ smart specialisation strategies.

Webinar agenda

10.00-10.05Welcome and introductions
Kenneth Johannesson, AER Committee on Social Policy and Public Health, Vice President for Health Innovation / Councillor Region Värmland,

Donna Henderson, Chair of AER Digital Health Network / Head of International Engagement, TEC & Digital Healthcare Innovation, Scottish Government
10.05-10.35Setting the Scene – Smart Specialisation in Värmland and Scotland
Anders Olsson, Manager of Research and Innovation,  Värmland Dept of Regional Growth/
scotland govment
10.35-11.15Creating an ecosystem for digital health and wellness –
Magnus Bårdén, Process Leader, DigitalWell Arena, (Region Värmland, Sweden)
Prof George Crooks, Chief Executive, Digital Health and Care Institute (Scotland, UK)
11.15-11.30Q&A and discussion about common approaches, opportunities for collaboration, etc
Register here!
Agenda
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Committee 1 Annual Report June 2019 – November 2020

3 November, 2020 By Johanna Pacevicius

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

This report is the compilation of actions developed and implemented within Committee 1 between the 2019 General Assembly in Larnaka (CY) and the 2020 online General Assembly.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic the AER Executive Board decided to prolong the validity of the AER Action Plan in order to allow the continuation of knowledge sharing between regions in a structured way.

AER had to define ways to maintain planned activities and offer new opportunities for mutual learning in a radically different and uncertain context, where face-to-face meetings are not possible and all regional stakeholders are focused on fighting the pandemic.

Activities are organised in 3 categories:

  • Projects
  • Good practice sharing
  • Advocacy/ Lobbying

Projects

In terms of knowledge sharing, the idea with projects is to provide a framework, where regions can go deeper in mutual learning and good practices exchange, while being co-financed by the EU. AER always negotiates its implication in projects in a way that will benefit all AER members. In the current situation where face to face events are cancelled, projects offer unparalleled opportunities for online knowledge and experience exchange.

SKILLNET

SKILLNET is a project co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme aimed at improving Vocational Education and Training (VET) systems.

AER joined the SKILLNET project this Spring while most of Europe was in lockdown, specifically because of the opportunities the project is offering for online activities relevant to both Committee 1 and Committee 3. Indeed the project is organising a high number of webinars and offering online platforms for the exchange of knowledge. In order to make sure project activities provide value to members, the topics of SKILLNET webinars are chosen based on the AER Action Plan and further specified together with members which have expressed needs in the process of the definition of workprogrammes at Committee meetings

SKILLNET has launched a series of 18 webinars on EU funding opportunities. Each webinar is open to all interested parties and focuses on different areas of intervention upon which relevant partnerships can be launched.

As a follow-up of each SKILLNET webinar, a Partnerships in Focus bulletin is circulated and stored in the Partnerships in Focus hub on the AER website.

Additionally, the project offers the opportunity for regional stakeholders working on Vocational Education and Training to connect via the Peer Learning Clubs. Stakeholders learn from each other, and get access to relevant information and experts to be applied to develop future partnerships within EU calls.

  • AER members interested in sharing their experience in a webinar should contact AER Coordinator for Policy & Knowledge Transfer Johanna Pacevicius

Together for Cohesion: let’s rEUnite! finished

“Together for Cohesion: let’s rEUnite!” is a project submitted under a call launched by DG REGIO. This project raised awareness on the importance of programmes, projects, and services funded by the cohesion policy funds. It also encouraged the participation of citizens and stakeholders to become active players in the dialogue on cohesion policy. AER coordinated the project and collected experiences on cohesion policy together with regions.

This project was officially launched during the 2019 General Assembly in Larnaca (CY). Six AER member regions were partners in this project: Varazdin (HR), Csongrád (HU), Trentino (IT), Timis and Alba (RO), and Catalonia (ES). The project also had an information stall dedicated to the Together for Cohesion project at 2019 Autumn Committee Plenaries.

Partner regions have organized several local events to raise awareness on Cohesion policy among EU citizens:

The first event of Together for Cohesion held, the “Apulum Agraria” Fair in Alba (RO) held from 20-22nd September 2019, promoting agriculture, the economy of Alba and local farmers and members of professional associations.

The project was also represented at the 37th session of the Local and Regional Authorities Congress, led by the Council of Europe between the 28-31st October 2019.

The project contributed to the organisation of a Career management fair in Alba (RO), which raised awareness on the use and benefits of the EU cohesion policy and funds – with a special focus on how to find employment opportunities and how to receive the appropriate career guidance.

The Forum for Mayors, on the 11th of December, in Szeged, Hungary, by the General Assembly of Csongrand County was an opportunity to learn more about why cohesion policy and funds are crucial for the social and economic development of the cities and towns led by the Mayors taking part in the Csongrad Forum

Regions have also prepared several trainings focused on developing communication skills and understanding of European cohesion policies. The first training, on Together4Cohesion: how to use social media to better communicate the EU cohesion policy took place on the 23rd of January, in Trentino, Italy.

In Varaždin (HR), the annual Gala Ball of Varaždin County on 24 January 2020 was an opportunity to promote the project. On 13 February 2020, Varaždin also hosted an event in the context of the Together4Cohesion Project called “ESI Funds beyond 2020”. On 5 March a third event will be organised, with a contribution by South Ostrobothnia on entrepreneurship education. It is connected with Cohesion Policy since schools will also present how they develop new curricula with the help of EU funds. The recommendations will be sent to AER and be at disposal for all interested members

More events organised in the context of the project can be found on the Together4Cohesion website

CUBES: Cultural Administration Boosting with the Engagement of Sustainability for Local Communities ongoing

The CUBES project was developed to create a bridge between cultural heritage, administrative bodies, and digitalization. The project will:

  • raise awareness
  • emphasizing the importance of culture
  • increase competitiveness and economic growth.

