Regional strategy (RSES) · Northern and Western Region
Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy 2020–2032
The regional strategy for the Northern and Western Region, including the Galway Metropolitan Area Strategic Plan.
Northern and Western Regional Assembly · January 2020 · 320 pages
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- CAN OUR REGION BE SMART? INNOVATION Technological innovation is not just about robots and driverless cars. Innovation can be as simple as a change of process or a better understanding of when to plant crops derived from data. The Northern and Western Region is the perfect location for innovation and change to be embraced and to provide a collaborative platform for the development of a Smart Specialisation Strategy with stakeholders. This approach shall be an integral tool in developing the region’s innovative capacity to nurture businesses, artists, creatives and innovators, thus generating economic growth in key industry sectors. Adopting a Smart approach to building our regional innovation system encourages the rapid diffusion of knowledge, skills and best practice. Identified need emerging from our consultation process focuses on four key areas and they align with programmes announced in the National Development Plan 2018. 1. Fostering regional Research and Development and innovation capacities in line with regional economic development objectives. Utilising by supporting industry or technology-specific competence centres, competitiveness poles involving public and private organisations, promoting technology transfer etc. New ‘Technology and Innovation Poles’ (TIPs) will be developed through Enterprise Ireland and the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) to drive regional and rural development. These TIPs should be considered essential designations for Galway, Athlone, Sligo and Letterkenny. 2. Stimulating innovation in SMEs by promoting 3rd level-enterprise cooperation networks particularly with Local Enterprise Offices and Local Authorities; by supporting business networks and clusters of SMEs, by facilitating SMEs’ access to advanced business support services and by improving the effectiveness of these services (networks). 3. Promoting entrepreneurship and new business development by facilitating the economic exploitation of new ideas, by fostering the creation of new business from universities, IoT’s and existing enterprises. 4. Working with Third Level sector, Skills Fora and Further Education and Training (FET) to enhance/tailor training to the emerging innovation system. IMPLICATIONS This strategy for a Smart region will be augmented through the suite of City/County Development Plans, Local Economic and Community Plans and shall be complemented through a variety of pipeline projects, initiatives and pilots across the region. The strategy is to encourage urban and rural renewal programmes to provide greater economic opportunity, to accentuate smart technology and create enabling environments that add to this regions existing lifestyle advantages. Our Planning system and policy instruments need to seriously think about smart technologies on a holistic level and start planning for their future today. Updating infrastructure that is already in place is fundamental to success. With an existent weaker urban infrastructure, weaker utility services and a disconnected transportation system the Northern and Western Region needs to ensure necessary investment is made to address existing infrastructural deficits but equally strive to guarantee that our communities do not become ‘doubly disadvantaged’. Without the right infrastructure, there can be no smart future. The fact that broadband access to the internet is a basic requirement to allow citizens to explore the potential benefits of the digital environment has been recognised by government and to address this challenge, the National Broadband Plan was commissioned. Progress has already been made in rolling out high-speed broadband acrossNorthern & Western Regional Assembly 241 6 Growth Ambition 3: Connectivity - Connected Region
- the country under this plan but much work is still ongoing. This is a major priority for the government and recognition that Ireland cannot optimise the benefits it obtains from the digital world until all citizens are connected. REGIONAL POLICY OBJECTIVES – SMART ENVIRONMENT RPO 6.41 Promote technology interventions and best practice that enhance sustainability in public places, parks, waterways and building management. RPO 6.42 Encourage policies that promote effective resource management through the application of new technologies, data and environmental management. RPO 6.43 Encourage, pilot and collaborate with stakeholders to adopt technologies that improve energy and resource sustainability across the region. RPO 6.44 Encourage the adoption of digital technologies and service platforms across the region to improve asset management and service delivery. REGIONAL POLICY OBJECTIVES – SMART ECONOMY RPO 6.45 Leverage the Smart region approach to secure EU and private financing to accelerate business growth and economic development. CASE STUDY IN EXCELLENCE USING TECHNOLOGY TO ADDRESS BREXIT In July 2017, Donegal County Council and Derry City and Strabane District Council began working with Maynooth University on the development of a North West