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SER at the ESDN conference: ‘Sustainable Development
goes Mozart’
What is Sustainable European
Regions (SER)?
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Works
towards building knowledge of actions that can
build sustainable futures for
EU regions |
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Looks for ways to improve policies,
strategies and systems to support sustainability
in European regions |
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Promotes sustainable development
amongst and on behalf of European regions
- driving the sustainable development agenda |
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Co-operates with other European
initiatives and organisation |
SER was established in 2002. It operates principally
through lead policy administrators
within partner regions across Europe who bring their
own and their colleagues
experience to the issues.
SER offers regular and ad hoc seminars and workshops
that bring together sustainable
development expertise on a common platform to discuss
best practice and develop new
policies and solutions.
Background to our work
SER’s initial work programme was funded by DG
Regio as part of its Innovative Actions strand and
centred around two key questions:
| 1. |
how
regions can become more sustainable and what makes
a sustainable region |
| 2. |
how can European Union action
and structural funds help to promote sustainable
regions.
The partner regions agreed eight work-topics through
which to explore those questions: |
CORE TOPICS:
Spatial Planning
Governance
Indicators
SPECIFIC TOPICS:
Post-Industrial Regeneration - Rural Depopulation/Demographics
- Low Carbon Economy - Sustainable Tourism - Sustainable
Production and Consumption
Each of these themes was worked through in seminars
in which the regional views were shared, developed
and then challenged by external stakeholders and experts.
This involved 60 regional case studies, 7 policy seminars,
7 regional study visits and analysis from 10 commissioned
policy reports.
The results were written up in the synthesis report:
‘Cohesive Thinking Towards a Sustainable Future’,
published in November 2004 and available here.
SER has identified five key policy
considerations
each illustrated by case studies: |
1. Regions are the right scale to be key to delivering
sustainable development
CASE
STUDY : EMILIA-ROMAGNA
Emilia-Romagna has embarked on a regional exercise:
‘La regione globale’. Globalisation
has
transformed the conditions which determine the
prosperity and quality of life in regions. To
move forward sustainably, a strategic framework
is needed – a coherent set of initiatives
to govern the transformation of the region. Like
other regions Emilia-Romagna want the strategic
plan to provide a means for the region to open
a dialogue with state and other stakeholders.
They see the role of government as starting a
debate on new ideas for development, to redefine
priorities and to gain a consensus on the way
forward. At the regional level it is possible
to create widespread agreement about visions,
goals and objectives that reflects both strategic
and local needs.
2.
Sustainable development should be the overall
aim of regional policy
CASE
STUDY : WALES, UK
There was a great desire to base the Welsh Assembly,
established in 1999, on modern principles of governance.
Its founding legislation therefore includes a
duty to promote sustainable development in the
carrying out of all its functions.
The approach taken has been to `mainstream` sustainable
development throughout the work
of the executive, particularly through testing
all new policies in a `policy gateway` to ensure
they are vertically and horizontally integrated;
and in the introduction of the Wales Spatial Plan
(People, Places, Futures) which binds all aspects
of government into distinctive visions for the
different areas of Wales.
3.
Maintaining or strengthening regional distinctiveness
is key to future competitiveness and well-being
CASE STUDY : ASTURIAS, SPAIN
The forming coal mining areas of Astrurias have
suffered major shocks with the loss of traditional
employment. In regenerating these areas, the emphasis
has been on valuing
the traditions while creating a stronger link
to the often attractive environments in which
the mining areas are cited. By establishing a
strong heritage tourism dimension to regeneration
activity and linking this to the creation of a
designated natural park area, the redevelopment
seeks to build on the strengths and traditions
of the area.
4.
The region can be shaped into an effective system
to support sustainable development
CASE STUDY : Västra
Götaland, Sweden
Västra Götaland has worked with researchers,
producers (biogas companies, car producers, farmers
etc) and consumers (both private and public),
to build a regional system that has made it possible
to use biogas throughout the region. The local
production of biogas is dependent on the car manufacturer
to produce cars, which use biogas as fuel. The
car production is only possible as long as there
is a market large enough to generate profit. One
important aspect has been the use of public sector
procurement as an instrument
to increasing the number of bio-gas cars on the
streets. The result is clearly visible in the
streets of Gothenburg, the regions centre, which
has seen a rapid increase in biogas cars and biogas
production.
5.
EU policy can help or hinder the policy integration
needed to deliver sustainable development at the
regional level
CASE
STUDY : Procurement and the EU
The European Commission recently approached the
Swedish government, expressing concern about a
clause in the City of Stockholm’s public
procurement policy which requires sustainable
transport means as a technical requirement for
the awarding of procurement contracts. The
Commission had doubts whether or not this requirement
implies a preference for regional bidders. |
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