Target: local communities, public authorities, NGOs and CSOs. The kick-off of the CUBES project took place on the 25th of October 2019 in Lisbon, the project will end in April 2020

The experience of the CUBES project on grassroots approaches for sustainable regional development was supposed to inform the discussions at the conference “Territorial Approaches to Regional Development” in Covasna on 11 March 2020. As the plenaries were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an article was written on Culture, a pillar of sustainable regional development by the Lead partner of the CUBES project.

As the project is progressing, the Secretariat is exploring how to use the knowledge and outputs created in the project to benefit members in Committee 3.

Includ-EU: Regional and local expertise, exchange and engagement for enhanced social cohesion in Europe ongoing

AER and the International Organisation for Migration, together with several regional and local authorities have joined forces in the Includ-EU project. This project will improve transnational knowledge and experience sharing, cooperation and partnerships to build a more inclusive and cohesive Europe.

AER will organise 5 workshops to facilitate knowledge and experience sharing as well as to support the implementation of pilot activities around the 5 key priorities of the EU action plan: post-arrival support, education, labour market integration, access to services, citizen participation & inclusion.

In the context of the pandemic, AER anticipated the organisation of the webinars, which were normally planned for later. A first webinar was organised in collaboration with the Intercultural Regions Network, The Council of Europe and the International Organisation for Migration, to share experiences on access to services, especially health services.

The second webinar will take place on 10 November and will be focused on Labour Market Inclusion, with good practices from Greece and the Netherlands and a presentation by the European Commission on upcoming changes in funding for activities on integration.

E-health in rural areas: finished

Members discussed the possibility to develop a pan-AER regional e-health rural project based on innovation and digitalisation. This idea was not followed up by the development of a project.

As the topic is still relevant for many AER members, members were invited to participate in a webinar on integrated care in remote and rural areas, an activity organised in the context of the SCIROCCO Exchange project (see above)

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 developing such a project should share their idea during the development of the 2020-2021 work programme on 12 March in order to find regions who want to cooperate on this and start developing 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 developing such a project should share their idea during the development of the 2020-2021 work programme on 12 March in order to find regions who want to cooperate on this and start developing this initiative.

Good Practice Exchange

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

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

The topic of the thematic event of the plenaries was Cohesion & Contrasted Regional Realities. The thematic event consisted of discussions with perspectives from all of Europe, with a special focus on Ireland and Slovenia. Despite the varying experiences and realities in the regions represented, it was agreed that a holistic approach to regional development is necessary

The aim was 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.

2020 AER Spring Committee Plenaries – Covasna: cancelled

The main focus of the AER 2020 Spring Committee Plenaries in Covasna County (RO) between 10-12 March was to be territorial approaches. Urban-rural divides within regions were going to be in the spotlight.

While the Autumn 2019 plenaries “Territorial cohesion and Contrasted Realities” looked at how regions address territorial differences, this spring’s plenary should have been about taking stock of the situation in Europe. How to bridge the gap between theories on place-based policies and the actual implementation of effective and participative policies?

Members should have in particular, discussed the state of play of smart specialization strategies in Europe, health innovation and wellbeing, as well as brain drain vs brain gain.

In the context of the cancellation of face to face activities, AER tried to ensure that the content, which would normally have been shared at the plenaries, was still shared via the AER website. A series of articles was therefore published, featuring the speakers on the programme of the Covasna events, both from AER regions and from external experts with examples challenges and good practices: https://aer.eu/tag/event-2020-spring-plenaries/

While reading articles about a region don’t replace actually visiting it, special visibility was given to Covasna and the good practices to be presented on the spot on the AER website.

Committee 1 Vice President for Rural development, Energy and Environment, Nicola Campitelli, Abruzzo (IT) shared the Abruzzo governance for rural areas and their vision for the post-COVID-19 recovery

The topic of smart specialisation for inclusion and wellbeing will be further developed in the context of the webinar of the Digital Health network on 18 November 2020

Organisation of the Regional Business Forum

The Regional Business Forum (RBF) is an annual international forum to exchange on support for SMEs, promote business and commerce, incentive the possibility to collaborate and share best practices between regions. The event is organised by AER Vice-President for Regional Economic Developmen Damir Zobenica.

This 3rd edition will be a hybrid-event hosted in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina on 10 November. Following the success of last year’s forum, this year’s Regional Business Forum will focus on three main sectors: Agriculture & Food; the Construction Industry; ICT and Creative industries.

Through B2B (business-to-business) meetings, participants will get the chance to find partners according to their own interests and objectives

Interested candidates can register online for the B2B matchmaking, facilitated by the European Enterprise Network matchmaking tool.

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

The AER Secretariat disseminated information about the TAIEX-EIR peer to peer learning program and is supporting members to use this program to gain or provide knowledge on environmental policies on topics as diverse as air quality, waste management, water management, the circular economy. This program 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 organized 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 program. This should help improve legislation and practices for the protection of primary forests and biodiversity in Romania.

Mutual learning event on economy 4.0: Finished

On 4 December 2019, AER, the Brussels Capital Region and the Government of Catalonia organized 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 are welcomed to share inputs and regional examples.
The report on the event can be found here.

Workshop ” connectivity vs sustainability?”: finished

On the occasion of the Autumn plenary meeting in Podčetrtek (SI), the working group on transports & mobility chaired by Martin Tollén organised a workshop on connectivity and sustainability. Speakers featured Matej Gojčič from the Regional Development Agency of the Ljubljana Urban Region and Sergi Alegre, President of the Airport Regions Conference.

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.

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 2019 in the House of Dutch Provinces in Brussels.

Lowering emissions in transport: cancelled

AER member region Norrbotten (SE) would like to organize 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 of 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.

Webinar on agricultural cooperatives for more sustainable and resilient supply chains: cancelled

In the context of the changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and the cancellation of face to face meetings, the Chair of the Working Group on rural development Olimpia Neagoe, Dolj (RO) initiated the organisation of a webinar on this topic made highly relevant in the context of lockdowns in Europe. However due to regional elections in Romania, this activity was cancelled.

AER Delegation at Smart City Expo World Congress: finished

AER took part in SCEWC19. The 3-day conference confirmed its role as the world’s greatest meeting point for cities and companies sharing the same goals as regards the future of cities. Different stakeholders gathered together in Barcelona and explored new innovative ways to make cities inclusive, efficient and sustainable.

