Public Event: Territorial Scenarios for Europe

Andreu Ulied (pictured) is an expert in planning, foresight and policy evaluation. He has considerable international experience in planning and foresight studies related to mobility, transport and territorial policies. He is a faculty member at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia and Director and Partner of MCRIT Consulting. He has participated in and led several projects for the European Commission and for the Directorate General for Mobility and Transportation. His recent experience involves the European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON). He holds a doctoral degree in Engineering from the Polytechnic University Catalonia (1996), and Master’s in Planning from Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (1994).

Based on the ESPON European Territorial Framework and the observation that Europe experiences more political fragmentation and disintegration, more diversity, more disparities, and growing discontent – trends that will exacerbate the political challenges facing Europe – the presentation will address the following issues:

• What should Europe’s territory ideally look like in 2050 in order to achieve EU cohesion and convergence goals?
   
• Which key thematic policy areas should future territorially relevant strategic EU policies focus on in order to address key long-term development challenges and opportunities?
   
• What is the most appropriate and efficient EU investment strategy to address differentiated territorial development challenges in Europe and to maximise the potentials of cities and regions?
   
• How can the governance of a Territorial Agenda post-2020 be strengthened and implemented in practice, in order to bring about greater strategic coherence and integration with other EU strategic policies and investment programmes?
   
• What are the key long-term challenges and opportunities that will shape Europe’s territories and regions to 2050 and beyond?

The presentation will be chaired by Morten Hansen, Head of Economics Department at SSE Riga, with introductions by Tatjana Muravska, Professor, Director of the Centre for European and Transition Studies at University of Latvia, Director of Doctoral Programme in Business Administration at Riga Stradiņš University, and Andris Kužnieks, Head of European Commission Representation in Latvia.