Assembly of European Regions

Connecting regions, inspiring Europe since 1985

You are here: Home / Archives for Transports

This tag is for all posts relating to transports.

AER explores E-Health, Transport & Inclusion during workshops at Spring Committee Plenaries

By

E-health workshop

Agneta Granström (Norrbotten, SE), Chair of the AER E-Health Network, opened the workshop by providing a brief update on the activities of the Network. Highlighting the group’s key successes in bringing e-health to the forefront of the European agenda and fostering interregional cooperation in this field, Agneta mentioned the H2020 SEED project and its Silver Economy Awards to innovative solutions in improving the quality of life of the ageing population, and the MOCHA (Models of Child Health Appraised) project to appraise the differing models of child health used across Europe. Delegates also had the opportunity to hear about the development of a new EU project on leadership for the development of e-health in Europe (presentation here).

Sandra Evans, from the University of Tübingen presented the Mach 5 project on Mutual Learning Partnerships Driving Social Innovation on Healthy Living Eastward across 5 European Countries. Sandra shared the key activities and lessons learned during the project, which established dynamic trans-regional clusters and multi-stakeholder ecosystems and expanded the European learning community on ICT for active and healthy ageing (presentation here).

Diane Whitehouse, from EHTEL (European Health Telematics Association), talked about the deployment of integrated care systems. Diana presented AER members with SCIROCCO, a 12 dimension-maturity model developed by the Action Group on Integrated Care of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing. Diana encouraged wider testing and application of the this on-line self-assessment tool that facilitates the successful scaling up and transfer of good practices in integrated care across European regions (presentation here). AER members offered insights into regional health and care systems in Värmland (SE), Trento (IT) and Prahova (RO).

Working Group on Transport and Mobility

Martin Tollén (Region Östergötland, SE), Chair of the AER Working Group on Transports and Mobility moderated this discussion.

Sergiu Bilcea, Vice President of the Arad County Council (RO), gave a presentation on a regional example of a transport and mobility project happening in Arad County. Sergiu explained how the region has improved cross-border mobility through the construction and modernization of roads with cross-border impact, using Cohesion Policy funds. The Vice President of the Arad County Council described how these investments promoted the cross-border labour mobility between Hungarian and Romanian territories and enabled Romania to make further progress on its accession to Schengen Area (Presentation available here).

Vivian Stribos (Gelderland, NL) then presented the Rhine-Alpine Corridor EGTC (European Grouping on Territorial Cooperation), which was created to strengthen and coordinate the integrated development of the Corridor from a regional and local perspective for an innovative, green and smart Corridor. Vivan challenged the Working Group to build mutual learning between regions from the nine core network corridors. AER members expressed interest in exploring the potential value of platform for exchange (Presentation available here).

The Chair of the Working Group, Martin Tollén, updated members on the New Mobility Services initiative of the Action Cluster Sustainable Urban Mobility of the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities (EIP-SCC). Bringing cities and regions together with other stakeholders to show-case innovative mobility solutions and support their replication, the Action Cluster on Sustainable Urban Mobility launched this initiative to help better integrate and manage urban transport, contributing to the development of collective systems for seamless multi-modal mobility, and create an open and collaborative marketplace for new mobility services in Europe.

Roger Esteferos (Senior Expert, SE), elaborated on the state aid to State Aid to Regional Airports, providing an update on the situation (Presentation available here).

Workshop on inclusion

Highlights of this workshop include an insightful presentation from Erika Stark, General Manager of the Directorate of Child Protection and Social Assistance of Arad region (RO), who explained how the regional social services came together with the NGO sector and the communities themselves to reach out to those at risk of poverty and social exclusion. Erika shared the region’s strategy and programmes aimed at preventing and reintegrating those already experiencing social exclusion, presenting the initiatives targeted at the most vulnerable and socially excluded, in particular children and young people and people with disabilities. Erika talked about the work of the Arad region with children in care and the support provided to young people leaving care to make the transition to adulthood, as well as the employment and skills programmes developed for people with disabilities.

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Are you interested to work on community resilience within the Turkey and EU grant scheme?

By

The Hatay Municipality (TR) is working on the submission of a project under the Town Twinning Action between Turkey and the EU Grant Scheme and is urgently looking for European partners to complete the partnerships.

