CHAIR FOR UNIVERSITY AND KNOWLEDGE REGION SOUTHERN CATALONIA, KNOWLEDGE REGION Francesc Xavier Grau SOUTHERN CATALONIA, KNOWLEDGE REGION Feet on the ground and facing the world Francesc Xavier Grau Tarragona, 2016 Edita: Publicacions de la Universitat Rovira i Virgili Av. Catalunya, 35 - 43002 Tarragona Tel. 977 558 474 www.publicacions.urv.cat ·
[email protected] 1st edition: November 2016 ISBN: 978-84-8474-578-0 Book licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA. ¶ Publicacions URV is a member of the Unión de Editoriales Universitarias Españolas and the Xarxa Vives, which ensures the dissemination and sale of its publications nationally and internationally. Contents 1. INTRODUCTION. 9 2. THE EUROPEAN UNION AND ITS REGIONS . 12 2.1 Current European regional policy. 14 2.2 Catalonia and Tarragona in European regional organisation. 15 MAIN CONCLUSIONS FROM SECTION 2. 24 3. THE EUROPEAN REGIONS AND THE RIS3 STRATEGY. 25 MAIN CONCLUSIONS FROM SECTION 3. 38 4. CATALONIA AND TARRAGONA IN EUROSTAT AND OTHER EU DATABASES . 39 MAIN CONCLUSIONS FROM SECTION 4. 45 5. EUROPEAN REGIONAL POLICY, RIS3 AND UNIVERSITIES . 46 MAIN CONCLUSIONS FROM SECTION 5. 52 6. DEFINITION OF SOUTHERN CATALONIA IN THE FRAMEWORK OF EUROPEAN REGIONAL POLICY . 53 6.1. Designation and geographical scope. 54 6.2. Motivation. 56 6.3. Strengths and opportunities. 60 6.4. Difficulties and weaknesses. 66 6.5. Chair for University and Knowledge Region. 71 FINAL SUMMARY. 79 REFERENCES. 82 ANNEX 1. EUROSTAT regional statistics with information up to level. 84 Abstract The document Southern Catalonia, Knowledge Region argues that Catalonia needs to develop its own internal regional policy, which would provide a framework for a decision-making system of regional planning and development.