Resource productivity, competitiveness and environmental policies
By Sander de Bruyn, Agnieszka Markowska, Femke de Jong and Martijn Blom, 2009.
Human wealth is ultimately dependent on the use and consumption of natural resources like materials, energy and land. But the use of these resources puts an increasing burden on the environment. For some time now, the EU therefore emphasizes the sustainable use and management of resources as part of their environmental programs. Resource productivity is a catchword that recently gained significant interest in scientific and political discussions. Resource productivity can be defined as a measure of resource use divided by GDP. It is believed to be indicative of the amount of resources we need to obtain our current level of GDP.
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European Economic Governance and Cohesion Policy
By the European Parliament's Committee on Regional Development
Authors:
LSE: Iain Begg, Corrado Macchiarelli,
EPRC: John Bachtler, Carlos Mendez, Fiona Wishlade
This study analyses the interactions between the wide-ranging economic governance reforms undertaken since 2008 and Cohesion Policy. It details the main changes and analyses how the aims of Cohesion Policy are likely to be affected. It also highlights the challenges of assuring legitimacy and of suitable formulation of Cohesion Policy as especially salient issues for the European Parliament, not least because of the expanded roles in economic governance of the European Commission and the European Central Bank.
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OECD Reviews of Regional Innovation Regions and Innovation Policy
By OECD, 2011.
Regions and Innovation Policy addresses the needs of national and regional governments for greater clarity on how to strengthen the innovation capacity of regions. The first part of the book examines strategies, policies and governance, explaining why regions matter, what makes smart policy mixes, and multilevel governance. The second part of the book looks at agencies, instruments and country information, showing how agencies can maximise their impact and what policy instruments work. The final chapter provides country-by-country summaries of what countries are doing.
Multi-level Governance in the EU: Contrasting Structures and Contrasting Results in Cohesion Policy
Roberti Leonardi, and Raffaella Nanetti, 2011.
One of the most important innovations introduced through the operationalisation of Cohesion Policy in 1989 was the creation of a multi-level system of governance that was applied to the management of the operational programmes financed by the Structural Funds (European Regional Development Fund-ERDF, and European Social Fund-ESF).
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Multi-system Goverance or Multi-level Government in EU Cohesion Policy?
Wolf Huber, 2011.
We can regard “policies” as intentional activities of public actors (“the state”) to influence the behaviour and attitudes of various other relevant (public and/or private) actors in order to reach certain objectives. The “classical” set of activities for this purpose is „government“, i.e legitimate formal rules of public actors (as “principal”) addressed to other actors (“agents”) in a hierarchical relation (laws, regulations – “command”), where the public policy maker has the power to control compliance of the norm addressees and sanction non-compliance.
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Europe’s Neighbourhood from a Territorial Perspective
By ESPON, 2012.
Territorial development in Europe and its neighbouring areas are linked and increasingly interdependent in today’s changing world. Improving the mutual understanding of territorial development processes and trends offers an opportunity for an intensified dialogue between Europe and its neighbourhood on common objectives, challenges, development potentials and cooperation.
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Emergence of Growth Poles. Network in South-East of Europe
By ESPON, 2012.
In the frame of Europe 2020 Strategy (2010) approach of smart, inclusive and sustainable development, a great number of recent reports on the territorial priorities of the EU policies -among them: Territorial Agenda 2020, (2011) and 5th Cohesion Report, (2010) emphasize the role of the metropolitan areas (and other cities) as growth poles of their immediate or more distant surrounding regions and the rest of the countries. Further on, priority is given to the integration of the metropoles outside the EU “Pentagon” into powerful urban networks which could contribute to the balance of the territorial development of the EU space.
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Big Data, Big Impact: New Possibilities for International Development
By World Economic Forum, 2013.
A flood of data is created every day by the interactions of billions of people using computers, GPS devices, cell phones, and medical devices. Many of these interactions occur through the use of mobile devices being used by people in the developing world, people whose needs and habits have been poorly understood until now. Researchers and policymakers are beginning to realise the potential for channelling these torrents of data into actionable information that can be used to identify needs, provide services, and predict and prevent crises for the benefit of low-income populations. Concerted action is needed by governments, development organisations, and companies to ensure that this data helps the individuals and communities who create it.