The overall objective of this project is to enhance knowledge on community resilience. The main goal is to prepare a city resilience status report to influence policy makers of cities involved. The project would cover the following areas:

  • resilience to climate change
  • wellbeing and quality of life, especially housing and traffic
  • cultural resilience
  • the management’s enhancement of environment and natural resources

The project would allow the partners to discuss and develop a set of simple models but also to gain an understanding of the principles of resilience theory in different areas and exchange of good practices, that could be applied to future projects.

Hatay Municipality is looking for partners that could join the project, meaning European cities experienced in the implementation and evaluation of community resilience, both on a social and environmental perspective.

If you are interested to learn more about this project or to be involved in the partnership, please come back to us by 20th March 2018 at the very latest.

Contact

European Projects

Agnese Pantaloni

Phone: +32 2 400 10 52
E-mail: a.pantaloni(at)aer.eu
Skype ID: agnesepanta
Languages: it, en, pt

Articles by Agnese

  • EU funding
  • Calls for projects and tenders
  • Partner search

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Committee 1 Progress Report Spring 2018

By

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

Evaluating progress

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

  • Projects
  • Good practice sharing
  • Advocacy/ Lobbying

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

Projects

  • Silver Economy Awards (SEED): ongoing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Citizens for Cohesion. 351 times closer to Europe: cancelled

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Migrant Entrepreneur Support Scheme Against Gap of Economic System: cancelled

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Good Practice Sharing

  • Committees Autumn Plenaries in Nancy: finished

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

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

  • INTERREG Europe Policy Learning Platform (IEPLP): finished

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

  • Study visit on the Energy transition: planned

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

  • Event on a current transversal topic: finished

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

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

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

  • Follow up on photonics: finished

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

  • Conference on biomass: finished

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

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

  • Cooperation with the World Sustainable Energy Day: finished

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

  • Workshop on Public procurement for green innovation: finished

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

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

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

  • AER event on EFSI: finished

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

  • Nudging: finished

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

  • Awareness raising on sustainable mobility: ongoing

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

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

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

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

  • Digitalisation of transports: ongoing

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

  • Promotion of knowledge about innovative technologies: ongoing

The sharing of knowledge is being carried out via:

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

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

AER AT THE EUROPEAN WEEK OF CITIES AND REGIONS

  • Workshop on climate and energy transition: finished

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

  • Workshop on the Silver Economy: finished

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

  • Workshop of the INTERREG Europe Policy Learning Platform: finished

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

 

Advocacy/ Lobbying

  • Cohesion Policy Activities: ongoing

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

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

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

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

  • AER Report on Regionalisation: ongoing

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

  • COP23 Local and Regional governments Leaders´ Summit: finished

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

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

  • R20 Summit: finished

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

  • Financing climate action: ongoing

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

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

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

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

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

  • Sustainable biofuels: finished

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

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

  • Legislation on biogas: finished

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

 

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

B-solutions: call for proposals for pilot actions is launched!

By

The ambitious 10 points Action Plan set out in the Communication “Boosting Growth and Cohesion in EU Border Regions” is moving one important step forward. The Association of European Border Regions (AEBR), under the supervision of DG REGIO have prepared and launched the initiative “b-solutions”, meaning a call for proposals to finance up to 20 pilot actions aiming at solving specific border obstacles of administrative and/or legal nature.

Public authorities should seize the opportunity offered by this initiative to test effective ways —in the form of pilot actions— of overcoming border obstacles of a legal and/or administrative nature along EU internal land borders (including also the neighbouring EFTA countries) that can be replicable in other contexts. Each of these pilot actions must focus on one of the topics highlighted in the Communication and accompanying Staff Working Document, i.e. employment, health, transport, multi-lingualism and institutional cooperation. Each of these projects (actions) will have the objective of exploring one specific solution for one specific problem in one specific border. Projects will be implemented during a maximum period of 15 months.

The call will stay open until 30 April 2018 h 14:00 CET, having a budget of 400.000 EUR available to finance with sub-grants of 20.000 small pilot projects. The information regarding thematic coverage, eligibility, application form, selection process, and assistance can be found in the official website of b-solutions.

Contact

European Projects

Agnese Pantaloni

Phone: +32 2 400 10 52
E-mail: a.pantaloni(at)aer.eu
Skype ID: agnesepanta
Languages: it, en, pt

Articles by Agnese

  • EU funding
  • Calls for projects and tenders
  • Partner search

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

The essential guide to contributing to the work programmes

By

Spring is work programme definition season at AER! On the occasion of the Spring Plenary meetings in Arad, members of the three thematic Committees will decide what they would like to do together and how they will leverage regional initiatives via the network. The below elements will help you make the most of this opportunity.

