Martin Ferry was keynote speaker in a workshop on ESIF-supported urban development, organised by the Czech Ministry of Regional Development.
EPRC's Martin Ferry was keynote speaker in a policy workshop in Prague on the use of urban development strategies through ESIF Integrated Territorial Investments. This was organised on behalf of the Czech Ministry of Regional Development, with the participation of Czech cities and other stakeholders. The Czech Republic is currently considering its approach to these in the post-2020 period. The workshop involved participants from the Ministry, from Czech cities and from urban policy practitioners from the Netherlands and Poland.
Martin’s presentation, based on recent research for the Commission and for the IQ-Net consortium, reviewed current experience in the use of integrated territorial investments instruments in Member States and the prospects for 2021-2027.
The workshop identified three key challenges that need to be recognised in order to make an effective use of Integrated Territorial Investments (ITIs) in the future: governmental complexity at the local level; complexity of the urban planning context, and cooperation with the private sector and funding leverage. Solutions to these issues discussed at the workshop involved regulatory change, capacity-building and greater autonomy and flexibility at local levels to achieve genuinely integrated, place-based approaches.