Small hydropower plants: cancelled

Exchange of good practice on noise reduction with (small) hydro powerplants (finding a suitable location also from an environmental point of view). Lobbying and advocacy with NGOs and governments about the 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. Members didn’t express interest about this topic anymore.

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 that are largely rural.
This action could be developed within the context of the working group on business and SMEs.

The 2020 Spring plenaries in Covasna would have specifically look at territorial approaches and the ways in which regions address challenges linked to regional development, innovation and rurality. Instead content was shared via the AER website and the article by Committee 3 President on a Regional Approach to reduce Brain Drain provides a number of proposals in that respect. Hrvoje Kovač, Chair of the Subcommittee on Youth also prepared a very clear video on the topic.

Effective legislative frameworks: cancelled

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. No activity was developed on this topic, however, the topic of cutting red tape is the kind of topics which will be addressed by the AER civil servants exchange programme as the programme will aim at facilitating experience exchange on efficient public administrations.

Energy efficiency: planned

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

Advocacy/Lobbying

Building a Network of Intercultural Regions: ongoing

The Bureau Task Force on migration organized a Breakfast debate on the occasion of the General Assembly in Larnaca to examine the possibility of creating an intercultural regions programme, similar to the existing Council of Europe Intercultural Cities Programme. The network will support regions for the design and implementation of diversity and inclusion strategies. The Intercultural Regions Network was launched on 5th November 2019. The process to develop this network requires intense dialogue with institutions.

AER and the Council of Europe are now planning activities for the coming months, a first meeting was organised in 16 March. The Intercultural Regions Network is closely involved in activities carried out in the context of the Includ-EU project (see above)

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: finished

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.
At 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. 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

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.

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 & 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 work programmes are developed in spring each year and the 2019/2020 work programme is available here.

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. The action plan for 2019/2020 is available here.

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Committee 2 Annual Report June 2019 – November 2020

3 November, 2020 By Johanna Pacevicius

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

This report is the compilation of actions developed and implemented within Committee 2 between the 2019 General Assembly in Larnaka (CY) and the 2020 online General Assembly.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic the AER Executive Board decided to prolong the validity of the AER Action Plan in order to allow the continuation of knowledge sharing between regions in a structured way.

AER had to define ways to maintain planned activities and offer new opportunities for mutual learning in a radically different and uncertain context, where face-to-face meetings are not possible and all regional stakeholders are focused on fighting the pandemic.

Activities are organised in 3 categories:

  • Projects
  • Good practice sharing
  • Advocacy/ Lobbying

Projects

In terms of knowledge sharing, the idea with projects is to provide a framework, where regions can go deeper in mutual learning and good practices exchange, while being co-financed by the EU. AER always negotiates its implication in projects in a way that will benefit all AER members. In the current situation where face to face events are cancelled, projects offer unparalleled opportunities for online knowledge and experience exchange.

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

The SCIROCCO Exchange project, under the EU Health Programme, is based on the SCIROCCO project, which resulted in the development of an online self-assessment tool for integrated care. The project runs from January 2019 to August 2021. It supports regions, mainly health and social care authorities for the adoption and the scaling-up of integrated care. The Maturity Model, 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 strength and also gaps in their capability managing the many activities needed in order to deliver integrated care.

The lead partner is the Scottish Government. The consortium is composed of 14 organizations.

AER is leading the Working Package on knowledge transfer which started in autumn 2019, helping the regions in preparing the local environment for implementation and scaling-up integrated care.

The Institute of Social and Behavioural Medicine of Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice in Slovakia, one of SCIROCCO Exchange consortium partners, organized a local conference “Integrated care for people with chronic diseases” on 15 May 2019. The conference was organized as part of the European Public Health Week “Care4Care”. The objective of the conference was to raise awareness about the importance of integrated health and social care for people suffering from multiple chronic conditions. The conference was particularly useful to review the current progress with the adoption of integrated and long-term care in Slovakia and highlight the existing challenges such as change of culture, stakeholder engagement or political commitment

The project was presented at the Smart City Expo, which was held between 19 to 21st November 2019.
The project was also represented in the European Parliament at a debate, “EU 2019-2024: Health Champions Wanted”, held on 9 October 2019.

The SCIROCCO Exchange provides the opportunity to detail the methodologies and mutual learning approaches, which have developed by AER in over 3 decades of interregional cooperation.

The SCIROCCO Exchange also allows reaching some of the objectives set within the AER Digital Health Network.

Together for Cohesion: let’s rEUnite! finished

“Together for Cohesion: let’s rEUnite!” is a project submitted under a call launched by DG REGIO. This project raised awareness on the importance of programmes, projects, and services funded by the cohesion policy funds. It also encouraged the participation of citizens and stakeholders to become active players in the dialogue on cohesion policy. AER coordinated the project and collected experiences on cohesion policy together with regions.

This project was officially launched during the 2019 General Assembly in Larnaca (CY). Six AER member regions were partners in this project: Varazdin (HR), Csongrád (HU), Trentino (IT), Timis and Alba (RO), and Catalonia (ES). The project also had an information stall dedicated to the Together for Cohesion project at 2019 Autumn Committee Plenaries.

Partner regions have organized several local events to raise awareness on Cohesion policy among EU citizens:

The first event of Together for Cohesion held, the “Apulum Agraria” Fair in Alba (RO) held from 20-22nd September 2019, promoting agriculture, the economy of Alba and local farmers and members of professional associations.

The project was also represented at the 37th session of the Local and Regional Authorities Congress, led by the Council of Europe between the 28-31st October 2019.

The project contributed to the organisation of a Career management fair in Alba (RO), which raised awareness on the use and benefits of the EU cohesion policy and funds – with a special focus on how to find employment opportunities and how to receive the appropriate career guidance.

