ESPON
Theme -Continental territorial structures and flows (globalisation).
Main focus
Globalisation is accelerating with European competitiveness becoming more and more interwoven and dependent on the rest on the world. Understanding Europe in the world is a prerequisite for policy making and for promoting Europe in this international competition.
Integration, cooperation and smart exploitation of resources are key factors for improving the competitiveness of European regions in the globalised world scene. It is also important to better understand the territorial structures and patterns of economic activity at world level, as well as flows between continents and throughout European regions. Regions are under strong impact on many trends and developments related to globalisation and need support to decide on potential strategic investments that could increase their competitiveness in this globalized world.
This project is going to look at globalisation from a territorial perspective and to analyse its territorial aspects and its dynamics at different geographical scales. It shall also address the importance of territorial cooperation and flows linking EU territory. The main aim of the project is to look into the territorial dimension of the globalisation process and analyse its significance for an enlarged Europe. A good understanding of the position of Europe and its regions in the global context and in relation to other cooperation areas shall be obtained. This should be done considering the present context, past trends and analysing changes but also in a prospective way in order to be able to face future challenges and better exploit territorial potentials of the various European regions.
Please read more about the main research areas and main results envisaged
Lead Partner Free University of Brussels, Belgium. More details at Transnational Project Groups.
Budget: € 999 801,00 Project’s lifetime: February 2010 – December 2012
More information
Project Expert at the ESPON Coordination Unit: Sandra DI BIAGGIO, e-mail: sandra.di.biaggio@espon.eu
You can download the Inception Report and the Project Specification