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Regional Cohesion isn't as easy as just building an airport, warns one speaker as Fellows consider the conditions needed for transformative change

EU Cohesion Policy might “matter more than any other policy the EU has ever implemented,” but that’s not enough to guarantee that it will work to boost inclusive growth across Europe, participants were warned on the third day of the main program of the Salzburg Global session “Mind the Gap! Innovating for Regional Cohesion and Smart Growth.”

Regional cohesion is “not as easy as saying ‘Let’s have an airport, build a bridge or a science park.’ You need a coherent strategic plan,” said one panelist during the first discussion on ‘Conditions for Transformation: Building Constituencies for Lasting Results.’

In evaluating the success of EU cohesion policies since 1989, DG REGIO found unsurprisingly that programs with a robust strategic plan had delivered more measurable success. “Results orientated management is vital,” the panelist added.

DG REGIO’s evaluation study revealed, for example, that infrastructure projects did not always lead to sustained economic development. In some regions where there had been less strategic planning and long-term thinking, the study found that an excess of infrastructure had been built – the infamous “roads to nowhere” – which means that these regions are now burdened with the upkeep of little-used roads and airports or have to face their closure just a few years after their opening.

Having an effective strategic plan requires clear goals and metrics by which success can be measured. First and foremost, project planners need to have a clear idea of what success would look like in order to achieve it. Measuring the kilometers of new roads is much easier than measuring potential long-term economic impact, but are kilometers laid the best success metric by which to assess a Cohesion Policy program? And however difficult measuring economic impact might be, this is still considerably easier than measuring social impact and community cohesion – which are fundamental building blocks of EU Cohesion Policy as a tool to tackle inequality.

Having the right partners to help prepare, implement and evaluate the programs is another vital element for success. These partners can include business, civil society organizations and NGOs as well as public bodies. Panelists agreed that projects run with partners selected by the regional governments and local authorities directly concerned with the project’s delivery are more successful than those run with partners selected by a distant national government or DG REGIO, because partners close to the ground are better able to assess priorities for both the project and the region or city.

Even if a project is measurable and is considered to have been a success, there’s still no guarantee that EU Cohesion Policy was the main reason for that success. There are many other strategies, policies and other external factors that can enhance or hinder the EU Cohesion Policy’s programs, one speaker told the Fellows. 

These factors will differ from region to region, city to city – and social, political, cultural and economic conditions obviously differ within and between in every country in the EU. Despite this, one uniting factor across all EU member states is their desire to renew or strengthen growth that is both sustainable and inclusive.

During the afternoon session on Drivers of Innovation and Smart Growth, the Fellows discussed the need for “smart specialization strategies,” an evidence-based approach which adopts and adapts innovative approaches from other countries. The panel was designed to look both within and beyond the EU to provide a global perspective on sustainable, smart growth and how to achieve it. 

Smart specialization strategies (3S) need to be particular and unique to an individual region. Whilst precedents from around the world can be analyzed for benefits, 3S strategies for implementation in European regions must never be copy pasted from somewhere else. Just because a business model is successful in a particular region does not mean it will succeed in another area. There needs to be a robust theoretical framework to deliver and replicate success: looking at culture, nuance, regional natural resources and assets, location and most importantly, the personality and skill set of the local people. Sustainable smart growth can only be accomplished by considering local human capital and how their lives might benefit from changes to social structures, with education, environment, health care, transport and infrastructure amongst the most prevalent challenges.

National and regional governments seeking to implement innovative regional cohesion policies need to be sensitive to these factors. Development is only truly effective when it is inclusive on all levels. Businesses and the public should not only be engaged and invested in governmental and regional decisions, but their knowhow and skills should be seen as a diverse talent pool. Education and training, while critical for the labor market, should not be seen just as a means to fill short-term vacancies. More broadly, education needs to provide a dynamic framework to leverage collaborative efforts to change current approaches to innovation, creativity, and information exchange. Investment in people is just as important as financial investment; an engaged society is the only foundation for fruitful growth.

If communities are not constantly maintaining and developing their own skill sets, they will not be able to contribute to the network of cities across different regions. The framework underpinning this approach is a “triple helix,” interlinking the knowledge and creative sector, the entrepreneurial sector and the community sector. Encouraging countries and regions to pool resources between centers can stimulate human capital growth and inspire self-development, self-analysis and self-improvement. 

Building networks for lifelong and mutual learning aligns closely with other EU policy objectives and funding mechanisms, which should facilitate interdependent investment. 

Technological and industrial cooperation was a core value of the EEC (the early predecessor to the EU) where an innovative approach to reorganizing the production of coal and steel was established after decades of war. Today’s markets and production systems have been revolutionized along with globalization and new technology, making it possible to build dynamic yet resilient systems and value chains.

Digital technologies were seen as significant boundary breakers in the evolution of new markets, ensuring that both the urban and the rural regions can take best advantage of their assets. These new frontiers allow for the disparities between cities and villages that have existed since the industrial revolution to shrink through a more open dialogue and a more targeted response to individual needs on a local scale, providing a more accurate picture of human capital.

Panelists highlighted the good news story that five out of the top 10 innovation economies in the world are in the EU. To enable less innovative Member States to transform their performance, with competitiveness benefits for the EU as a whole, active leadership, networks and policies are essential to galvanize protracted and prolonged growth. By investing in science and research, technology, and culture at local levels, cities will better be able to facilitate a constant evolution in the trade cycle that is adapted to regional variations across an entire continent. Ideally, each region’s growth will progressively correlate to growth in another region, then another and another, creating a series of interdependent creative networks. 

The session, 'Mind the Gap! Innovating for Regional Cohesion and Smart Growth', runs from Sunday 18 until Wednesday 21 May. For session summaries and interviews, check the session page www.salzburgglobal.org/go/534 and our social media platforms using #SGSEuro for updates.