Why do "space-blind" policies fail Europe's small towns? 🌍
In a new Europe Talks Back episode (in cooperation with ESPON), Prof. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose (LSE) unpacks the structural mechanisms hindering true territorial cohesion. 🧵👇
Listen: https://loom.ly/m-MM2fY
European border regions are often described as the ‘laboratories’ of EU integration, yet their governance remains highly complex. 🌍
The ESPON CROSSGOV project provides the territorial evidence to understand exactly how they operate. 🧵👇
What lessons can EU regions share on Nature-based Solutions (NbS)? 🌿 Join the ReAdapt Sensemaking Workshop to explore cross-regional insights and shape policy guidelines for territorial planning.
📅 31 March | WUR Campus (NL) & Online
👉 Register here: https://loom.ly/SIOZCDs
#ESPON #NbS #Climate
Cognitive distance is equally a barrier to physical distance
Save the date for the ESPON Seminar: Mind the gap: Addressing cognitive distance to territorial cohesion, organised in cooperation with the Cypriot EU Presidency
Larnaca, Cyprus
17–18 June 2026
Find out more: https://loom.ly/d4ohRps
How does a region move from "Green Theory" to "Green Reality"? 🌍
We’ve just released the RE-INDUSTRY Final Report, a blueprint for Europe’s industrial transition. We’re looking at the Kvarken region (SE/FI) to assess how net-zero clusters actually scale.
🔗 https://loom.ly/dwe-f0M
ESPON SENPO identified three keys to improve policy design:
Flexibility: Governance that bridges local & regional gaps
Capacity: Investing in local professionals to handle complex projects
Differentiation: Acknowledging that different regions have different investment needs
https://loom.ly/pLYYCec
Is your region crisis-proof?
Check with our new tool that helps you measure beyond recovery, your capacity to bounce forward.
The new Territorial Resilience Dashboard acts as a strategic 'stress test' for municipalities. Benchmark EU peers & back up decisions with data.
https://loom.ly/UXkYvss
Join us tomorrow to find out how cities can drive sustainable, inclusive, and resilient development through EU Cohesion Policy. We bring together city leaders, policymakers, and researchers to explore the urban dimension of Cohesion Policy and its impact on European cities. https://loom.ly/PHH_Xig
Turning Vulnerability into Resilience - 4 Lessons from our VREPO project
1️⃣ One size doesn’t fit all
2️⃣ Recovery isn’t Just Rebuilding—It’s Reinventing
3️⃣ Collaboration > Silos
4️⃣ The Best Ideas Are Borrowed (and Improved)
Read the full report and cast studies
https://loom.ly/Te4Ztxc
You can explore our European Compendium of Housing Policies
www.espon.eu/publications...
and the HOUSE4ALL report for maps/data on affordability.
www.espon.eu/publications...
The European Commission just presented the European Affordable Housing Plan—addressing Europe’s top concern: access to affordable, sustainable housing. Proud that ESPON’s HOUSE4ALL & SUPER projects contributed with key data!
https://loom.ly/KAuOHOA
Democracy’s front line isn't in Brussels. It’s in your town hall.
A sharp article about the challenges democracy faces in Europe by 2 youth4regions Alumni, Luís Leites and Chrysi-Isidora Varoucha, in TerritoriALL.
➡️ Read the full article https://loom.ly/jeMGZ9s
‘The most important factor for energy communities to succeed is to have an enabling legal framework.'📈
Quoted in the @esponprogramme.bsky.social magazine, our Head of Policy, Josh Roberts, looks at this and other key conditions that help community energy grow.
→ gis-portal.espon.eu/arcgis/apps/...
Join us in Rome to find out how cities can drive sustainable, inclusive, and resilient development through EU Cohesion Policy. We bring together city leaders, policymakers, and researchers to explore the urban dimension of Cohesion Policy and its impact on European cities. https://loom.ly/PHH_Xig
Small apartments. Big rents? Finding a 45 m² flat should be an accessible option, yet for millions of Europeans, it can cost more than half their income. ESPON HOUSE4ALL shows how this apartment size, highlights financial challenges across Europe.