Rule nº1: everything is possible

The main idea is the following: if you want to carry out something within the network, just do it! Any idea is welcome!

The actions members can implement via the committees are diverse: project development, organisation of a workshop, seminar, international conference, study visit, brokerage event, breakfast briefing, webinar, collection of good practices, elaboration of a political report based on the experience of regions etc.

To have it included in the work programme, members should:

  1. Share their idea in the relevant Committee plenary meeting. This will be done in workshop style (see below). Members should explain what they would like to do and how they would like to implement their action.
  2. Explain how other regions will benefit: visibility? contacts? new collaborations? benefits for other regional stakeholders…
  3. Explicit what support they would need from other regions: speakers? Ideas? Partners for a project? Contacts to a specific stakeholder? Support for an advocacy action? Advice…
  4. Agree with other members on upcoming steps and be specific!

Rule nº2: everything is possible

The topics addressed in the three AER Committees are the following topics:

  1. Economy and regional development
  2. Social policy and public health
  3. Culture, education and youth

Because these topics are rather broad, many policy areas can be addressed within the different Committees. The topics which have been addressed recently give an idea of what is possible but shouldn’t be considered as a limit. As long as an action fits with the AER values, is in line with the AER priorities and has support from other regions, it can be included in the Committees work programmes.

Committee 1 works on issues covering innovation, economic development and SMEs, Cohesion Policy, transport and mobility, renewable energies and rural development. For the past year, there has been a strong focus on supporting the collaboration of regional innovation stakeholders. Members in partiular discussed the implications of the rise of artificial intelligence, on regional policy making. Long term investments and green investments are also high on the Committee 1 agenda as illustrated by the collaboration with the R20.

Committee 2 is supporting members in implementing e-Health services and exploring the potential of integrated care. It aims at building leadership on change management and innovation in the public sector. Active ageing is a major topic, especially for cooperation at EU level. Inclusion is also a key topics. Committee 2 members have started to collaborate with Committee 3 on the topic on youth mental health, exploring the possibilities for project development and sharing good practice.

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

How this will be done

As with the London Spring Plenaries, Participants will be seated around round tables, where each table will work around one topic (or set of related topics). They will share their own ideas & develop jointly actions on the different topics the Committees are working on.

The 3 plenary meetings will be held separately and consecutively so that members are able to participate in all meetings, allowing for synergies & cooperation between Committees.

Members of the AER Youth Regional Network, the Summer Academy and the Eurodyssey programmes are invited to join the process as well so that they can provide ideas on how their work could integrate and feed the work of the committees.

At the end of the session the different actions will be brought together on a flip-chart and organised according to the 3 main categories:

  • Advocacy/ Lobbying
  • Projects
  • Good practice exchange

This document will then be adopted as the Committee’s action plan.

How to prepare?

In order to get involved AER members can

  • identify the needs they have in their region which could be addressed via the AER network
  • liaise with their colleagues from other regional departments to identify needs
  • define an activity they would like to carry out in the Committees
  • think about how other members could contribute and benefit from this activity
  • Join the AER Committees online community in order to already share and test ideas with other members
  • think how they can support other members who have suggested joint actions

What is a Committee?

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

 

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

AER: Working to Improve European Transportation Systems

By

AER is excited to announce it will be attending the ACI Europe’s 11th Annual Regional Airports’ Conference and Exhibition in Naples, Italy. Mr. Roger Esterfors, the expert on regional airports from the AER Working Group on Transports and Mobility will represent AER at the conference.

ACI Europe is the European branch of Airports Council International, the only global federation of airports operators, serving as the European trade body for airports. With a membership comprised of airport operators of all sizes, along with national airport associations, global businesses, and educational establishments, AIC helps members work together to ensure effective communication and advocacy on relevant legislative, commercial, technical, environmental, and passenger issues.

