AER Committee 2 & 3 Spring Plenary Session 2015

The AER Committee 2 “Social Policy and Public Health” and Committee 3 “Culture, Education, Youth and International Cooperation” Plenary Session 2015 gathered more than 120 participants from across Europe, representing 39 European regions.

The Plenary steered a three days debate on regional development strategies with and for citizens. Topics ranged from culture & health to women empowerment and youth participation. The events were also an excellent opportunity to get an update on the many activities carried out within AER Committee 2 & 3 as well as  to share experiences with peers and engage regions for joint political action.

The Assembly of European Regions is the largest independent network of regional authorities in wider Europe, bringing together regions from 35 countries along with 15 interregional organisations. Established in 1985, AER is a forum for interregional co-operation and a lobbyist for regional interests on the European stage.

Regional Development Strategies: FOR and WITH the citizens04th-06th March 2015

Hosted by the region of Nordjylland, Denmark

What did the events in Nordjylland involve?

Participating Regions

ADJARA (GE) - ALSACE (FR) - ARAD (RO) - BRASOV (RO) - BRUXELLES-CAPITALE (BE) -

COVASNA (RO) - DALARNA (SE) - DAMBOVITA (RO) - DIBËR (AL) - DOLJ (RO) -

DOLNOSLASKIE (PL) - DONEGAL (IE) - GÄVLEBORG (SE) - GELDERLAND (NL) -

HEDMARK (NO) - IASI (RO) - ISTANBUL (TR) - JÄMTLAND (SE) - JÖNKÖPING (SE) -

KRONOBERG (SE) - NOORD-BRABANT (NL) - NORRBOTTEN (SE) - NORDJYLLAND (DK) - NORDLAND (NO) - ÖSTERGÖTLAND (SE) -

PRAHOVA (RO) - SÖRMLAND (SE) - SYDDANMARK (DK) - TIMIS (RO) - TIRANË (AL) - TULCEA (RO) - UPPSALA (SE) - VARAZDINSKA

ZUPANIJA (HR) - VÄRMLAND (SE) - VÄSTERBOTTEN (SE) - VÄSTERNORRLAND (SE)

- VÄSTRA GÖTALAND (SE) - VIENNA (AT) -

”It is quite inspiring as a politician to see how other regions work with the same processes and challenges as ours. I think that we, in Nordjylland, have a lot of experiences to share and I am very proud I had the opportunity to present these experiences to our guests”

Ulla AstmanChairwoman of Nordjylland, DK

”The question we all face is: how can we better work together in our regions and increase citizens' wellbeing? Co-creation, mutual learning and co-evaluation are not just buzzwords. Many regions are implementing great strategies. The experiences we share here today are brought back home and allow us to multiply the innovation and development potential of our regions.”

Karsten Uno PetersenPresident of the AER Committee on Social Policy and Public Health

”AER has a history of involving young people, especially with its Youth Regional Network. This has proven to very fruitful for all kinds of policy developments and recommendations. If we want to succeed as politicians, we have to take the opinion of the younger generation into account and involve them in all future projects.”

Sonja Alice SteenPresident of the AER Committee on Culture, Education and Youth

39 REGIONS

125 Participants

10 EVENTS

35+ Good Practices

Seminar on participatory approaches for better policy making

Citizen participation is on all lips, whether to improve social and territorial cohesion, to reduce democratic deficit or to boost growth. But what happens in the field? What does actually work? In practice, several regions are implementing remarkably effective strategies. The purpose of the meetings was to share experiences and provide mutual feedbacks in order to avoid implementation bumps along the road and multiply initiatives all over Europe.

Good practices presented involved the following:

• Nordjylland (DK), health professionals, regional and local authorities and patients define together the Health Agreements on the basis of comprehensive data analysis of the regional health strategy.

• Donegal (IE) regional development strategies ranging from tourism to were defined and implemented collaboratively, enabling effective cooperation of all stakeholders.

• Värmland (SE), a proactive policy improved parity in political parties, municipal and regional councils.

• Varazdin (HR), the region’s President of the Youth Council is currently chairing the AER Youth Regional Network

• Norrbotten (SE), organised a large scale event to promote diversity

To collect and integrate young people’s attitudes and point of view into the work of the new regional growth and development strategy, the region of Nordjylland decided to organise an appealing event, which would both leave young people with food for thought and provide the Council with valuable input. The #nordpol14 initiative therefore combined a sleek graphic identity, a 3-hour programme and a variety of activities and advertising tools and goodies creating the right mood and atmosphere.