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An Agenda for a Reformed Cohesion Policy – A Place-based Approach to Meeting European Union Challenges and Expectations
Fabrizio Barca, 2009.
AThis Report has been prepared by Fabrizio Barca, Ministry of Economy and Finance of Italy, with the support (and co-authorship for chapter V) of John Bachtler, European Policies Research Centre, University of Strathclyde. The Rapporteur for the study was Eric Von Breska, DG REGIO. Additional research for sections of the Report was undertaken by Carlos Mendez, European Policies Research Centre, and Gian Paolo Manzella, European Investment Bank.
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The evolution of CFSP institutions: Where does democratic accountability stand?
Esther Barbé, 2004.
The Laken Declaration on the Future of the European Union stated that the EU faced ¨twin challenges at the same time, one within and the other beyond its borders¨. Within the Union, the institutions had to be brought closer to its citizens by increasing their transparency and democratic scrutiny. Beyond its borders, the new united EU would have to cope with a fresh leading role in the new world order, that of a ¨power able both to play a stabilizing role worldwide and to point the way ahead for many countries and people¨.
The Post-American World
Fareed Zakaria, 2012.
For Fareed Zakaria, the great story of our times is "the rise of the rest"—the growth of countries such as China, India, Brazil, Russia, South Africa, Kenya, and many, many more. This economic growth is generating a new global landscape where power is shifting and wealth and innovation are bubbling up in unexpected places. Economic growth is also producing political confidence and national pride. As these trends continue, the push of globalization will increasingly be joined by the pull of nationalism—a tension that is likely to define the next decades. Global growth produces many good things but also many problems—and the world is not yet equipped to tackle them.
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The future of families to 2030: an overview of projections, policy challenges and policy options
By OECD, 2012.
The OECD International Futures Programme (IFP) launched its project on “Families to 2030” in December 2009. Its aim was to identify and examine trends in household and family structures over the next two decades and to explore the implications of those trends for key policy areas. This was by nature an experimental project, since very little international work had been conducted at the time on the theme of the future of families. It was an opportunity to apply foresight tools to a new, relatively unexplored subject area. The project was designed, co-ordinated and conducted by the IFP team, assisted by several external experts in the social policy field. Funding, advice and guidance were provided by a steering group composed of representatives from several different ministries (Education, Family, Economic Affairs, Social Affairs, Communities and Local Government Affairs) from the countries participating in the project in various capacities, including support from the Russell Sage Foundation (United States). Additional input was provided by colleagues from various OECD departments as well as by a number of other countries who attended the final workshop.
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The return of history and the end of dreams
Robert Kagan, 2008.
Hopes for a new peaceful international order after the end of the Cold War have been dashed by sobering realities. Great powers are once again competing for geopolitical influence. International competition between the United States, Russia, China, Europe, Japan, India, and Iran raises new threats of regional conflict. The expectation that after the Cold War the world had entered an era of international convergence has proved wrong. We have entered an age of divergence.In "The Return of History and the End of Dreams", Robert Kagan masterfully poses the questions facing the democratic world today. For the past few years, it has been internally divided and distracted by issues both profound and petty. But now History has returned, and the peoples of the liberal world need to choose whether they want to shape it - or let others shape it for them.
The world is Flat
Thomas Friedman, 2007.
History of the world twenty years from now, and they come to the chapter "Y2K to March 2004," what will they say was the most crucial development? The attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11 and the Iraq war? Or the convergence of technology and events that allowed India, China, and so many other countries to become part of the global supply chain for services and manufacturing, creating an explosion of wealth in the middle classes of the world's two biggest nations, giving them a huge new stake in the success of globalization? And with this "flattening" of the globe, which requires us to run faster in order to stay in place, has the world gotten too small and too fast for human beings and their political systems to adjust in a stable manner?
In this brilliant new book, the award-winning New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman demystifies the brave new world for readers, allowing them to make sense of the often bewildering global scene unfolding before their eyes. With his inimitable ability to translate complex foreign policy and economic issues, Friedman explains how the flattening of the world happened at the dawn of the twenty-first century; what it means to countries, companies, communities, and individuals; and how governments and societies can, and must, adapt. The World Is Flat is the timely and essential update on globalization, its successes and discontents, powerfully illuminated by one of our most respected journalists.