The conference will consist of multiple high-level sessions including cutting edge presentations and panel discussions from industry leaders, top level decision makers and other airport professionals. Taking place in Cork, Ireland, last year’s event attracted over 200 delegates from 25 different countries and 25 different airports. This year’s event is expected to

Considering the difficulties in communication between regional airports, the event will provide a platform for regional airports to exchange knowledge, share best practices, and discuss issues of common interest. Attendees will also benefit from presentations from industry experts in the airport community where they can discover the latest trends, issues, and challenges facing the airport industry. The event also gives exclusive networking opportunities from members of ACI Europe as well as delegates from Europe and abroad.

AER Working Group on Transports and Mobility

The AER Working Group on Transports and Mobility has been established to address key transport issues such as connectivity and permeability,  financing of infrastructure, regulation of state and regional airports, as well a host of other issues. The group also acts as a forum for the exchange of knowledge and experience among regions. It is currently chaired by Mr. Martin Tollén, a County Councillor from Östergötland in Sweden.

Over the last few years, the working group has been active at numerous events, conferences, and workshops. In 2016, in partnership with Revolve Media in Brussels the working group moderated a debate on sustainable mobility where experiences from several regions were shared including Östergötland, Basel, and Brussels Capital. Since then, AER has cooperated with Revolve Media to highlight good practices in the field of transport, bringing attention to AER members doing work on sustainable transport.

Last March, the working group participated in a breakfast briefing in London with LSE on new urban mobility with a specific focus on how to influence users’ behaviour and choices to transition towards more sustainable transportation. Additionally, in October 2017 Mr. Tollen participated in Smart Airports in Berlin, a series of conferences on role, evolution, and future of airports.

AER has also joined the New Mobility Services Initiative (NMS) of the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities to enable regions to provide their stakeholders with an international forum for cooperation and to influence the European Commission’s agenda for the development of calls for projects. The NMS is a joint venture between public and private partners designed to establish strategic partnerships between industry and European cities and regions to develop modern urban mobility systems and infrastructure. Facilitated by Mr. Edwin Mermans, a civil servant from Noord Brabant, the project is open for all European regions and cities who wish to join or send stakeholders. This February, Mr. Tollén will be attending a NMS meeting in Brussels on behalf of the AER’s working group.

For those interested, more information on AER’s working group on transport and mobility is available on our website.

 

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Interreg NWE Project Ideas Lab: call for registration

By

The Interreg North West Europe organises a transnational Project Ideas Lab on the 28th of February in London!

This event is specifically aimed at prospective applicants and will be structured around giving participants the floor to network, find new partners and develop project ideas. The NWE team will also share examples of successfully funded projects and explain  in-depth the programme’s priorities for funding.

The countries target by the Interreg NWE are: Ireland, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and parts of France, Germany and the Netherlands.

This is the perfect occasion for applicants to get some help in developing their project idea making sure to be ready for the upcoming  call for project proposals (deadline on 26 April 2018).

Participation is free, but registration is mandatory,  therefore register now! The deadline for registrations is Wednesday, 14th February.

 For more information, please visit the event page.

How to get the most out of the Project Ideas Lab?

Start exchanging with other participants, scout potential partners, and give your project idea more visibility through the  Project Ideas Lab group on Linkedin.  

You can also submit your project idea and share it on the dedicated project ideas database.

 Contact

European Projects

Agnese Pantaloni

Phone: +32 2 400 10 52
E-mail: a.pantaloni(at)aer.eu
Skype ID: agnesepanta
Languages: it, en, pt

Articles by Agnese

  • EU funding
  • Calls for projects and tenders
  • Partner search

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Call for nominations: AER General Assembly and Committees 2018

By

Per AER Statute and Procedures, the AER Election Committee will inventory and prepare for the elections at the General Assembly and the Committees. The time-table is as follows:

AER Spring Committe Plenaries, 20 March 2018

  • Call for nominations: 23 January 2018
  • Candidate’s applications: The Election Committee will accept applicants until 23 February 2018  
  • Candidate’s portfolios distributed: 6 March 2018

AER General Assembly, 22 May 2018

  • Call for nominations: 27 March 2018
  • Candidate’s applications: 10 April 2018
  • Candidate’s portfolios distributed: 8 May 2018

The AER secretariat will not be in a position to answer questions relating to the election process. All applications and questions relating to the elections should be addressed to:
Kurt Ake Hammarstedt, +46 70 527 83 50

Elections at the General Assembly

The Election Committee will nominate candidates for the elections at the General Assembly by listing all nominees from the AER Members and nominate one candidate for each position. If necessary, the Election Committee may nominate candidates of its own.