“ We need to organise a constant exchange of views and experiences and ensure citizens are empowered from an early age.”

Mario ŽuličekPresident of the AER Youth Regional Network

involving stakeholders = need for design thinking

Using social media and in particular Twitter with the hashtag #nordpol14 young people discussed with regional politicians about the different priorities

to be adressed and more importantly, the way to do so. The format of the event was key to the collection of knowledge: it allowed both to keep track of the inputs and to ensure a dynamic

and spontanous deba te . Us ing Twit ter for the event also raised awareness on its potential in terms i n f o r m a t i o n sourcing.

To improve wellbeing it is essential to adress problems in a way, which takes into account the multiple needs of citizens. In the field of health in particular this implies a holistic approach of human beings, taking into account non-medical approaches to stress relief in particular.Music, sports or culture are increasingly being used to alleviate patients’ stress and pain. The objective of the workshop was to share and explore new practices, present experiences on how to improve the cooperation between the cultural sector and the medical sector, and to inspire new ideas for better policy-making.

The Culture & Health Handbook on Regional Best Practices available on the AER website presents a series of good practices combining culture and health and the outstanding results, which have been observed.

Workshop on Culture & Health: Regional best practices

Training Academy on Boosting the Silver Economy

More than 35 regional delegates met on 5 March in Aalborg for a Training Academy on the Silver Economy. The ageing population does not only represent a challenge for our society, but also an opportunity. Several regions are already aware of this. 

Birgitta Sacrédeus  (Dalarna, SE) and Edwin Mermans  (Noord-Brabant, NL) shared the strategies set up in their regions, to provide quality care, or to encourage young people to take up jobs in

Group exercises based on the Leadership toolkit inspired by the Council of Europe allowed participants to identify vectors and potential barriers to the development of the silver economy in their own regions.

“ It is such a good project to combine health and culture: New ways of combating health problems, while using less medication.”

Anna HildebrandRegional Commissioner

Jämtland Härjedalen, SE

the health sector, and thereby meet the growing needs of senior citizens.

Working group on School Drop-out

The meeting of the working group on school drop-out was organised in two parts: 1/ Prevention measures 2/ Intervention measures.

Plenary Session

The Plenary meeting led to the election of the Committees presidents and Vice Presidents. The role of these politicians is key to the development and implementation of the political priorities and work programme of the Committee, ensuring political legitimacy and backing to AER activities. politicians also represent AER interests to external events.

Agneta Granström (Norrbotten-SE) and Sonja Steen (Nordland-NO), were nominated Presidents of the AER Committee on Social Policy and Public Health and the AER Committee on Culture, Education, Youth and International Cooperation respectively.

The political debate focused on public-private partnerships, and how regions could avoid difficulties and enter a truly win-win agreement with companies

Nordjylland launched an Open Innovation Initiative in the field of intelligent logistics, the programme focusses on

Laurent Duez (Alsace-FR) presented the good practice that has been implemented in his region together with the results and lessons learnt from an international conference on combating school dropout.

Ilona Novak (Västernorrland-SE) updated participants on the state of play of the Erasmus+ project JET CD Joint Efforts to Combat Dropout. The first multiplier event had taken place in Catalunya and had shown the first benefits of the multi-stakeholder approach developed in the framework of the project.

companies development potential within welfare and health technologies. In Syddanmark, the authorities together with the private sector collaborate in the framework of an Innovative Centre. The centre invites doctors, nurses, patients

or companies to test solutions companies develop for the needs of the public sector. This public-private cooperation gives authorities the possibility to attract private funds, while the region only commits to sending out the tenders to the companies.

Finally participants also discussed around questions of social entrepreneurship and Roma integration, following the presentation of the Timis (RO) good practice on social entrepreneurship

On the harbor in Aalborg - Nordkraft, a former power station was transformed in a centre where culture, sports & health meet. Restaurants, concert halls and studios, a gym and a Health Centre are located in the same place to support a holistic approach to wellbeing

The Aalborg Health Centre is located in Nordkraft and provides preventive health care. The "Health in Your Language" initiative for citizens with another language than Danish was one of the projects presented to the delegates and integrated in the health inequalities approach.

