Mojca Golobič

Territorial impact assessment: Integrating territorial aspects in sectoral policies

Territorial impact assessment has recently gained attention as a tool to improve the coherence of sector policies with territorial cohesion objectives. The paper presents a method for territorial impact assessment and the results of applying this method on Slovenian energy policy. A two phase approach first disaggregates the problem into a three-dimensional matrix, consisting of policy measures, territorial objectives and territorial units. The synthesis phase aggregates measures and objectives in physical, economic or socio-cultural groups and observes their interrelation through an input-output matrix. The results have shown that such a two level approach is required to obtain complete and useful information for policy developers. In contrast to the relatively favourable evaluation of individual measures on the first level of assessment, the synthesis has revealed substantial and systemic weaknesses: considerable imbalance of energy policy favouring territorial effectiveness and mainly neglecting territorial identity as well as its counterproductiveness in reducing regional disparities.

Territorial Impact Assessment of European Draft Directives—The Emergence of a New Policy Assessment Instrument

Abstract European Union directives, along with their transposing arrangements in EU member states, can have unanticipated and sometimes undesirable impacts on certain regions and places. These include impacts on the use of space (e.g. new infrastructure or sprawl), governance, and on wider social, economic or environmental dimensions. Although ex-ante assessment of the potential impacts of EU initiatives has been carried out since 2002 through the European Commissions Impact Assessment procedure and also through national equivalents in some member states, important impacts are still overlooked, frequently because of their territorially heterogeneous nature within and between EU member states. This paper presents the results of the ESPON EATIA research project, in which a new territorial impact assessment methodology was developed for national and regional administrations in EU member states in order to inform their national positions during the negotiation of European draft directives and potentially other policy proposals.

Applying territorial impact assessment in a multi-level policy-making context – the case of Slovenia

Territorial impact assessment (TIA) aims at informing policy-makers on the policy impacts on different geographical areas (‘territorial units’). This paper presents a methodology for TIA which was tested on four European Union (EU) directives and their likely impacts on territorial units in Slovenia. This involved clustering Slovenian statistical (NUTS 3) regions according to their policy-relevant characteristics. The evaluation framework was reflecting the specific territorial cohesion objectives at corresponding governance levels (EU, national, local). This exercise indicates that there are some significant differences among Slovenian regions for different impacts, which become somewhat blurred when aggregated. Furthermore, the meaning of impacts differs depending on the governance level from which they are viewed. We conclude that important differences may be lost when impacts are generalized in policy assessments.

Slovenia as the Natural Park of Europe? Territorial Impact Assessment in the Case of Natura 2000

The implementation of Natura 2000 is causing difficulties in the EU’s Member States, including Slovenia. In addition to the positive environmental it also results in the negative economic, social, and governance-administrative effects. To prevent similar quandaries in adopting and implementing EU policies, the project ESPON EATIA developed a participatory process for the territorial impact assessment. Testing the Habitat Directive has shown that in addition to the positive effects regarding the conservation of biodiversity, the directive represents a major obstacle for the economy and the delivery of investments. At the same time it represents the potential of the area for tourism and opportunity for the development of new industries. The regulation contributes to a better quality of life, but also extends the spatial planning procedures and conflicts between investors and the local community. This approach has proven to be an appropriate medium for the exchange of experiences of various stakeholders who are involved in either the preparation or the implementation of the rules and as the proper tool for the global assessment of the effects of selected EU regulation.

The effects of EU policies on preserving cultural landscape in the Alps

ABSTRACT Agriculture is among the main drivers of Alpine cultural landscape diversity. Therefore the specific integration of landscape diversity into the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) objectives can potentially have an important effect on cultural landscape diversity. This paper presents an evaluation of a selected set of CAP’s agricultural measures and their impact on this diversity, using quantitative analysis combined with expert qualitative evaluation. Our hypothesis is that although the CAP’s measures consider landscape diversity up to a point, they are too general to embrace the diversity of European landscapes and may have unwanted impacts for the diversity of Alpine landscapes.

Delivering a national spatial development strategy: a success story?

ABSTRACT The Slovenian national planning policy has been in a renewal process since 2014. The process required an evaluation to reveal to which level the defined measures have been delivered and discuss the policy’s future role. The mixed-methods evaluation approach consisted of a document analysis, a questionnaire with local communities and interviews with representatives of the ministries. Implementation of measures depends on multiple factors: capacity, personal priorities of actors, interpretation skills, financial support, political will for co-operation, etc. The potential to mitigate the influence of factors on implementation through a co-evolutionary trend of planning is elaborated in the light of Europeanization.