The Executive Board

The members of the Executive Board have a term of two years. The current members were elected in 2017, so the positions are up for elections at the General Assembly 2019.

The Bureau

The Bureau consists of the members of the Executive Board and two representatives per State represented within the AER. They have a term of two years and may be re-elected for a second consecutive mandate. Upon proposal by the Regions within a State, they can serve a third consecutive term.

The members of the Bureau and their substitutes are suggested by the Regions of the different states represented in AER and ratified by the General Assembly. The AER Election Committee will present the nominations at the General Assembly, without further processing.

The Monitoring and Evaluation Group

The members of the Monitoring and Evaluation Group have a term of three years. The current members were elected in 2016, so the positions are up for elections at the General Assembly 2019.

The Election Committee

The members of the Election Committee have a mandate for one year, so the positions are up for elections at the General Assembly 2018. The current members are:

Each member of the Election Committee must be nominated by an AER member and hold a regional political mandate, in accordance with AER Statute 1.8.

Elections at the Committees

Per AER Statute 9.3, the Committees may prepare, decide and implement initiatives in the framework of their assignments, including assigning ad hoc Working Groups and Task Forces to assist in their activities. Each Committee is chaired by a President with a term of two years, renewable once. The committee Presidents are also members of the Executive Board.

The Committee Presidium consists of the President and the Vice-Presidents of the committee and will take a joint responsibility for the planning of the committee’s activities.

Please note that delegates in all bodies of AER must hold a regional political mandate, in accordance with AER Statute 1.8. They may give due written authorization for a representative.

The Election Committee will nominate candidates for the elections at the Committees by listing all nominees from the AER Members and nominate one candidate for each position. If necessary, the Election Committee may nominate candidates of its own.

At the Committee Spring Plenaries 2018 the following positions are up for elections:

Committee 1 for Economy & Regional development

  • Vice-President for Economic Development and Mobility
  • One female and one male representative for the Equal Opportunities Group
  • Chair of the working group on Energy and Climate Change
  • Chair of the working group on Rural Development

Committee 2 for Social policy & Public health

  • One female representative for the Equal Opportunities Group (her role should be to share a vision for the Committee and provide the necessary impulse for action, advise the Committee President on Equal Opportunities issues as well as insure info flow towards Equal Opportunities Group from Committee 2)
  • Vice President for Inclusion & Social entrepreneurship (the Committee 2 Vice Presidents advise the Committee 2 President on policy and strategy and support him to represent AER and speak at external events)

Committee 3 for Culture, Education & Youth

  • President (the current holder, Dag Rønning, Hedmark (NO) has stepped down)
  • Chair of the Sub-Committee on Education and Training

AER Statute and Procedures about nominations

Per AER Statute and Procedures, the following is applicable to nominations to the General Assembly and the Committees:

In general

Statute 1.5: The bodies of AER are:

  1. a) The governing bodies: The General Assembly and the Executive Board;
  2. b) The Bureau for political discussion, debate and decision making as basis for lobbying and advocacy;
  3. c) The Thematic Committees for exchange and dissemination of best practise and running of programmes and projects.

The composition of all AER bodies should respect a geographical and gender balance.

Statute 1.7: The working language of AER is English.

Statute 1.8: Delegates in all bodies of AER must hold a regional political mandate. They may give due written authorization for a representative. In case of absence or should a delegate’s regional mandate be lost, the Executive Board is, after a period of a maximum of six months, charged to assign a substitute until the next General Assembly.

Statute 1.9: All votes in all AER bodies are by simple majority, defined as more than 50% of those present and voting, unless otherwise specified in the present statute. All elections are carried out by secret ballot, unless a unanimous decision to the contrary is made by the body in question. Other decisions are taken through a vote by show of hands, unless a member requests otherwise. In the event of a tied vote, on issues other than elections, the President of the body in question has the casting vote.

Statute 1.10: Common practice of political assemblies shall be applied to all AER meetings. Decisions are, in principle and whenever possible, adopted by consensus of opinion. The consensus should be understood as being the absence of any objection formulated and submitted by a member which may constitute an obstacle to the decision in question.

The General Assembly

Statute 4.3: Each Full member of AER, after paying the membership dues, has one vote at the General Assembly. The vote will be expressed

  1. a) Directly by one of the representatives of the member region present;
  2. b) By proxy from one absent region to one region present.

