Found at: http://www.competitiveness.org/article/articleprint/40/-1/9/

International conference on territorial development

The second International Conference on Territorial Development will be held at the Cité des Sciences in Paris, France, from the 21st to the 23rd of January 2003, and will examine the role of regional governments for the development of territories.

Jean Pierre Raffarin, the Prime Minister of France, and Jean Paul Delevoye, Minister for Civil Service, State Reform and Spatial Planning are among the Conference speakers.
This Conference on Territorial Development takes place while France is undergoing a profound institutional evolution. In particular, the movement towards increased decentralisation is reinforcing the role of the region. Placed at an intermediate level between the State and local entities, a region can play a key-role in supporting local economic development and to establish partnerships between different levels of government and different stakeholders.

How can a region achieve this objective? With which tools? These questions are going to be examined along three principal thematic approaches:

• Supporting economic development through the attractiveness of territories and the territorial anchoring of enterprises;
• Reinforcing economic and social cohesion of territories;
• Enhancing the role and participation of civil society, particularly for environmental management purposes and to boost local democracy.

Over 80 high-level decision-makers - from all over the world, representing central governments, research institutions, businesses, and local governments - will contribute to round-tables and forums. A series of workshops will examine a number of technical issues. In parallel to these events, an exchange fair will enable project-managers to share their experiences and to diffuse "best practices".

Organised by the French Agency for Territorial Development (DATAR), the Caisse des dépôts et consignations, and the Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation (OECD), the conference stands as the major platform enabling stakeholders, including local elected officials, major socio-economic decision makers and local development project managers, to meet and discuss territorial development.

Conference website : http://www.eiadt.com