EU Cohesion Policy and Spatial Planning need Cross-fertilisation and for that it needs Communication, Coordination and Cooperation
A new ESPON Policy Brief elaborates on the need for integrated policy through cross-fertilization of cohesion policy and spatial planning
If you live in Europe or elsewhere doesn't matter but efforts for integrated urban and territorial planning often end where selected sector policies dominate. And the lack of coordination may generate high costs. The European Union cohesion policy and spatial planning both have the common goal of territorial cohesion but often they stand like sector policies on their own and prevent synergy.
In December 2021 the European Territorial Observatory Network ESPON published its Policy Brief: Cross-fertilisation of cohesion policy and spatial planning. ESPON describes the two policies as complementary with a (not yet used) high potential for interrelation:
"EU cohesion policy and other EU sectoral policies provide funding to strengthen economic investment, employment and innovation; to promote more sustainable development; to enhance resilience to shocks and the impacts of climate change; to widen accessibility to services; and to build institutional capacity at all levels. Spatial planning employs strategy, policy and regulation to shape the spatial development of territories; to coordinate and combine investment in the most appropriate places; to protect sensitive environmental and cultural assets; to enhance the liveability of urban and rural environments; and to ensure all citizens have access to the opportunities and services they need." (page 7)
The paper argues that "spatial planning tools can play a key role in ensuring that in the countries and regions that receive cohesion policy funding the combined territorial impacts of cohesion policy and other sectoral policies are positive. Spatial planning in countries and regions is too often poorly prepared to assist with the territorial coordination of investments." The policy brief describes that the call for more effective coordination of sectoral policies had been long-standing but steps taken haven't been successful. A closer look is paid at the situation in Hungary and Czech Republic, followed by information on the changing relevance of cohesion policy and spatial planning in EU Member States.
The ESPON policy brief is in line with other EU documents like the European Spatial Development Perspective (1999) or the Barca Report (1999). It also can be seen as complementary to the United Nations New Urban Agenda and the International Guidelines on Urban and Territorial Planning. In addition, with new place-based tools like community-led local development (CLLD) and integrated territorial investment (ITI) the European Commission opened already the door for combining different funds and objectives across sectors.
Steps and actions that can strengthen cross-fertilisation
Following the above described analysis the policy brief proposes and outlines as key activity cross-fertilization to solve the problem. Cross-fertilization is understood as the interaction between sectoral policy decision-makers that creates complementarity increases efficiency through synergy and avoids the costs of non-coordination.
Seven practical steps are described as relevant to all countries, but especially where cohesion policy makes up a large share of territorial investments of the Union and Member States. The seven steps are not mandated but rest on the willingness of the main parties to cooperate for mutual benefit. They can be implemented with only minimal cost and much of this could be covered by cohesion policy. According to ESPON, experiences around Europe suggest that the resources needed are most certainly outweighed by the potential benefits.
The responsible parties should prioritise the following steps.
- Resolve unfavourable conditions that will hinder measures to strengthen cross-fertilisation, ensuring inclusive good governance practices and challenging the dominant ‘policy silo’ mindset through institutional and individual capacity building.
- Know the territorial impacts of cohesion policy by making use of territorial impact assessment (TIA) and consultation with stakeholders to evaluate and monitor the combined impacts of policies
- Test the complementarity of investments made by cohesion policy and other sectoral policies with spatial planning strategies, identifying and mapping inconsistences and proposing actions to foster more consistency
- Lift communication barriers that stifle joint working, by promoting the use of the same key terms, territorial units, indicators and data sets in policymaking, and set out priorities and responsibilities for action on harmonisation.
- Champion joint working in territories where it is a priority to strengthen the efficiency of investment, at first through voluntary cooperation, and, if needed, through statutory ad hoc agencies that can take on a leading role in joining up policies and actions.
- Promote place-sensitivity in cohesion policy by ensuring that the territorial dimension is given more priority by the managing authorities, including the spatial effects of investment and its relationship to existing spatial planning objectives.
- Customise spatial planning tools for cross-fertilisation to create more responsive spatial strategies and plans that get to grips with investment opportunities, and align the rhythm of strategy and plan reviews with cohesion policy to achieve temporal integration.
To make cross-fertilization happen it requires communication, coordination and cooperation
We are living in times where parties often aim at solving a problem by a technical fix: Be it a simple app, a major data base or a comprehensive digitization effort. ESPON also contributes to this dialogue and just published this the working Potential and challenges of digitisation in planning practice [1]. Necessary and appropriate as these activities are in many contexts it is refreshing that the ESPON policy brief on cross-fertilization underscores the importance of human action and especially of communication, coordination and cooperation.
Just have a look at the seven steps towards enhanced cross-fertilization (Figure above). From strengthening good governance, facilitating capacity building, evaluating performance, voluntary cooperation and place-sensitivity to the customizing of planning tools it is predominately about communication, coordination and cooperation between experts, citizens, stakeholders and policymakers. That doesn't exclude the supportive use of technical tools but it gives a clear indication that integrated planning doesn't happen neither by chance nor by algorithm but needs active engagement by parties.
As far as I know this approach is not just an academic position for ESPON but it is experience based. Instead of founding a European institutionalised Spatial Observatory ESPON began its history twenty years ago as a network of national spatial observatories. They all came from their own background with own traditions and statistical methods. In those early days compiling national data in a European data base and producing maps could be an administrative nightmare. ESPON experienced on its own the nitty-gritty struggle of integrating diverse sets of data and information. So, they know what they are talking about. Today the ESPON programme and European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation include governments and planning institutions from 32 (not only EU) countries. By own experience they understand that cross-terilization of cohesion policy and spatial planning needs not simply a technical fix but communication, coordination and cooperation.
[1] ESPON Working Paper: Potential and challenges of digitisation in planning practice, 17 January 2022
https://www.espon.eu/working-paper-potential-and-challenges-digitisation-planning-practice
• “Comparative Analysis of Territorial Governance and Spatial Planning Systems in Europe” (ESPON COMPASS project, 2018)
• ESPON COMPASS ‘interactive dialogue’ with spatial planning and cohesion policy experts from the ESPON programme countries which took place during 2021 and which consisted of several phases, culminating in an online event held on 9 April 2021. The event was attended by 45 different experts from 11 countries (see the summary report below).
• Case study report “Cross-fertilisation between spatial planning and EU Cohesion Policy in the Czech Republic” (2021) which developed a survey and held interviews with the key planning and Cohesion Policy stakeholders in the Czech context, complemented by insights from an online ‘interactive dialogue’, a workshop with Czech and international experts, all held in 2021 (see the Case study report below).
Policies and Governance for Resilient and Sustainable Cities and Regions