Procedures 4.1: Proposals to be presented at the General Assembly, can be submitted up to the evening before the start of the Executive Board meeting preceding the General Assembly.

Procedures 4.1.1:  The Executive Board will give its opinion on the proposals to the General Assembly.

The Committees

Statute 9.5: Each Committee is chaired by a President, elected by the General Assembly on proposal by the committee itself and with a term of 2 years, renewable once. The President is responsible for the committee’s smooth running.

Procedures 11.2: Each Committee President’s region is charged to appoint a seconded officer to act as committee secretariat in liaison with the secretariat and, ideally, at the AER office in Brussels. The seconded officer is responsible for:

  • Co-organise events and projects in collaboration with the secretariat;
  • Manage the content of the meetings;
  • Draft speeches and policy contributions

Procedures 11.3: The Committee Presidium consists of the President and the Vice-Presidents of the committee and will take a joint responsibility for the planning of the committee’s activities.

Contact person

The Election Committee is in charge of the organisation of the election process. Mr Brian Greenslade, President of the Election Committee has appointed Mr Kurt Ake Hammarstedt as the contact person. Therefore, all applications and questions relating to the elections should be addressed to:

Kurt Ake Hammarstedt
+46 70 527 83 50

The AER secretariat will not be in a position to answer questions relating to the election process.

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

#ShineBright – Sustainable mobility – Izmir

By

Izmir has been investing in a more sustainable mobility for the past years.

AER recognises the region’s dedication and rewards it with a ShineBright award! Upgrading public transport in order to make them more eco-friendly is not an easy task, but Izmir is keeping up with the challenge.

The region of Izmir has developed an ambitious connectivity strategy. The region is implementing a wide range of successful actions in order to improve the sustainability of mobility.

Others have recognised Izmir’s successful transition to a sustainable mobility. The communication agency, Revolve, dedicated a whole article about the region’s achievements on the sustainable development field.

Izmir is carrying out a wide-range of actions to improve the sustainability of mobility. There are almost 6 million journeys taken in one day in İzmir and two thirds of these are taken in the centre are by vehicle (motor vehicles such as private vehicle, bus, minibus, services, motorcycle).

Izmir has set up an impressive range of public transportation including rail (serving 192 kilometres), sea transportation (ferry boats), rubber-tired vehicle transportation, electric buses, bicycles, and the very useful “busses carrying bicycles” allowing passengers to better switch from one public transport to another. These numerous vehicles are optimised by projects and studies that guarantee their proper implementation and usage.

Izmir is setting high standards for sustainable mobility!

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Last call to join the Horizon 2020 Project Development Week!

By

What are you waiting for to join the Horizon 2020 Project Development Week? The deadline for the registration, set on the November 27th, is getting closer so do not miss this fantastic opportunity to exchange project ideas, find partners for consortiums, ensuring your success when applying for Horizon 2020 funding.

What?

After the success of the brokerage event on the green economy and innovation, we are this time proposing a new type of event in collaboration with ERRIN to stimulate project development: the Horizon 2020 Project Development Week. This 5-day event replaces the half day brokerage event on e-health initially foreseen. It will bring together over 400 different regional stakeholders around a series of selected EU calls to initiate project partnerships, in a wide range of relevant topics, such as health, energy, ICT, smart cities, opening science, blue innovative growth and transport, among others.

Why?

By attending any of the proposed sessions within the ERRIN Project Development Week you will be able to:

  • Obtain detailed information on the Horizon 2020 2018-2020 Work Programs;
  • Expand your network, set up consortia, and build new partnerships;
  • Get sound expert advices on concrete project ideas;
  • Increase the chances to submit a successful proposal and be funded!

How?

Check the agenda of the event (see below), consider the type of involvement and project ideas, register at the website, and decide on how you can contribute to the different breakout sessions.

You can contact ERRIN for further inquires at the following e-mail address: [email protected]

(The event is free of charge and open to everyone although participation is upon selection)

Agenda

And AER Regions?

The AER, as a supporting partner of ERRIN in this event, would like to take the opportunity to invite all member regions to engage in the breakout sessions and get to know the project ideas that will be presented by regional stakeholders. This event can provide regions with valuable inputs regarding EU research and innovation policy and can contribute significantly to helping them develop successful projects and thus raise their profile at the EU level.

