On June 8, 2018, the 12th Conference of Applied Statistics held at Academia de Studii Economice din Bucuresti (the Bucharest University of Economic Studies) hosted the special session entitled “Territorial inequalities in Europe and in Romania: Enriching the empirical knowledge base”, organised under the auspices of the Horizon 2020 project “Integrative Mechanisms for Addressing Spatial Justice and Territorial Inequalities in Europe” (IMAJINE), GA 726950.
11 papers have been presented by members of the ASE – IMAJINE team as well as by other academics, researchers and PhD students who shared their interest in territorial inequalities related topics, from both methodological and empirical perspectives. A special emphasis was placed on the analysis of territorial inequalities at higher levels of spatial disaggregation, in accordance with the objectives of the Work Package 2 of the IMAJINE project. The programme can be accessed at http://simpstat.ase.ro/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/SectiuneSpeciala.pdf
The special guest was Mr. Nigel Bellingham, the Director of the British Council Romania.
Professor Michael Woods from Aberystwyth University, UK, the IMAJINE project coordinator, sent the participants the following message:
“I am very pleased to support this Special Session of the 12th Conference on Applied Statistics on ‘Territorial Inequalities in Europe and In Romania: Enriching the Empirical Knowledge Base’.
The challenges of understanding territorial inequalities and developing effective mechanisms for reducing inequalities have never been more relevant. From its foundation, the European Community has attempted to reduce inequalities between regions through its cohesion policy and the allocation of structural funds for regional development. For several decades these actions contributed to a convergence of regional economies across Europe, however over the last 15 years, the evidence suggests that territorial disparities have started to increase again.
It is against this background that the Romanian European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Creţu last month announced a modified approach for the forthcoming 2021-2027 programming period. Described as a ‘Cohesion policy for all regions’, the new policy combines investment in all regions; a tailored approach to directing more support to less developed regions against a broader range of criteria; and locally-led development strategies.
In order to assess the merits of the new policy proposal, and to monitor and evaluate the impact of its deliver against the baseline of previous programmes, we will as economists and social scientists require robust and relevant data and appropriate models for analysis and interpretation.
The collation of such data and the development of such models are two of the objectives of the IMAJINE project, funded as part of the EU’s Horizon 2020 research programme. By bringing together the expertise of multi-disciplinary researchers working with different quantitative and qualitative data and techniques across eleven European countries, IMAJINE aims to enhance our understanding of the drivers and dynamics of territorial inequalities and to examine different mechanisms for reducing inequalities and promoting spatial justice. We are pleased and proud to have the Bucharest University of Economic Studies as a partner in the project.
It is not an endeavour, however, that we can do alone. The essence of scientific enterprise is discussion, debate, and exchange with our peers, and as such I am delighted for the IMAJINE project to support this special session to open up the conversation on the empirical knowledge base on territorial inequalities to the participating experts with perspectives from Romania and the Black Sea region. I wish you a fruitful discussion”.
The ERSA Newsletter also posted a news dedicated to this special IMAJINE session (here).