The Forum for Mayors, on the 11th of December, in Szeged, Hungary, by the General Assembly of Csongrand County was an opportunity to learn more about why cohesion policy and funds are crucial for the social and economic development of the cities and towns led by the Mayors taking part in the Csongrad Forum

Regions have also prepared several trainings focused on developing communication skills and understanding of European cohesion policies. The first training, on Together4Cohesion: how to use social media to better communicate the EU cohesion policy took place on the 23rd of January, in Trentino, Italy.

In Varaždin (HR), the annual Gala Ball of Varaždin County on 24 January 2020 was an opportunity to promote the project. On 13 February 2020, Varaždin also hosted an event in the context of the Together4Cohesion Project called “ESI Funds beyond 2020”. On 5 March a third event will be organised, with a contribution by South Ostrobothnia on entrepreneurship education. It is connected with Cohesion Policy since schools will also present how they develop new curricula with the help of EU funds. The recommendations will be sent to AER and be at disposal for all interested members

More events organised in the context of the project can be found on the Together4Cohesion website

AMiD project for the inclusion of migrants with disabilities: finished

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

During the 2019 Summer Academy in Novi Sad, Vojvodina (RS), a workshop on AMiD was organized. Participants were invited to reflect on the challenges that migrants with disabilities face on a daily basis.

The final conference of the AMiD project was held on 5th November 2019 in Brussels. After a wave of presentations and questions, participants split into three groups to discuss and agree on recommendations. They concluded:

  • Improving capacity for CSOs – Civil Society Organisations working in the sector.
  • To set and spread the multi-stakeholder approach to inclusion.
  • Engagement to raise the topic of migrants with disabilities in the next Disability Strategy 2020-2030

Includ-EU: Regional and local expertise, exchange and engagement for enhanced social cohesion in Europe ongoing

AER and the International Organisation for Migration, together with several regional and local authorities have joined forces in the Includ-EU project. This project will improve transnational knowledge and experience sharing, cooperation and partnerships to build a more inclusive and cohesive Europe.

AER will organise 5 workshops to facilitate knowledge and experience sharing as well as to support the implementation of pilot activities around the 5 key priorities of the EU action plan: post-arrival support, education, labour market integration, access to services, citizen participation & inclusion.

In the context of the pandemic, AER anticipated the organisation of the webinars, which were normally planned for later. A first webinar was organised in collaboration with the Intercultural Regions Network, The Council of Europe and the International Organisation for Migration, to share experiences on access to services, especially health services.

The second webinar will take place on 10 November and will be focused on Labour Market Inclusion, with good practices from Greece and the Netherlands and a presentation by the European Commission on upcoming changes in funding for activities on integration.

E-health in rural areas: finished

Members discussed the possibility to develop a pan-AER regional e-health rural project based on innovation and digitalisation. This idea was not followed up by the development of a project.

As the topic is still relevant for many AER members, members were invited to participate in a webinar on integrated care in remote and rural areas, an activity organised in the context of the SCIROCCO Exchange project (see above)

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Good Practice Exchange

Autumn Committee Plenaries – Podčetrtek (SI): finished

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

The topic of the thematic event of the plenaries was Cohesion & Contrasted Regional Realities, and the aim was to identify strategies and actions to boost regional development and innovation in the face of contrasting realities.

2020 Spring Committee Plenaries – Covasna (RO): cancelled

The main focus of the AER 2020 Spring Committee Plenaries in Covasna County (RO) between 10-12 March was to be territorial approaches. Urban-rural divides within regions were going to be in the spotlight.

While the Autumn 2019 plenaries “Territorial cohesion and Contrasted Realities” looked at how regions address territorial differences, this spring’s plenary should have been about taking stock of the situation in Europe. How to bridge the gap between theories on place-based policies and the actual implementation of effective and participative policies?

Members should have discussed the state of play of smart specialization strategies in Europe, health innovation and wellbeing, as well as brain drain vs brain gain.

In the context of the cancellation of face to face activities, AER tried to ensure that the content, which would normally have been shared at the plenaries, was still shared via the AER website. A series of articles was therefore published, featuring the speakers on the programme of the Covasna events, both from AER regions and from external experts with examples challenges and good practices: https://aer.eu/tag/event-2020-spring-plenaries/

While reading articles about a region don’t replace actually visiting it, special visibility was given to Covasna and the good practices to be presented on the spot on the AER website.

The topic of wellbeing and smart specialisation was addressed in two articles on the natural assets in Covasna (RO) and the smart specialisation strategy of Värmland (SE).

The topic of smart specialisation for inclusion and wellbeing will be further developed in the context of the webinar of the Digital Health network on 18 November 2020

Mutual learning event on economy 4.0: finished

On 4 December 2019, AER, the Brussels Capital Region and the Government of Catalonia organized 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 are welcomed to share inputs and regional examples.
The report on the event can be found here.

Workshop of the AER e-health network (now known as “Digital Health Network”): finished

The AER e-health network has achieved the objectives it had set at its creation. It is time now to revamp the network, explore synergies with other initiatives and fellow networks around Europe. On the occasion of the Autumn Committee Plenaries the AER e-health network under the leadership of Donna Henderson, Scotland (GB), planned to hold a workshop to reinvent its way of working and set new goals.

While a discussion did take place on this occasion, only few members were able to attend, because of the exceptional circumstances in Slovenia, were Adria Airlines stopped activities during the AER plenaries. The group decided to change the name to “Digital Health network” and to cooperate more with other networks as well as with the European Commission. The SCIROCCO Exchange project is instrumental in this respect, as it positions AER on a very important topic.

Increasing collaboration on Digital Health between European Regions: ongoing

The Digital Health Network provides a platform for AER regions to share their experiences, knowledge, and resources that support the effective deployment of digital health solutions within their regional healthcare systems. The digital transformation of health and care requires further action in these areas:

  • citizen’s secure access to and sharing of health data across borders;
  • better data to advance research, disease prevention and personalised health and care;
  • digital tools for citizen empowerment and person-centred care.

