GEOSPECS

The GEOSPECS project was officially started in September, when Partners met in Switzerland to discuss their expectations of the research. Diana Borowski from UHI, one of the project Partners, has provided us with some key details of the project.

Geographic Specificities and Development Potentials in Europe

The ESPON Applied Research Project GEOSPECS (Geographic Specificities and Development Potentials in Europe) aims to provide solid assessment of the current situation, trends and perspectives of regions with geographic specificities, i.e. mountains, islands, sparsely populated areas, coastal zones, outermost regions, border areas and inner peripheries. In the context of the project “geographic specificities” are understood to create both challenges and opportunities, thus departing from the previous perception of “natural handicaps”. On this basis, policy options and new opportunities shall be identified for EU cohesion policy and territorial development.

Research aims

The aim is not to merely run parallel studies on different geographic specificities, but to construct a coherent discourse on specific types of territories. A key ambition of the project is to strengthen the dialogue and knowledge exchange between the different types of geographic specificities. This implies that connections must be established between fields of research that have, until now, been envisaged in relatively isolated ways.

Research activities

In order to disentangle the complex interactions between geographic specificities and different social, economic and institutional processes, a number of activities will be carried out by the research consortium: The delineation, description and mapping of the regions with geographic specificities naturally forms the first step, followed by the compilation of a database of social and economic structures and trends in areas with geographic specificities, qualitative analysis of development processes in areas with geographic specificities, case studies, consultations, and the formulation of policy options. The research project does not only analyse the geographic specificities themselves but also includes transversal themes such as economic development conditions, social processes and natural resources and risks, in order to quantify and qualify state and trends in the regions.

Members of the consortium

The University of Geneva (CH), Alterra (NL), Perth College (UK), the University of the Aegean (GR), Nordregio (SE), Louis Lengrand & Associés (FR), CEPS/INSTEAD (LU), the Leibniz Institute of Ecological and Regional Development (DE), the National University of Ireland Cork (IE), and the Federal Environmental Agency Austria (AT). The project is scheduled to run for two years, from summer 2010 to summer 2012.

Consultation

Considering the novelty of a transversal analysis of the social and economic significance of geographic specificities across Europe, the Consortium believes that it is important to start the project with a consultation of relevant stakeholders to clarify perspectives on such a study and understandings of the key concepts.

The team want to learn about your views on the links between geographic specificities and economic and social development, and on what you think priorities should be. If you would like to contribute, they will be glad to take your opinion into account. The questionnaires for the different areas with geographic specificities can be found here. The process shall be concluded by 12 November 2010. For any questions, please contact Diana Borowski.

More information can be found on our homepage: www.geospecs.eu

ESPON 2013 project overview

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Photo by Diana Borowski