The Next Decade. Where We’ve Been… and Where We’re Going
George Friedman, 2011.
This book is about the relation between empire, republic, and the exercise of power in the next ten years. It is a more personal book than The Next 100 Years because I am addressing my greatest concern, which is that the power of the United States in the world will undermine the republic. I am not someone who shuns power. I understand that without power there can be no republic. But the question I raise is how the United States should behave in the world while exercising its power, and preserve the republic at the same time. I invite readers to consider two themes. The first is the concept of the unintended empire. I argue that the United States has become an empire not because it intended to, but because history has worked out that way. The issue of whether the United States should be an empire is meaningless. It is an empire.
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The World of Crime: Breaking the Silence on Problems of Security, Justice and Development Across the World
Jan Van Dijik, 2008.
In today’s interdependent world, governments must become more transparent about their crime and justice problems. The World of Crime: Breaking the Silence on Problems of Security, Justice and Development Across the World seeks to break the “conspiracy of silence” regarding statistical information on these sensitive issues. It subsequently analyzes the macro causes of crime such as rapid urbanization, economic inequality, gender discrimination, abuse of alcohol, and drugs and availability of guns. Furthermore, the book analyzes the impact of crime on individuals and societies. Using a wealth of statistical information, the author underlines the need of greater international efforts to tackle transnational problems of crime.
European Union Public Law
Damian Chalmers, 2010.
Cambridge University
This eagerly awaited new edition has been significantly revised after extensive user feedback to meet current teaching requirements. The first major textbook to be published since the rejuvenation of the Lisbon Treaty, it retains the best elements of the first edition – the engaging, easily understandable writing style, extracts from a variety of sources showing the creation, interpretation and application of the law and comprehensive coverage. In addition it has separate chapters on EU law in national courts, governance and external relations reflecting the new directions in which the field is moving. The examination of the free movement of goods and competition law has been restructured.
The Pentagon’s New Map. War and Peace in the Twenty-First Century
Thomas Barnett, 2004.
Since the end of the Cold War, America's national security establishment has been searching for a new operating theory to explain how this seemingly "chaotic" world actually works. Gone is the clash of blocs, but replaced by what?
Thomas Barnett has the answers. A senior military analyst with the U.S. Naval War College, he has given a constant stream of briefings over the past few years, and particularly since 9/11, to the highest of high-level civilian and military policymakers-and now he gives it to you. The Pentagon's New Map is a cutting-edge approach to globalization that combines security, economic, political, and cultural factors to do no less than predict and explain the nature of war and peace in the twenty-first century.
Facing the future: time for the EU to meet global challenges
Mark Boden, Cristiano Cagnin, Vicente Carabias, Karel Haegeman, Totti Könnölä; Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS), 2010
What will the world look like in 2025? What are the possible future disruptive global challenges? And how can the EU position itself to take an active role in shaping a response to them? This publication offers possible answers to these questions through the identification of three main challenges and potential responses to these, and concludes that the main policy issues to be considered at EU level are: policy alignment towards sustainability; social diversity and the use of ICT for citizen empowerment; and the need to embed capabilities for anticipating future challenges to enable these to become new opportunities. The methodology applied combines widely accepted quantified trends by 2025 and beyond with the opinions of experts and policy makers on the likely consequences of these trends and wild cards. A multicriteria quantitative analysis (Robust Portfolio Modelling) was used as a novel element to prioritise issues as a basis for discussion with selected experts and policy makers. This work has been undertaken in close cooperation with the Bureau of European Policy Advisors of the European Commission.
America 2050
National Committee for America 2050. 2011.
America 2050 is a national initiative to meet the infrastructure, economic development and environmental challenges of the nation as we prepare to add about 130 million additional Americans by the year 2050. America 2050 is guided by the National Committee for America 2050, a coalition of regional planners, scholars, and policy-makers to develop a framework for the nation's future growth. A major focus of America 2050 is the emergence of megaregions - large networks of metropolitan areas, where most of the population growth by mid-century will take place. America 2050 is serving as a clearinghouse for research on the emergence of megaregions and a resource for megaregion planning efforts nationwide. Its aim is to advance research on the emergence of this new urban form while promoting planning solutions to address challenges that span state and regional boundaries, demanding cooperation and coordination at the megaregion scale.