Contact

 

 

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Connectivity: AER at Smart Airports in Germany

By

AER was invited to contribute to Smart Airports in Munich, a series of conferences about the role, evolution and future of airports. Martin Tollén, Chair of the AER working group on Transports & Mobility shared insights on growth, social responsibility and sustainability during the first day conference “Aviation & Economic Development”. His presentation on regional connectivity and competitiveness provided a much needed regional perspective on this topic since all other presentations and speakers were focused on national airports and their contribution to national economic growth.

The topic

The topic of regional airports has been dealt with for several years within the AER working group on Transports & Mobility as it is a key element of regional connectivity as demonstrated by the SEO report on the role of regional airports in a future transportation system.

The mission

One of AER’s missions is to be the voice of the regions in Europe. In that role, AER has worked with the issue of state aid and financing of regional airports for many years, often in cooperation with ACI – Airports Council International. The reason for this involvement lays in the fact that many AER members have smaller airports which might need support in order to maintain operations.
Because politicians are real people too, they also have “real” jobs. Martin Tollén is a politician in Region Östergötland (SE), and when he is not working with politics he is a risk manager at the defence and security company Saab. While Saab has a lot to offer also in the airport industry, Martin Tollén spoke in Munich exclusively as a representative for AER, not for Saab.

Regional attractiveness & aviation

The European Commission launched a comprehensive strategy for the European aviation sector in December 2015, stating that Aviation is a strong driver of economic growth, jobs, trade and mobility for the European Union. Airport infrastructure availability is a major determinant in the location choices of large firms’ headquarters in Europe. Connectivity, however, cannot be taken for granted. Airport connectivity in Europe varies significantly between major hubs on the one hand offering hundreds of destinations and small regional airports on the other with only a few. The Chair of the AER working group on Transports & Mobility underlined the crucial role of regional airports for regional development and shared the experience of his own region:

My region, Östergötland is a good example of the importance of smaller airports for regional competitiveness. From our two airports we have three daily flights to Amsterdam and two to Munich. That was enough for Toyota Material Handling to locate its European head office close to its plant in Östergötland.

Around Linköping University, small but fast growing high tech companies have emerged. They have a wealth of possibilities but few resources. With few employees they cannot afford to spend most part of a day in a car or on a train travelling to and from one of the larger Scandinavian airports. If it weren’t for the regional airport, many of these companies would have to leave the region.
Regional airports make it also easier to visit large companies such as Siemens, Saab, Sectra, Ericsson and of course, Linköping University.

A resilient Energy Union

The future competitiveness of the European air transport sector and its environmental sustainability go hand-in-hand.

Multistakeholder collaboration

In line with the Energy Union agenda, an important contribution to the reduction of aviation’s environmental impacts will come from current research and development actions for innovative “green” technologies, including the development and market deployment of advanced biofuels. EU programmes support the modernisation of air traffic management and the reduction of the impact on the environment. Clean Sky, the largest European research programme for the development of cutting-edge technology aimed at reducing CO2, gas emissions and noise levels produced by aircraft is funded by the EU Horizon 2020 programme. In this context regional stakeholders in Östergötland have agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding. Moreover, the association for Sweden’s regional airports has committed to achieve of fossil free domestic flights in 2030. The transformation to fossil free fuel and a climate neutral flights requires multistakeholder engagement.

Efficient infrastructure

Urbanisation puts a pressure on the infrastructure in Europe’s larger cities where most of the major hubs are located. Regional airports present a possibility to reduce that pressure around the major hubs by spreading passengers on more nodes. Consequently, the resources which would have been needed to solve infrastructure problems in larger cities, can instead be used for other purposes. This makes it possible to create growth in a larger area and support the creation of a more robust society.

Preparing for the unforseen

As a risk manager Martin Tollén always looks at what lays ahead. Hi job is to inspire managers to prepare for the unforeseen. What about regional aviation and connectivity? The below two real-life experiences illustrate the idea that disruption often comes from places it is not expected.

Banking: who is going to be the next challenger?

A chief executive of one of the major Swedish banks was recently stating how little he worried about the competition from other banks:

…they are doing the same thing as we do and we just need to be a bit better than them

He wasn’t worried about competitors trying to cherry-pick parts of what banks are offering either. So, what kept this banking executive awake at night? It was completely new competitors transforming the industry itself. Goggle, Über, Apple have recently been mentioned as future partners for the airport industry. If they become the new competitors, how will the market look like? What products will be offered to clients?

