John Bachtler was an invited speaker at the Conference of the Regional and Structural Policy Advisory Council in Helsinki on 13 November 2013. Chaired by the Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Conference was organised as part of a wide-ranging reassessment of regional policy in Finland conducted in preparation for a new Regional Development Act due to come into force in 2014.
John Bachtler's presentation 'Regional policy in times of austerity: where is regional policy going?' reflected on the changing development context for regional policy in Europe and the evolution of conceptual thinking, spatial approach and governance of policies in a range of European countries. The presentation drew on recent work conducted by EPRC on regional development and regional policy in Europe under the European Regional Policy Research Consortium (EoRPA) which is co-funded by government authorities in 11 European countries including the Ministry of Employment and the Economy in Finland.