Towards a more place-based Cohesion Policy
April 2024
Cohesion Policy is the cornerstone of the EU's efforts to promote economic, social, and territorial cohesion by reducing disparities between regions. Since its inception, the policy has evolved to address the changing dynamics and challenges of places and people. Step by step, it has become more place-based. Today, one may argue Cohesion Policy stands at the forefront of this paradigm, advocating for a place-based, participatory approach to ensure the equitable development of its diverse territories. Still, more needs to be done. To deliver on the cohesion objectives, it needs to become more place-based and people centric.
The report of the group of high-level specialists on the future of Cohesion Policy (Opens in a new window), argues even that Cohesion Policy needs to reject ‘one-size fits-all’ approaches. It needs to reinforce its focus on investments which are sensitive to the unique strengths, challenges and needs of places. Only then it can become a policy boosting local capabilities and potential for developing future opportunities for inclusive and sustainable growth through diversification and collaboration.
What are place-based and place-sensitive approaches?
The diversity of people and places is a considerable asset of the EU. It also means that development trends, transition challenges and policy-needs differ from one territory to the next. These differences require tailor-made responses, which need to be defined at the appropriate territorial scale. This is where place-based and place-sensitive approaches come into play.
Place-based and place-sensitive approaches in policymaking prioritise the unique characteristics, needs, and potentials of different geographical areas. Unlike a one-size-fits-all strategy, these approaches acknowledge that policies and interventions must be tailored to the specific contexts of territories to be truly effective.
Place-based policy focuses on leveraging the distinct assets and addressing the particular challenges of a region through collaborative, bottom-up efforts. In essence, it is about bottom-up approaches that deepen the understanding of place-specific constraints and opportunities by focusing on collaborative efforts to positively impact each region.
Meanwhile, place-sensitive policymaking ensures that broader policies consider regional disparities and work towards distributing development benefits equitably across territories. In an ideal case, place-sensitive policies take into account the specific challenges faced by different regions and should aim at distributing development as widely as possible, maximising development outcomes everywhere.
The Territorial Agenda 2030 (Opens in a new window) underlines that place-based and place-sensitive approaches contribute to cohesion, help exploiting places’ untapped potential and can significantly increase the coherence and effectiveness of policies, reducing the negative effects of ‘one-size-fits-all’ measures. They are best suited to effectively respond to:
new challenges and opportunities, including just green, digital, just and demographic transitions and external shocks;
the high spatial granularity of economic and social needs which differ between places.
A very important additional dimension is that place-based approaches also contribute to bridging the gap between the political level and citizens, helping to strengthen democracy. By better addressing the specific needs and potential of places and people through the involvement of those directly affected in designing and sharing new solutions, place-based approaches foster stronger empowerment of local communities and ultimately bring Europe closer to citizens.
Cohesion Policy is strongly rooted in place-based approaches
At the heart of Cohesion Policy lies the recognition of the EU's territorial diversity as a considerable asset. Cohesion Policy is strongly rooted in place-based approaches, both through its design and implementation mechanisms as well as through various specific instruments. This is simultaneously one of its strengths but also a challenge.
The policy's place-based approach is designed to harness the territorial diversity, tailoring responses to the unique developmental trends, transition challenges, and policy needs of each territory. This approach differentiates it from other EU policies by encouraging shared management, multi-level governance, partnership principles, and the involvement of local stakeholders in programme development and implementation. This encourages programmes to address place-specific needs in a bottom-up and place-based approach.
Key tools such as Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3), the Just Transition Fund (JTF), Integrated Territorial Investments (ITI), and Community-led Local Development (CLLD) exemplify how Cohesion Policy has put the place-based approach into practice. They epitomise the policy's commitment to address specific needs of places and thereby making the EU more cohesive and its citizens more connected. They also underline the EU's efforts to bringing its policies closer to its citizens. Furthermore, policy objective 5 ‘Europe closer to citizens’ reinforces the place-based approach in national and regional Cohesion Policy measures.
By bridging the gap between political levels and citizens, place-based approaches not only strengthen democracy but also empower local communities, ensuring that policies are not only about places but also about the people inhabiting them. Through direct involvement in policy design and implementation, communities are better positioned to leverage their unique strengths and address their specific challenges, fostering a more democratic and inclusive EU.
Strengthening the place-based approach within Cohesion Policy is crucial for several reasons. Firstly, it aligns with the growing need for policies that are flexible and responsive to the high spatial granularity of economic and social needs, which differ significantly between regions. Secondly, it bridges the gap between the EU's political ambitions and the everyday realities of its citizens, enhancing democracy and fostering a closer relationship between Europe and its people. Lastly, by empowering local communities and leveraging their unique potentials, a strengthened place-based approach can drive sustainable development and innovation across the EU.
How should Cohesion Policy strengthen its place-based approach?
Looking ahead, the evolution towards a place-sensitive model appears both promising and necessary. By diversifying the instruments at its disposal and tailoring them to the unique structural prospects of European regions, the EU can maximise the potential output of all its places. This approach necessitates a stronger emphasis on territorial governance, enabling subnational players to adopt place-based policymaking effectively and ensuring that Cohesion Policy investments are intricately linked to the needs and aspirations of local communities.
To further strengthen its place-based approach, Cohesion Policy must continue to evolve in several key areas:
Increased granularity: Place-based approaches need to go beyond current territorial scales (NUTS2) to understand and address the needs and potentials of smaller communities and regions, define place-based solutions, and considering functional areas approaches (Opens in a new window). It requires a more granular focus and diversified types of intervention, tailor-made for different types of places.
Flexible approach: Place-based approaches require parting from ‘one-size fits-all’ approaches in policymaking. They require a flexible approach based on the objectives being pursued, the territorial and governance structure of each country, and the particular needs and potential of the place in question. To be successful Cohesion Policy needs to catalyse place-specific transformations, building on existing potential.
Strengthened territorial governance: Empowering subnational players through improved capacity building, participatory approaches, and the systematic use of territorial instruments and strategies to enhance local empowerment and partnership.
Integrated approach: Ensuring that place-based policies are complemented and supported by broader, place-sensitive policies that consider the impact on all regions to maximise the EU's aggregate potential.
Better data: Ensuring high-quality data is available to inform decision-making at the sub-national and sub-regional levels, alongside investing in governance structures that support effective, place-based policymaking.
By focusing on these points, Cohesion Policy can better leverage the diversity of regions as a strength, ensuring that development is not only inclusive but also reflective of the unique landscapes that make up the EU.
By recognising the unique challenges and opportunities of each region, fostering innovation, and enhancing democratic participation, a stronger place-based approach in Cohesion Policy not only brings Europe closer to its citizens but also ensures that every territory can contribute to and benefit from the EU's collective progress. Strengthening this approach is not just a policy imperative; it's a pathway to a more diverse, united, and thriving Europe.
The full report of the group of high-level specialists on the future of Cohesion Policy, and a range of background materials are available at the group’s website (Opens in a new window).
by Kai Böhme
