PURR Potentials of Rural Regions Applied Research 2013/2/5 Final Report | 30 June 2012 This report presents the final results of a Targeted Analysis conducted within the framework of the ESPON 2013 Programme, partly financed by the European Regional Development Fund. The partnership behind the ESPON Programme consists of the EU Commission and the Member States of the EU27, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Each partner is represented in the ESPON Monitoring Committee. This report does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the members of the Monitoring Committee. Information on the ESPON Programme and projects can be found on www.espon.eu The web site provides the possibility to download and examine the most recent documents produced by finalised and ongoing ESPON projects. This basic report exists only in an electronic version. © ESPON & Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research, 2012 Printing, reproduction or quotation is authorised provided the source is acknowledged and a copy is forwarded to the ESPON Coordination Unit in Luxembourg. List of authors Neil Adams, London South Bank University Hild-Marte Bjørnsen, Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research Dace Jansone, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences Steinar Johansen, Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research Philip Pinch, London South Bank University Visvaldis Valtenbergs, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences ESPON 2013 1 List of abbreviations BBR Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning, Germany CAP Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union CC County Council CEEC Central and East European Countries CORINE Coordination of information on the environment CSP Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. Latvijas centrālās statistikas pārvalde. CURS Center for Urban and Regional Sociology, Romania DEMIFER ESPON project “Demographic and Migratory Flows Affecting European Regions and Cities” DG Agri Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Union DG Regio Directorate-General for Regional Policy of the European Union DFR Draft Final Report EDORA ESPON project “European Development Opportunities in Rural Areas” FR Final Report ESDP European Spatial Development Perspective ESPON CU ESPON Coordination Unit ESPON ESPON Project “Territorial Trends in the Management of Natural 1.3.2 Heritage” ESPON ESPON Project “Governance of Territorial and Urban Policies from 2.3.2. EU to Local Level” EU European Union Eurostat Eurostat statistics on regions and cities REGIO FOCI ESPON Project “Future Orientation for Cities” GDP Gross Domestic Product GVA Gross Added Value ICTs Information Communication Technologies HDI Human Development Index HPI Happy Planet Index IMF International Monetary Fund INTERCO ESPON Project “Indicators of Territorial Cohesion” IOM International Organization for Migration IR Interim Report (referring to the PURR re-submitted IR) IRPUD Institute of Spatial Planning, Dortmund University LSBU London South Bank University Natura2000 Ecological network of protected areas in the territory of the ESPON 2013 2 European Union. MEGA Metropolitan European Growth Area NGOs Non Governmental Organisations NIBR Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research Nordregio Nordic Centre for Spatial Development NSI National Statistical Institute NUTS Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics. PPP People, Place, Power (as used in the PURR methodology) PPP Public-Private Partnerships PPP Purchasing Power Parity PPS Purchasing Power Standard PURR Potential of Rural Regions. R&D Research and Development ReRisk ESPON project “Regions at Risk of Energy Poverty” SMEs Small and Medium Enterprises SWOT Analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats and Opportunities TeDi ESPON Project “Territorial Diversity in Europe” TPG Transnational Project Group (example) UK United Kingdom VUC Vidzeme University College VRAA State Regional Development Agency in Latvia. Latvijas Valsts reģionālās attīstības aģentūra. VZD State Land Service of Latvia. Latvijas Valsts zemes dienests. WGI World Governance Indicators developed by World Bank ESPON 2013 3 Foreword PURR (Potentials of Rural Regions) is a Priority 2 Targeted Analysis commissioned by ESPON and based on stakeholder demand. The five stakeholder regions are Notodden (Norway), the lead stakeholder, Dumfries and Galloway, North Yorkshire, and the Cambrian Mountains (three UK regions) and Amata and Vidzeme (one Latvian region), who developed the project specifications (“Tender”) together with ESPON. Three institutes constitute the TPG, and the FR is the result of extensive cooperation between them. The LP is NIBR (Norway), while VUC (Latvia) and LSBU (the UK) are project partners. The concepts applied in each region were developed by the institutes together. Each of the TPG partners has been responsible for working with the stakeholder regions in their country, respectively. Although the resulting FR is a cooperative effort, each TPG partner was given the main responsibility for different parts of the project; Theories and “the Stakeholder Template” for assessing rural potentials (LSBU), the Methodology (NIBR) and the Use of ESPON and other “external” information (VUC). PURR was of course based on the original Tender from ESPON, where the stakeholder driven project was presented in some detail. By being quite detailed, ESPON left little room for interpretation by the applicants. Even so, there was still some debate about methodological issues and approaches. The discussions focussed on the balance between the use of information from existing ESPON projects (data, indicators and typologies, as well as other results), or the European perspective, and information from the PURR stakeholders and other regional information in the presentation. On the basis of this dialogue the methodology was revised to more fully integrate the Top-Down and Bottom-Up approaches. The methodology, as well as the analysis of each stakeholder region (the case studies), are presented in detail in the report below. The TPG wishes to thank everybody who has participated in the project, and in commenting upon the concepts, the analysis and the different documents that have sprung out of the project. First and foremost there has been extensive contact with representatives from the stakeholder regions. Despite some initial problems the TPG are satisfied with the results of the project. Lowie Steenwegen contributed significantly to securing the quality of the workshops, both regarding their contents and their efficiency. Finally, ESPON and the ESPON CU have contributed with very useful comments, of which their comments to the original Interim Report had significant influence on the contents of the IR, the DFR and finally the FR. The FR is, in this sense, based on inputs from many contributors. The TPG has tried to put everything together in a satisfactory manner. Hopefully, the resulting product is somewhere in the vicinity of what the stakeholders and ESPON wished ESPON 2013 4 it to be, and at the same time useful for analysis of potentials of other (rural) regions. The TPG is, however, responsible for the contents of the report, including its scientific quality. Any shortcomings therefore rest on them. ESPON 2013 5 Table of contents Foreword.................................................................................................... 4 Table of contents ........................................................................................ 6 A. Executive summary ............................................................................. 10 A1. Analysis, Key Messages and Findings ............................................... 11 A2. Options for Policy Development – What Can PURR Teach Us? ............. 19 A3. Need for Further Analysis and Research ........................................... 21 B. Main Report ........................................................................................ 24 B1. Concepts and Definitions ................................................................ 24 B2. Methodology for Assessing Rural Potentials ...................................... 27 B3. Case Studies in the Five PURR Regions ............................................ 39 B4. Policy Options ............................................................................... 42 B5. Future Analytical Work and Research ............................................... 44 C. Scientific Report .................................................................................. 48 C1. Introduction ................................................................................. 48 C2. Concepts and Theories ................................................................... 48 C3. Methodology................................................................................. 86 C4. Benchmarking of the PURR stakeholder regions using ESPON and other relevant data ....................................................................................... 109 C5. Case Studies in Five Regions ........................................................ 168 C6. Comparing the Stakeholder Regions .............................................. 221 D. Annexes ........................................................................................ 244 D1. Annex 1 Maps and More ............................................................... 244 D2. Annex 2: Regional Typologies in Brief ............................................ 266 D3. Annex 3: The Stakeholder Template for Assessing Rural Potentials.... 268 D4. Annex