 The Digital Health Network will:

  • Provide knowledge exchange opportunities for AER regions working to implement digital health.
  • Promote relevant policies to advance the implementation of digital health for all citizens.
  • Share good practices in the use of digital health in response to key health and care challenges for regions. 
  • Recognise the diversity of regions and identify key lessons from their different approaches to digital health.
  • Develop our shared understanding of how digital health can support increased citizen participation in and self-management of their own health and wellbeing.

Identify key events, in which members of the Digital Health Network will participate, to promote and raise awareness of the Network’s activities.

The activities planned for the Network in 2020 – 2021 are outlined in the roadmap below:

It is possible to join the Digital Health Network by filling this (

Webinar on Digital Health, Wellbeing and Smart Specialisation: ongoing

The webinar is organised by the Digital Health Network and will present the experiences of two AER regions on 18 November on :

  • supporting the development of digital solutions that support healthy living.
  • fostering collaboration between the public sector, universities; civil organisations, entrepreneurs, and businesses.
  • how we intend to achieve business growth and efficiency in public health services.
  • how digital health innovation fits with our regions’ smart specialisation strategies.

Breakfast seminar on innovation in healthcare design: finished

Värmland (SE), Scotland (GB) and AER organized a Breakfast Seminar on health innovation on 10 September 2019 in Brussels. The event looked at Health Innovation and User-centric Design and Digital Innovation in health and care. Kenneth Johannesson, Committee 2 Vice President for Health Innovation and Donna Henderson, Chair of AER eHealth Network, opened the event and provided background to it.

Sharing experiences on integrated care at Smart City Expo World Congress: finished

AER facilitated a 1h discussion in the Agora of Smart City Expo World Congress on the topic of mutual learning & international cooperation for the deployment of integrated care systems in Europe.

Through this session, attendees explored the regional perspective of integrated care systems and the related challenges and benefits, high-level speakers showcased the latest solutions from West Slovenia, Catalonia and Scotland. At the same time, it was presented the Scirocco Exchange Project, a pillar project for AER, which embodies our values as it aims to transfer good practices in integrated care across European regions.

AER Delegation at Smart City Expo World Congress: finished

AER took part in SCEWC19. The 3-day conference confirmed its role as the world’s greatest meeting point for cities and companies sharing the same goals as regards the future of cities. Different stakeholders gathered together in Barcelona and explored new innovative ways to make cities inclusive, efficient and sustainable.

All member regions and partners interested in attending the next iteration of SCEWC 2020 as speakers can submit an application here

Elderly care homes in rural areas: planned

Exchange experiences and identify solutions around the issue of isolated elderly people in rural areas

  • Regions interested in working on this topic should share their idea with the Secretariat in order to start developing this initiative.

Advocacy/Lobbying

Building a Network of Intercultural Regions: ongoing

The Bureau Task Force on migration organized a Breakfast debate on the occasion of the General Assembly in Larnaca to examine the possibility of creating an intercultural regions programme, similar to the existing Council of Europe Intercultural Cities Programme. The network will support regions for the design and implementation of diversity and inclusion strategies. The Intercultural Regions Network was launched on 5th November 2019.

The process to develop this network requires intense dialogue with institutions.

AER and the Council of Europe are now planning activities for the coming months, a first meeting is foreseen on 16 March. This meeting will be followed by a public presentation of the Network, and a training on tactics and strategies for effective intercultural messaging by Nigel Smith, media and communication expert at the Council of Europe. Regions interested to participate in the public meeting and the training should contact Gisela Guari Cañada

Engagement in the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP-AHA)

AER is a member of the B3 Group for integrated care in the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing. Its contribution to the work is done via the SCIROCCO Exchange project and the AER Digital health network.

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, target institutions. The AER Secretariat will also organize Breakfast Briefings to help regions organize their advocacy activities.

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 & Institutional Relations Gisela Guari Cañada

-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 work programmes are developed in spring each year and the 2019/2020 work programme is available here.

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. The action plan for 2019/2020 is available here.

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Regional Business Forum 2020

22 October, 2020 By Justin Sammon

It is our pleasure to invite you to the third edition of the Regional Business Forum (RBF), taking place as a hybrid event online and in Novi Sad, Vojvodina on 10 November 2020.

The Regional Business Forum is an annual international forum to exchange ideas on support for SMEs, promote business and commerce, incentive the possibility to collaborate and share best practices between regions.

The international forum provides additional support to companies to find international partners. The participants will have an opportunity to schedule and hold B2B meetings with companies and institutions participating in the Forum, according to their own needs, based on the information about the registered participants.

Following the success of last year’s edition, this year’s Regional Business Forum will focus on three main sectors:

  1. Agriculture & Food;
  2. the Construction Industry;
  3. ICT and Creative industries.

The invitation is addressed, in particular, to regional chambers of commerce, regional development agencies and institutions supporting SMEs development.

We will shortly be announcing our speakers for the event, which will include an address from a very special guest. We therefore invite you to register as soon as possible.

For further information, please consult our article on the AER website and the RBF website. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Sanja Siflis by:

  • Email: [email protected]
  • Phone: +381 63 565963

We very much look forward to having fruitful discussions both online and in Novi Sad!

 

Regional Business Forum 2020

21 October, 2020 By Anne Henk Bloemhoff

Interested in sharing your business propositions and ideas to potential clients? Join us at the Regional Business Forum that will take place this year as a hybrid online event in Novi Sad.

The Regional Business Forum (RBF) is an annual international forum to exchange on support for SMEs, promote business and commerce, incentive the possibility to collaborate and share best practices between regions. This 3rd edition will be a hybrid-event hosted in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina on 10 November. Following the success of last year’s forum, this year’s Regional Business Forum will focus on three main sectors: Agriculture & Food; the Construction Industry; ICT and Creative industries.

Through B2B (business-to-business) meetings, participants will get the chance to find partners according to their own interests and objectives

Interested candidates can register online for the B2B matchmaking, facilitated by the European Enterprise Network matchmaking tool.


Kicking off this forum will be a plenary where we will exchange what instruments are available to regions to effectively support SMEs during these turbulent and uncertain times, as well as exchange on best practice examples of our regions.

The European Union has put into place a recovery plan (Next Generation EU) to support the hardest-hit areas within the EU but has also mobilised a package to support the Western Balkans and accession countries during this emergency.