Site Visits

From one sort of power stationto another

Aalborg Health Centre

A special house in a special neighborhood

“The best way to know the host regions is by study visits!"

Ulla HöglundHead of International

Relations,

The Health and Neighborhood House on Fyrkildevej, in the eastern part of Aalborg, is a place where the citizens can find most health care sys tem fac i l i t ies ( spec ia l c l in ics , physiotherapist , midwives consul tat ion, pharmacy, fitness center). There is also the local police station, the office of the rental housing company, a café and different offices of municipalities and of the region. Several activities are provided for people who live in this neighborhood, which is one of the most socially deprived neighborhoods in Aalborg - equality is an important keyword.

Event Conclusions and Points to Remember

1. A constant exchange of view allows better feedback and co-creation

2. Sharing good and bad practices is essential to move forward2. Identify and analyse others’ interests3. Design thinking means adapting the

communication tools to the interests of the targetted audience

4. Transversality needs to be practiced, not only conceptualised: get your teams and stakeholders to interact more and fear less

5. Mutual learning is ongoing as long as there is a real dialogue

Satisfaction survey results

What did you prefer in the AER events in Nordjylland??

The event was a great opportunity to get in touch with other regions and to see the

activities of both Committees.

The presentation of Youth participation in the decision-making process reminds us of the important contribution of the young generation to the development of the society!

The school drop-out projects were very interesting and they represent examples for other

regions as well.

The opportunity to speak with specialised people in combining culture and health domains.

The organisation of the events was extraordinary. We really appreciated the integration of study visits.

In terms of content 62,5% of the respondants said they

100% of the respondents considered that they gained new

100% of the respondents said it was POSITIVE to integrate

found the series of events in Nordjylland RELEVANT for their own work and 33,3% said they found the events VERY RELEVANT

ideas and knowledge to use in their own work.

the study visits in the programme rather than organising them as a peripheral element

Networking for Future Cooperations

E-health innovation for chronic diseasesThe Province of Gederland (NL) is calling for AER members to join the development of an interregional project on e-health innovations. The objective is to develop innovative products for chronic disease, and ensure their market uptake. To prepare the development of such a project Doede Sijtsma, Head of International Affairs invites AER members to contact him to organise a two-days meeting constituted of • DAY 1: a study visit to the very succesful ParkinsonNeXt project, which

developped a series of tools for patients’ self-management • DAY 2: a project development meeting on innovative e-health solutions

for chronic diseases.Contact: Doede SIJTSMA d.sijtsma@gelderland.nl

Stay tuned!

This leaflet and the series of events in Nordjylland were organised and produced with the precious help of our intern Simina-Ioana STOICESCU, who supported the work of Committee 2 & 3 in 2015.

Johanna PACEVICIUSCoordinator Social Policy and Public Healthj.pacevicius@aer.eu+33 3 88 22 74 48

www.aer.eu

AssemblyofEURegions

@europeanregions

AERegions

Claudia MESCHEDECoordinator Culture, Education, Youth & International Cooperationc.meschede@aer.eu+33 3 88 22 74 35

Agnès CICCARONECoordinator Academic and Training Centrea.ciccarone@aer.eu+33 3 88 22 74 32

Connecting with other participantsThe AER is there to help you connect with other participants and ease networking between European regions. You spotted a good practice, noticed a speaker, didn’t manage to get the contact details of another participant? ASK US! We know our members and can help you find the information you need.

Please contact one of the AER Coordinators (contact details below) or Regine Kramer, AER Coordinator for Member Relations:r.kramer@aer.eu +32 2 880 95 63

Long term Investments

Social Infrastructure

hospitals

SOCIAL IMPACTgreen infrastructureWELLBEING

Pathfinder regions for Long Term InvestmentsJonathan watson, managing Director of the Think Tank INTEGRATE called for regions to to open a dialogue with Institutional Investors who support the need for a true/stronger Demand Side and that are ready to understand the necessity of Long Term Plan valuing public benefits from infrastructure investment and sustainability/resilience - evidence of commitment to, competencies in and intelligence from such work will (i) support the development of investable projects and (ii) boost investor confidence.

Selection Criteria:Regions with political stability and no corruption, first of all and open to a new methodology of INA, pathfinders and EU networks to reach Institutional Investors. Contact: Jonathan WATSON jonathan@integrate-tt.eu