Territorial Working Group

Issues in focus

The Territorial WG explores challenges related to talent retention from a regional perspective. Its work pays particular attention to the role that urban-rural linkages and quality of life play in harnessing talent in Europe. The concept of urban-rural linkages refers to the interconnections and relationships between urban and rural areas, recognising that these areas are not isolated entities but rather function as integrated systems. Quality of life refers to the overall well-being and living conditions experienced by individuals and communities.

The WG aims to foster strong urban-rural linkages that bring mutual benefits, promote balanced regional development, and enhance the overall quality of life in both urban and rural areas. These linkages are particularly important in the context of talent harnessing and economic growth. The WG takes a holistic approach, the one that acknowledges the mutual benefits of enhancing urban-rural linkages in order to stimulate economic growth, improve quality of life, and enable a more sustainable and balanced distribution of talent across the EU.

Objectives of the group

The Territorial WG is committed to identifying opportunities and approaches to help mitigate challenges associated with population decline of tertiary educated population and to analyse the possibilities to harness talent by fostering sustainable development through the increase of urban-rural linkages and the enhancement of access to essential services and the quality of life. Specifically, the Territorial WG has dedicated their work to addressing the following issues:

1. Inclusion and Diversity: Promoting gender equality, multiculturalism, and social inclusion in rural regions and towns.
2. Dynamic Innovation Ecosystems: Enhancing lifelong learning, upskilling, and innovation systems at the regional level.
3. Talent Retention and Attraction: Exploring solutions to strengthen talent and skills development in rural and small urban areas.

For further information, please read more about the topics in the respective issue papers.

Envisioned outputs

During its first year in operation, the Working Groups investigated, framed and described the issues they deem most prominent and which they would like to address (please see the issue papers in the download section), the groups have now moved on from this initial incubation phase to the delivery phase, working on the production of intermediary and final outputs.

As intermediary outputs, the Territorial Working Group is focusing on:

1. ✔ A Good Practices Catalogue (Volume 1), in collaboration with all other WGs. The catalogue presents a pool of cases from across the WGs, combined with initial reflections on their contribution to harnessing talent. Territorial WG members have collected good practices focusing on enhancing inclusion and diversity, developing strong regional innovation systems, and exploring solutions to strengthen talent and skills development in rural and small urban areas.

As final outputs, the Territorial Working Group is looking at:

1. Guidelines and Toolkit for implementing policies that promote gender equality, multiculturalism, diversity, and social inclusion in rural areas. This toolkit would provide stakeholders with actionable steps and tools to address the identified challenges and promote inclusivity. It would also offer a tailored approach, synthesising existing best practices and adapting them to the specific needs of other communities.
2. A Recommendation Paper on assessing skills development in place-based innovation strategies. This paper, which will be developed with the R&I WG (Leader: R&I WG), will be designed to support stakeholders involved in regional innovation systems. The paper would offer targeted guidance to support the development of robust innovation ecosystems that are well-adapted to both current and future workforce requirements. The input from the Territorial WG would focus on skills development challenges.
3. A Recommendation paper on access to essential services and quality of life, in collaboration with all other WGs (Leader: Territorial WG). Recognising that access to essential services is a critical enabler of overall quality of life, the Territorial WG will provide suggestions and ideas for potential actions that policymakers should consider ensuring unrestricted access to innovative solutions and services and therefore enhance the overall quality of life for all Europeans.
4. A Good Practices Catalogue (Volume 2), in collaboration with all other WGs. The catalogue will follow a similar structure to the first edition. The publication of this second catalogue will allow the Territorial WG to contribute with additional good practice cases that are relevant to the issues tackled by the Territorial WG.

For more details, please visit the strategic roadmap document in the download section.

Meet our members

What the WG Leaders have to say

During our last physical meeting, we have asked our WG Leaders a few questions. Please watch the video below to understand what motivates them to be part of the HTP community and how they think the work of the groups can add value.

Downloads