Ice barons & refrigerators

In New England in the 1880th, Ice barons harvested ice from lakes during the winter and shipped it all over the world.

Nothing can threaten our success, the world will always need ice

They might have been aware that the refrigerator was invented a few years earlier, but they didn’t realise the impact on their own business.

The Chair of the AER Working Group on Transports & Mobility therefore encouraged the audience to reflect about challengers in a broader way and asked attendees: what are your refrigerators?

Photo by Deborah Kunzie on Unsplash
Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Workshop on smart green and integrated transport systems

By

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Key Milestones:

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

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

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

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

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

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

AER working group on Transports and Mobility

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

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Nancy workshops: targeted experience exchange

By

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

Data, the world’s most valuable resource

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

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

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

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

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

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

Transports: smart green and integrated

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

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

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

Regions for culture and vice-versa

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

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

Youth mental health: creating real added value

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

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

Life-cycle approaches

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

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

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

By

#AERCP2017

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

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

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

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

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

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

Committee 1

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

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

Committee 2

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

Committee 3

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

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

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

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

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

 

Related articles

Workshop on smart green and integrated transport systems

Workshop on smart green and integrated transport systems

The AER working group on Transports and Mobility held a workshop on smart green and integrated transport systems on 14 ...
Read More
Outcome of Executive board meeting (Nancy 12/09/17)

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

As the next Executive Board (EB) meeting is around the corner, here is a short recap of the main outcome ...
Read More
Nancy workshops: targeted experience exchange

Nancy workshops: targeted experience exchange

The value of data, smart green and integrated transport systems, regions and culture,  youth mental health and life-cycle approaches: the ...
Read More
The AER Committee Plenaries -  Thank you for an eventful week!

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

The AER Autumn committee plenary week was very busy indeed. Hosted by the city of Nancy and the region of ...
Read More
AER Committee Plenaries - 12/14 September - Relive the week here!

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

#AERCP2017 From 12 to 14 September, AER was in Nancy, France for their Autumn Committee Plenaries. The programme focused on the following ...
Read More
Committee 1 debates artificial intelligence

Committee 1 debates artificial intelligence

On the occasion of AER 2017 Autumn Plenaries, Committee 1 will host a debate on Artificial Intelligence. Proposed by Jean-Luc ...
Read More
Call for proposal on Cohesion Policy: the perfect call for AER region members!

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

There are no topics that fit AER's mission more than cohesion policy. During its Bureau meeting in Lower Austria, AER ...
Read More
Friendlier Healthcare for all regions? We're working on it!

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

Have you ever found yourself stuck for hours in your doctor's waiting room, waiting for a consultation that turns out ...
Read More
Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Committee 2 Progress report 2017

By

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

Evaluating progress

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

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

Projects

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

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

  • Project development, Youth Mental Health: ongoing

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

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

  • Silver Economy Awards (SEED): ongoing

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

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

  • Models of Child Health Appraised (MOCHA): ongoing

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

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

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

  • ACT2Bridge: project on reserve list

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

  •  AMID project for the inclusion of migrants with disabilities: ongoing

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

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

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

  • Project development, Social inclusion of vulnerable groups: ongoing

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

  • Project development, Combatting isolation and social exclusion: ongoing

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

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

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

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

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

  • Project development, Equal Health: tbc

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

 

Good Practice Sharing

  • Committees Autumn Plenaries in Nancy: ongoing

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

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

  • INTERREG Europe Policy Learning Platform (IEPLP): ongoing

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

  • Event on a current transversal topic: ongoing

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

  • Follow up on ALEC: ongoing

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

  • Healthcare without harm: tbc

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

  • Equal opportunities: tbc

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

AER AT THE EUROPEAN WEEK OF CITIES AND REGIONS

  • Workshop on the Silver Economy: ongoing

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

  • Workshop of the INTERREG Europe Policy Learning Platform: ongoing

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

Lobbying

  • Cohesion Policy Activities: ongoing

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

  • AER Report on Regionalisation: ongoing

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

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

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

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

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

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Library

Statutory Documents
AER Strategies
Minutes
Media Kit
Activity Reports
Newsletters
European Regions Map

Join AER!

Become a Member

Job Opportunities

Sign up for our Newsletter

Search

Website map