(27 August 2015) – DG REGIO recently published a study called ‘Territorial Agenda 2020 put in practice’. This study analyses 21 cases from all over Europe, with different thematic foci and on different geographical scales.
It shows that a place-based approach is already being applied in Cohesion Policy and that this can give tangible results. The most important lesson from this analysis is that before anything else a, sometimes rather drastic, change in the mind-set of decision makers is needed.
Along with the progressive recognition of the concept “territorial cohesion”, different initiatives have been trying to draw on its practical implications. An important step is the adoption of the “Territorial Agenda of the European Union 2020” in 2011 that provide strategic orientations for territorial development, promoting place-based policy making.
Through the illustration of 21 real life examples putting in practice the principles of a place-based approach, the present study contributes to the wider implementation of this agenda.
Evidence collected shed light on advantages but also challenges of such approaches and discusses why, together with its constituting features, it proved to be a key success factor for the initiative considered.