Latin American Region, European Union Region · 12 October, 2018

EUROsociAL+ introduces Latin American policies for regional development in the European Week of Regions and Cities 2018

The most important global event on regional development, which was organised by the European Committee of the Regions and the European Commission Regional Policy Directorate, had the active participation of the Latin American Regional Development Network

Once again the city of Brussels hosted the European Week of Regions and Cities, organised this year in the heart of the European capital and in the week before Belgian municipal elections. EUROsociAL projected a Euro-Latin American character into this highly European and regional context by participating in the initiatives by the European institutions, in this case the European Committee of the Regions and the European Commission General Directorate of Regional Development. In addition, it introduced Latin American regional realities through the Network that promotes the importance of public policies for regional development, which was born within the EUROsociAL framework in 2013.

The debate proposed by the EUROsociAL+ Programme was framed in its determination to combat inequality in Latin America also at the regional and local level. With Gianluca Spinaci of the European Committee of the Regions as moderator, the panellists Diego Soto, Costa Rican Vice Minister for Planning; Varinia Michalum, OECD; Joao Guimaraes, international expert in regional development, and; Juan Manuel Santomé, director of EUROsociAL, presented their extensive knowledge. Among the five, they addressed the challenges of addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at a regional level, cross-border policies, the challenges of sustainable cities and innovation in regional development among other issues discussed not only in this session, but throughout the week.

The European Week of Regions and Cities is, in the words of the Regional Development Commissioner, Corina Cretu, “The most important cohesion policy event in Europe”, and as such, the European Union’s programme for social cohesion in Latin America could not be absent. EUROsociAL and, therefore, the Network of Public Policies for Regional Development, formed part of the more than 6,000 participants who, over more than a hundred sessions, showed the regions’ and cities’ capacity to improve levels of social cohesion, to reduce inequalities and to promote sustainable development.

EUROsociAL has supported regional development in Latin America since 2012, and in this third phase it is undertaking actions to strengthen decentralisation in Costa Rica; to implement planning and cross-border cooperation projects between Guatemala and Mexico; to reinforce integration strategies in the border territories along the Uruguay River and Lake Merin in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, and; to diagnose socio-economic reality on the northern border of Mexico, among other national and multi-country projects.

Programa EUROsociAL+ / Comité Europeo de las Regiones / DG Regio / Red Latinoamericana de Desarrollo Regional

Country: Latin American Region, European Union Region
SDG: Sustainable cities and communities, Partnerships for the goals
Policy area: Democratic governance policies