As regions and local authorities have been on the frontline in ensuring the well-being of our citizens, we hope you can join us for what promises to be a fruitful and substantive plenary discussion, all of which will be live-streamed.

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How to get involved in the Youth Policies of the Future with Skillman

17 September, 2020 By Birgit Sandu

On September 2nd, the Skillman Alliance, in cooperation with the European Training Foundation, hosted the “Youth Policy Partnerships” webinar. This was the fifth webinar on EU funding opportunities that are being co-organized by AER within the Skillnet project framework (co-founded by the Eramus+ Programme) in order to gather experts and practitioners in the field of TVET to exchange experience, network, and establish fruitful partnerships to be applied to future project opportunities.

The webinar served as a great occasion to fuel discussions and exchange practices on how youth can be concretely “engaged, connected and empowered” as foreseen by the European Youth Strategy, as well as to lunch the newly established Skillman Youth Forum, a Basecamp platform where youth experts (TVET providers, academic staff, policy and decision-makers, representatives from youth organizations, other stakeholders, and especially youth themselves)  can debate about youth-related challenges and co-design joint-solutions and joint-activities through knowledge sharing and peer learning. 

The online event included inspiring contributions from a panel of experts in the field. In his introductory speech, Giovanni Crisonà, Skillman President, highlighted the major constraints that young people are facing starting from the unfavorable economic conjunction resulting from the financial crisis to the unknown and unpredictable post-covid era. Accordingly, the need and willingness are to establish transnational and horizontal (involving all the major actors concerned) partnerships to draw solutions and reforms through a holistic approach. As detailedly explained by Elena Romanini, Skillman Youth Forum Leader, the Skillman Youth Forum provides a space where these partnerships can be established and actions can be developed and evaluated. The platform is open to the contribution of all the interested individuals or organizations. To know more about the forum, visit the dedicated landing page on Skillman.eu. 

The second part of the webinar focused on concrete examples of how transnational mobility can contribute to foster “engaged, connected and empowered” youth. First, Mano Andreadis, Senior Project Manager of Assetec and EYE Coordinator, presented the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs (EYE) programme. Through a transnational mobility scheme, EYE provides a mutual opportunity for aspiring young entrepreneurs and experienced entrepreneurs running or managing an SME in another country. While the former develops top-skills by assisting the experienced entrepreneur, the latter gains new and fresh inputs from the young trainees. 

Lastly, Andrés Munos Rojo and Yasser El Koura, AER Youth Programmes Coordinator, and Eurodyssey trainee respectively, showed how interregional cooperation and fair mobility can support youth inclusion. Eurodyssey was presented as a good example in light of its focus on the promotion and delivery of fair mobility providing: A win-win for stakeholders; autonomy and flexibility to the regions to prioritize the field that they would like to strengthen through the trainee; an integral experience for youth (traineeship, language courses, and immersion in the hosting culture); and a wide variety of traineeship not targeted only to graduates. The benefits of this approach are confirmed by the statistics, pointing to both higher youth employability and inclusiveness after the Eurodyseey experience. 

What’s next?

As mentioned, our work on youth policy partnerships does not stop here! We invite you all to join the Skillnet Youth Forum and contribute to the design of effective actions! 

Upcoming webinars on EU funding opportunities are currently being organized; stay tuned and do not miss the opportunity to change the future of TVET!

Have a look at the previous articles published within the ‘Partnerships in Focus’ series:

1). Partnerships in Focus n1: Capacity Building in Higher Education  

2). Partnerships in Focus n2: Skills and Education Guarantee Pilot 

3). Partnerships in Focus n3: Knowledge Alliance in the Maritime Sector

4). Partnerships in Focus n4: Implementation of Innovative VET Policies through Transnational Cooperation

EU Funding Opportunities:

  • Call for proposals: Civil Society Projects 2020 3 August 2020 The call for proposals  Civil Society Projects 2020 (Call EACEA/52/2019) has been published.
  • Selection results: Support for Development of European Video Games 2020 31 July 2020 Selection results for the call Support for Development of European Video Games 2020 have been published.
  • Selection results: Support for Development of Audiovisual Content – Slate Funding 2020 31 July 2020 Selection results for the call Support for Development of Audiovisual Content – Slate Funding 2020 have been published.
  • Selection results: Cultural Cooperation Projects in the Western Balkans 2019 30 July 2020 Selection results for the call Cultural Cooperation Projects in the Western Balkans 2019 have been published.
  • Selection results: Town Twinning 2020 – Round 1 27 July 2020 Selection results for the call Town Twinning 2020 – Round 1 have been published.
  • Selection results: Networks of Towns 2020 – Round 1 20 July 2020 Selection results for the call Networks of Towns 2020 – Round 1 have been published.

Photo Credits: Skillman.eu

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AER participating in #EURegionsWeek

9 September, 2020 By Anne Henk Bloemhoff

The Assembly of European Regions (AER) is pleased to announce our participation in the European Week of Regions and Cities (EURegionsWeek) in two sessions during the week of 12-16 October.

The EURegionsWeek is an annual event taking place in Brussels dedicated to regional policy. During this week, political representatives, decision-makers, experts and practitioners of regional policy, as well as stakeholders from business, banking, civil society organisations, academia, the EU institutions and the media discuss common challenges for European regions and cities. In 2019, over 9000 participants took part in over 330 sessions.

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the EURegionsWeek will be fully digital over 3 weeks from 5 to 22 October, each week covering a different theme:

October 5 – 9: Green Europe
October 12-16: Cohesion and Cooperation
October 19-22: Empowering Citizens


Achieving 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through Cohesion Policy

On 15 October from 11:30 – 13:00, we invite you to join our webinar in partnership with  Regions 4, ORU Fogar, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Catalan Directorate-General for Development Cooperation (ACCD), and the European Union EUROsociAL+ Programme.

