The project ESPON BRIDGES will analyse territories with geographical specificities (TGS) in Europe, such as mountain regions, islands, sparsely populated areas and coastal areas. Nordregio will conduct the social and cultural assessment involved in this analysis and contribute with the policy recommendations.

ESPON BRIDGES focuses on how ‘spatially blind’ policies, different types of market failures and path dependencies lead to a sub-optimal use of human and natural resources in TGS. The focus in not on whether TGS are lagging behind or not, but rather how they may develop in an increasingly integrated Single Market, and more generally in a context of economic globalisation. That implies enhanced exposure to international competition, deregulation and fiscal competition between countries, leading to limited public budgets.

Nordregio is a project partner and the work package leader of WP3 on Social and cultural assets. Activities within this work package includes, among others:

• Synthesis of scientific publications related to the territories with geographical specificities
• Setting the stage for the exploration of specific issues by case studies and prepare the formulation of policy recommendations and integrated frameworks by synthetizing current policy debates;
• Providing indicators, maps and figures to characterise TGS across Europe and as background information for specific case studies;
• Supporting the case studies in the production of innovative indicators, maps and figures reflecting their specific challenges and opportunities;
• Provide analytical frameworks for case studies, to ensure that they address different themes in a consistent way;
• Synthesis of the results from case studies and provide inputs to WP 10 (‘integrated frameworks and policy recommendations’) on this basis.