Suchergebnisse

This report is the final report of the INTERREG IVB project NEW BRIDGES 'Strengthening the Quality of Life through the Improved Management of Urban Rural Interaction'. The report applies the concepts of quality of life and urban-rural interaction to regional development processes in the Baltic Sea Region. As thematic focus quality of life was operationalized through three key elements: residential preferences, mobility & accessibility and the provision of services. The report shows how these key elements were reflected and addressed within the geographic scope of seven city-regions. While tracing the project activities from challenges to pilot actions, the report provides an insight into the stakeholder involvement approaches including its evaluation. Finally the report puts forward potentials and challenges that occur when applying two complex concepts to regional development. In addition to this report, 'Planning Together for Better Quality of Life - Guide for Integrated Management of Urban Rural Interaction', which included policy recommendations to the EU, national and macro-regional levels, as well as the complimentary methodological package 'NEW BRIDGES Online Toolkit', was published and can be downloaded from www.urbanrural.net.

Climate change can be seen all over the world. In the Nordic countries, we have experienced warmer winters, stronger storms and greater precipitation, especially heavier rainfalls. Management of, and planning for, larger quantities of water, as well as adaptation of our territorial structures to climate changes are on everybody's agenda. This Working Paper reflects a Nordic seminar, Adaptive Urban Planning Challenged by Changing Climate (Stadsplaneringens utmaningar i ett förändrat klimat), hosted by Nordregio in Stockholm on June, 8, 2011. The seminar was initiated by the Working Group for exchange of experience and knowledge development (Urban Policies) under the Nordic Council of Ministers. The purpose of the seminar was to create dialogue among Nordic practitioners responsible for physical planning and adaptation to climate change at different administrative levels. Further, the aim was to share knowledge among the Nordic countries concerning challenges and needs for new planning instruments at the local, regional and national level. The main message from the seminar, presented in this Nordregio Working Paper, is that planning for adaptation to larger precipitation calls for cooperation of authorities within the drainage area. In many cases, climate adaptation concerns a geographical area different from the one delimited by the borders of municipalities or regions. Thus, cooperation in planning across the boundaries of municipalities is needed, as is cooperation between relevant municipal and regional authorities. The geography of the solutions should match the geography of the challenges. Cooperation also involves different levels of government. Coordination between local, regional and national policies is often necessary and should be done, respecting the tasks and duties of the various levels. The Working Group for exchange of experience and knowledge development (Urban Policies) recommends all stakeholders to consider how such processes of cooperation could be promoted.

The report studies cross-border labour mobility in the Central Baltic region together with the policies and measures related to that. It provides background information on the current migration flows between Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Sweden as well as information on the national labour markets and current labour demand in each of the countries. This report is the final report of the INTERREG IVA project "CentralBaltic JobFerry". Based on statistical data and stakeholder interviews conducted in the Latvia, Estonia, South West Finland and Östergötland/Sweden, the report notes that countries in the Central Baltic region are facing labour shortage in the health care, social services, ICT and construction sectors. There is an increased need for specialised and skilled labour force in those sectors. The EU has identified cross-border labour mobility as a way to increase the matching of labour demand and supply. However the actual intra-EU cross-border labour mobility remains low. The report identifies the main obstacles to labour mobility based on stakeholder interviews and policy reviews. Lack of language skills, lack of cooperation between relevant labour market actors and authorities, lack of easily available information as well as problems with the portability of pension rights and social benefits are the main factors that impede the mobility of workers in the Central Baltic region. To tackle these issues, increased cooperation is needed both within countries and regions and across borders. The CentralBaltic JobFerry project has published a separate policy brief presenting several policy recommendations targeted at regional, national and EU level actors. The policy brief can be downloaded at http://cbjobferry.eu/publications/.