The Sustainable Development Goals should be met leaving no one and no place behind. Cohesion policy will be an essential instrument for countries, regions, and municipalities to make progress towards the SDGs through its multi-level and multi-stakeholder implementation approach and investments in strengthening people’s skills, creating job opportunities, fighting poverty and social exclusion, supporting small and medium enterprises, as well as addressing major global issues such as climate change and migration. Regional and local governments must ensure cohesion policy programmes bring about the best outcomes for sustainable development and the localization of the SDGs, turning the 2030 Agenda into reality across Europe.

The webinar will aim to address the main question of “How cohesion policy can make regions deliver for a sustainable and fair Europe, and progress on the implementation of the SDGs“.

Speakers:

Stefano Marta, Coordinator Territorial Approach to the SDGs, OECD, Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities
Agustí Fernández de Losada, Specialist, EUROsociAL+ Programme.
Leyre Madariaga, Director of Foreign Relations, Basque Government.
Natàlia Mas, Secretary of Economy, Government of Catalonia.
Javier Sánchez Cano, Head of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Directorate-General of Development and Cooperation Catalan Government.
Moderated by Mr Magnus Berntsson, AER President

For further information and programme, please refer to the concept note.   

Deadline: 27 September


Eurodyssey35: Regions on the move

On 14 October from 9:30 – 11, we invite you to join us for our participatory lab about what is at stake for youth development, and the instrumental role of youth mobility in fostering territorial cohesion and a sense of European identity. 

Mobility is at the core of European integration. For over 25 years the EU has actively promoted the mobility of students, researchers and citizens to deliver in strategic policy areas: employment, education and inclusion. Since 1985, the AER has put regions at the forefront of fair mobility for young people through our Eurodyssey programme. Regional and local authorities have a key part to play in driving youth development and tackling barriers to short-term mobility and longer-term cohesion.

Through parallel discussions, the audience will not only take a deep-dive into the ins and outs of youth mobility but will also challenge the invited storytellers to reflect upon the linkages between fair mobility, quality employment, social inclusion and active European citizenship

Speakers:
Mr Hrvoje Kovač, Chair of AER Subcommittee on Youth, Assembly of European Regions (AER)
Ms Andrea Ugrinoska, Chairperson of the Advisory Council on Youth, Council of Europe
Ms Floor Van Houdt, Head of Unit for Youth policy and Volunteer Solidarity, European Commission’s Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture

Deadline: 27 September

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Webinar: integrated care in remote and rural areas

3 September, 2020 By Johanna Pacevicius

The AER Digital Health Network is pleased to invite you to a webinar organised on 8 September 2020 14:00-15:00 CET in the context of the Scirocco Exchange project Delivering integrated care in remote and rural areas: Sharing the experience

Acknowledging differences between regions

The significance of integrated care as a means for improving health outcomes, effectiveness and sustainability of health and care systems is widely acknowledged. It is a central element in many on-going or planned healthcare system reforms, however, it is important to recognise that the regions and countries in Europe are experiencing different progress and levels of maturity for integration. This is particularly the case of delivering integrated health and care services in remote and rural areas.

Sharing experiences: Slovenia & the Basque Country

The objective of this webinar is to learn and exchange experience of two European regions Basque country and Slovenia in delivering integrated care services in remote and rural areas. It will be a practical opportunity to discuss what innovative actions and activities should be prioritised in these regions in order to improve their capacities for delivering the integrated care services in these areas. 

A tool to assess the situation in any territory

In addition, the webinar will feature how SCIROCCO Exchange tool* for integrated care as one of the capacity-building tools can help to facilitate learning and understanding of organisational maturity and readiness for integration. The Tool helps users to identify the maturity and local context enabling the adoption of integrated care. The Tool has been validate through EU Health Programme funded project SCIROCCO (www.scirocco-project.eu) and further refined and improved in SCIROCCO Exchange project (www.sciroccoexchange.com). 

The outcomes of this webinar will inform us about the existing opportunities and tools supporting the capacity of health and social care authorities for integrated care.  

* To access SCIROCCO Exchange tool for integrated care: https://scirocco-exchange-tool.inf.ed.ac.uk/en_gb/

Preliminary agenda

14.00 Welcome and Introduction Nessa Barry, Scottish Government
14.05xxxxxxxxxMaturity assessment for integrated care Dr Andrea Pavlickova, Scottish Government
14.15Delivering integrated health and care services in remote and rural areas in the Basque Country Jon Txarramendieta, Kronikgune, Basque Country
14.30Delivering integrated health and care services in remote and rural areas in Slovenia Andreja Rafaelič, Social Protection Institute of the Republic of Slovenia (IRSSV)
14.45Facilitated discussion Nessa Barry, Scottish Government
14.55Conclusive remarks Nessa Barry, Scottish Government Dr Andrea Pavlickova, Scottish Government

Registration

The webinar is open to all and free of charge, please register here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/sciroccoexchange/411924

Photo by Damien DUFOUR Photographie on Unsplash

Disclaimer
“The content of this Webinar represents the views of the author only and is his/her sole responsibility; it cannot be considered to reflect the views of the European Commission and/or the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency or any other body of the European Union. The European Commission and the Agency do not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.”

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How COVID-19 is affecting tourism in our Member Regions

30 July, 2020 By Aurelien Godin

Due to the recent global pandemic, the tourism and hospitality sector has faced some difficulties. Europe is the world’s leading tourist destination. The tourism sector in the EU represents 9.5% of the European Union’s gross domestic product (GDP), accounts for 11.2% of jobs in the European Union and is made up of nearly three million companies, 90% of which are SMEs. There are over 22.6 million people working in tourism in the European Union.

Travel restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic have been a challenge to the tourism industry. Indeed, as a result of the various measures put in place to limit the spread of the virus, revenues are expected to fall by 50% for hotels and restaurants, 70% for travel agencies and 90% for cruise lines and airlines.

The situation is particularly difficult for European countries whose economies depend heavily on tourism, such as Spain (14,6% of the GDP), Italy (13% of the GDP), France (9,5% of the GDP) and Greece (18 % of the GDP). 