Read the full analysis: https://loom.ly/71dX888
"Cohesion Policy is not one single policy but many realities shaping Europe’s tomorrow"
EC Vice President Raffaele Fitto in TerritoriALL outlines a renewed social contract—border, island/coast, outermost regions—and highlights cities as engines of innovation.
https://loom.ly/HzUmjyk
🎉 ESPON HOUSE4ALL Final Report! 🏡
A new milestone for ESPON: We just published the final report of our flagship HOUSE4ALL study - an ambitious and data-driven effort to unlock the realities of affordable and quality housing in Europe.
Check our website for more
https://loom.ly/eaxp13I
Germany Housing Reality
- 45% rent privately, 43% own homes. Stable policies matter
Social housing (12.3%): public loans below market for 15-30 years then back to private market
€21.65B pledged for social housing (2022–28)
- policies for energy upgrades and utility support
https://loom.ly/1z2CMTc
A small island cooperative. Ecotxe, a non-profit consumer cooperative in Mallorca, provides community-driven solutions that can transform local transport systems.
Small-scale, community-led initiatives can reshape our approach towards mobility and energy.
https://loom.ly/d8hN8T4
How does a region truly survive a shock like the 2008 financial crisis? It’s not just about 'bouncing back' to normal—it’s about the power to transform.
Exaptive Resilience is the capacity to creatively repurpose assets in a new development path.
More in our new policy brief
https://loom.ly/MP1QJRw
The Netherlands, Austria and Denmark are among the leaders in maintaining structurally large and active non-profit housing sectors. They use variations of a cost-based model to ensure long-term affordability and often serve a broad population mix.
https://loom.ly/1z2CMTc
38 country profiles
+
523 pages
+
1 comprehensive and comparative overview on housing policies
=
The most complete European Compendium of Housing Policies, which is now available from ESPON and our HOUSE4ALL project.
Stay tuned for more!
https://loom.ly/1z2CMTc
What should you expect if you join us in Aalborg
🚀A keynote speech by Connie Hedegaard, formet EU Commissioner for Climate Action, on the challenges of rapid decarbonisation
🔎Panel debates and parallel sessions based on recent ESPON evidence
💡Interactive World Café session
https://loom.ly/ZJO5TsY
The value of research evidence lies in its direct applicability to policymaking says ESPON EGTC director, Wiktor Szydarowski.
If you want a quick update of all our ESPON recent and future activities, his interview is a must read
https://loom.ly/DLJdRmI
Europe's new frontline. The Baltic borderlands (Ida-Virumaa, Latgale, Utena) face a dual geopolitical shock + peripherality crisis from Russia's aggression.
Check out our CHANEBO storymap with tailored strategies for true regional resilience and a new economic vision.
➡️ https://loom.ly/-ac_7D0
Register for our ESPON seminar in Aalborg today and join us on 19-20 November 2025 to discuss the how but mainly the where of the Green Transition.
Keynote speaker: Connie Hedegaard, former EU Commissioner for Climate Action
Check our website for more details.
https://loom.ly/ZJO5TsY
In the face of a geopolitical shockwave, how can Europe's eastern border regions not just survive, but thrive?
We are proud to present the final report of our CHANEBO project, a vital resource for regions grappling with the fallout from the Russian aggression https://loom.ly/b0ur1Ks
We want to learn from the best! 🌳🌳 ESPON GILL seeks your local greening plans & urban nature strategies! We're building a vital repository to inspire cities across Europe. Showcase your work, inspire others, contribute! When knowledge is shared, it's multiplied. Submit now: https://loom.ly/0LT5EfU
Floods, wildfires, depopulation—how ready are Europe’s territories for today’s crises?
ESPON ResiLIAnce shares lessons + tools in Valencia & online, 25–26 Sept.
Visit flood sites, meet experts, and join the debate.
Register: https://loom.ly/0JtRTLg
Time for Aalborg!
Register for our ESPON seminar in Aalborg today and join us on 19-20 November 2025 to discuss the how but mainly the where of the Green Transition.
Check our website for the draft programme and more details.
https://loom.ly/ZJO5TsY
