From Umeå (Sweden) in the north to Arhanes (Crete) in the south, some 250 coordinated conferences, workshops and events will attract over 5 000 participants and 600 experts for the European week of regions and cities, the biggest annual fixture on the EU’s regional development calendar and the ideal occasion to explore new avenues for growth.
This year's events will focus on the launch of the new round of regional investment programmes for 2007-13, worth some €350bn. In Brussels, seminars will be held throughout the week on the following five themes:
- attracting investors - regions and cities show how it works
- proximity matters - clusters and regional development
- spending wisely - public-private partnerships and financial engineering
- crossing borders - networking and best practice supporting growth and jobs
- checking delivery - how the new programmes are implemented
“2007 is the year of delivery for EU cohesion policy,” said regional policy commissioner Danuta Hübner. “We will put in place more than 450 national, regional and cross-border programmes for 2007-13.”
This year, for the first time, the international dimension of regional policy will be present. Ministers and regional representatives from China, Russia and Brazil will be taking part, as well as experts from other non-EU countries and international bodies.
The week is organised by the committee of the regions and the European commission in partnership with 212 regions and cities from 33 European countries, as well as business, banking and civil society organisations. Again this year, public and private partners will come together in the investors’ café, covering seven major themes (transport, energy, environment, health, research, financial engineering and innovation). While sipping their coffee, participants will be able to network and watch the 50 linked seminars and workshops.
“The open days provide these regions and cities with a real showcase for their know-how and creative intelligence and build networks based on their remarkable successes,” said committee of the regions president Michel Delebarre.
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Open days trailer