On 13 May the European Commission presented a package of guidelines and recommendations to help the Member States gradually lift travel restrictions and allow tourism businesses to reopen, after months of lockdown, while respecting necessary health precautions. The package also aims to help the EU tourism sector recover from the pandemic, by supporting businesses and ensuring that Europe continues to be the number one destination for visitors.While the EU and States are doing many things to combat and mitigate the damage from this pandemic, it is important to note that many regions and local authorities, those on the frontline of the fight also have implemented measures. Take a look at what some of our regions are doing!

Relaunching tourism in Covasna countyDownload
Relaunching tourism in Basel (Switzerland)Download
Measures to face the economic crisis caused by coronavirus on tourism and hospitality in Abruzzo-RegionDownload

If you are interested in sharing your regions experiences please contact Tina Wu : [email protected]

source of the picture : unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/WksmEy5wV1s

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AAL Call: Healthy Ageing with the Support of Digital Solutions

2 June, 2020 By Mathilde Perrier

Have you heard about the latest AAL Call for Healthy Ageing with the Support of Digital Solutions? If not, read this article to learn more!

The call was launched by the Active and Assisted Living (AAL) Programme. It aims to support better quality of life for older people and to strengthen industrial opportunities while ensuring the sustainability of our health systems.

The AAL Programme funds projects that work towards creating market-ready products and services for older people. Each project consists of SMEs, research bodies and end-user organisations.

The current AAL Call is titled “Healthy Ageing with the Support of Digital Solutions”. Applications must be submitted before 24th August 2020 at 17:00 CET. The call aims at supporting innovative, transnational and multi-disciplinary collaborative projects.

Project proposals should demonstrate a clear route to market and added-value for the different types of end-users. The wishes and aspirations of older adults in combination with the demands from the other stakeholders involved – e.g. providers and payers – will have a critical role in shaping useful and attractive AAL solutions with high market potential.

You can find national eligibility criteria here.

Two types are projects can be funded through this AAL Call: “Collaborative Projects” and “Small Collaborative Projects”.

Collaborative Projects must be carried out by consortia composed of at least three organisations from three different countries including an end-user organisation and a business partner. Projects must aim at developing and bringing to market ICT solutions. These solutions must be included in the following AAL domains: Active Living, such as in work & training, for vitality & abilities, in leisure & culture, for information & communication, as well as for Assisted Living, such as in health & care, living & building, mobility & transport, safety & security.

Proposals are expected to be user-driven through co-creation and address a specified challenge. Collaborative Projects will remain the main funding tool for this call. This type of projects has a duration of 12 to 30 months with maximum funding of €2,500,000.

Small Collaborative Projects must last between 6 and 9 months, have a maximum co-funding budget of €300,000, a leaner application and reporting procedures. The main objective of the small collaborative projects is the exploration of new ideas, concepts and approaches for ICT-based solutions for older adults. They should reach out to new stakeholders for inclusion in (future) development of AAL solutions, build strong collaborations with end-user organisations, support community building with new customers and create shared agendas.

You can read the full Call text here and visit the Call page here for further information.

In case you are thinking to apply for this Call, AER Project Unit can liaise you with potential partners that could join your consortium.

In addition, do not miss the opportunity to join the AAL Forum 2021, the annual event for the community of healthy ageing to discuss opportunities in health technology and reflect on the future of ageing well in the digital world. You could even be part of this event by applying to the call for workshops by 26 June 2020.


Photo by Matthew Bennett on Unsplash

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Cohesion and partnership must be the driving force for European recovery

29 May, 2020 By Erica Lee

The #Cohesion Alliance – an EU-wide alliance of 12,000 signatories calling for a stronger cohesion policy after 2020 – welcomes the European Commission’s revised 2021–2027 EU budget and Recovery Plan proposals including the extension of the current cohesion programmes with increased flexibility and additional funding.  However, the Alliance urges the European Commission and Member States to ensure the involvement of cities, municipalities and regions and maintain a strong focus on cohesion in all recovery measures, aimed at rebuilding the economy, fostering sustainability and strengthening the territorial and social fabric of our Union, including in the European Semester process.  

The EU’s Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF) and Recovery Plan must focus on cohesion as a fundamental value of the European Union, to pursue major challenges such as the European Green Deal, the Sustainable Development Goals, the European Pillar of Social Rights as well as the digital transformation. In the current crisis, cities, municipalities and regions need the direct support of a strong cohesion policy more than ever to prevent widening territorial disparities and an asymmetric recovery as Member States have different financial means to address the current economic and social challenges.

The #CohesionAlliance welcomes the European Commission’s proposal to ensure the role of Cohesion policy as a strong EU long-term investment policy, as well as the investment of 55 bn EUR (2018 prices) through REACT-EU to provide an effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its social and economic consequences. The extension of the current Operational Programmes will allow for a quick implementation of crucial investment. In addition, the increased flexibility for transferring resources between funds and the widening of scope to support the health services, tourism and culture sectors as well as to provide working capital to SMEs will help local and regional governments invest money where it is most needed, provided that it fully respects the cohesion core principles.

The Alliance is nevertheless concerned that without consideration for the diverse needs of regions, cities and municipalities as well as strong involvement of local actors, the Recovery and Resilient Facility – which is the most powerful investment tool of the EU recovery plans – is at risk of failure. For now, most measures are only directed to Member States without clarifying how much say local and regional authorities would have in revising programmes and in spending resources. The strong link of the Facility to the European Semester and to country specific recommendations can lead to a further centralisation of the recovery plans. The Alliance urges all EU and national institutions – and in particular EU Reforms and Cohesion Commissioner Elisa Ferreira – to take the needed steps to ensure that the national plans for recovery and resilience comply with the Partnership Principle, respond to the real needs of citizens and businesses and allow for stronger and more structured involvement of local and regional authorities.

The #CohesionAlliance partner organisations have put forward their priorities in a new draft declaration affirming cohesion as a fundamental value of the European Union and a key objective for all its policies and investment. The partners of the Cohesion Alliance 2.0 will launch the new declaration during their next meeting in early June.

 Contact the #CohesionAlliance secretariat:

[email protected]

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