Regional Dashboard. As a tool for decision-making, dashboards provide a visual means to organise and interact with data, using maps, graphs, charts, gauges, 3D models and other visual analytics that are dynamic, interactive, and inter-linked (Few, 2006). With the process of the U.K. leaving the EU continuing to generate a great deal of uncertainty, the importance of having access to accurate and up-to-date data for this cross-border region cannot be under-estimated. The first cross-border Dashboard, the North West Regional Dashboard will provide citizens, public sector workers and companies with real-time information, time-series indicator data, and interactive maps about all aspects of the City Region and wider North West Region. As a tool, it will enable users to gain detailed, up-to-date intelligence about the region that will aid everyday decision-making and foster evidence-informed analysis.Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy 2020-2032 242 6 Growth Ambition 3: Connectivity - Connected Region
- RPO 6.46 Actively develop the regional innovation ecosystem’s capacity to nurture businesses, artists, creatives and innovators and generate economic growth in key industry sectors aligned with Enterprise 2025 Objectives and NDP investments. RPO 6.47 Promote a local and regional ‘Open Data’ policy and build a Regional Data Infrastructure platform - data is at the basis of the smart approach. Data infrastructure is a shared technological platform where data can be collected, processed, shared and analysed from across the region. RPO 6.48 To enable Public and Private Sector creation of a digitally connected innovation corridor connecting existing, emerging and new incubation spaces (examples include: Portershed, Building Block etc.) that will attract businesses and industries working in the digital economy and creative industries. REGIONAL POLICY OBJECTIVES – SMART MOBILITY RPO 6.49 Develop and deliver strategy and infrastructure to enable the adoption and integration of future modes of transport and mobility. RPO 6.50 Continue to encourage Active Travel initiatives and where possible leverage technology and digital platforms to enhance the delivery of cycleway and walking infrastructure, particularly in our urban centres. CASE STUDY EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS - SMART VILLAGES Smart Villages are communities in rural areas that use innovative solutions to improve their resilience, building on local strengths and opportunities. Digital tools and connectivity are closely associated with the ‘smart’ concept and innovation. Unsurprisingly, digital technologies are widely used within Smart Villages development, and ‘act as a lever’ that enables Smart Villages to become more agile, make better use of their resources and improve the attractiveness of rural areas. The NWRA through the Committee of the Regions (CoR) has been promoting the best practice across the region. During a recent Plenary Session members of the European Committee of the Regions, in Brussels, adopted the opinion on the revitalisation of rural areas through Smart Villages, drafted by European Alliance member and elected representative of Leitrim County Council, Cllr Enda Stenson.Northern & Western Regional Assembly 243 6 Growth Ambition 3: Connectivity - Connected Region
- RPO 6.51 Promote values and policies that make it easy to commute between home, work and school across the region in a way that contributes to a healthy, attractive and climate-friendly region. REGIONAL POLICY OBJECTIVES – SMART GOVERNMENT RPO 6.52 Understand, advocate for, and facilitate the existing and future infrastructure needs of our urban areas, the wider region and beyond – immediate priorities include access to ultra-fast and rural broadband initiatives. RPO 6.53 Encourage the exploitation of data and information pertinent to new spatial forms and to consider enhanced infrastructural requirements for a fully connected region. RPO 6.54 Create and adopt policy frameworks, open standards and information technology platforms to make appropriate city datasets accessible and available to increase productivity and growth. RPO 6.55 Establish a “Smart Region Hub”: Build on the Smart Places foundation to craft a vision for our sustained and integrated regional Smart future. REGIONAL POLICY OBJECTIVES – SMART PEOPLE RPO 6.56 Enable access and utilisation of public data to improve planning, stimulate economic development, encourage people into business. RPO 6.57 Within 2 years, the Assembly, along with WDC, IDA and other relevant agencies, will construct the principles for the creation of a Digital Skills Platform. This Platform will enable access and utilisation of public data to enhance planning, economic growth and encourage entrepreneurship and business startups. RPO 6.58 Use digital platforms to enable improved communication and engagement between citizens and local authorities including fostering the capacity for the community to influenced decision-making. RPO 6.59 With our partners in Local Government/Local Development promote the benefits of highspeed broadband to ensure that uptake and use are as high as possible. RPO 6.60 To assist in the establishment of New ‘Technology and Innovation Poles’ (TIPs) - encouraged in our Metropolitan and Regional Growth centres.Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy 2020-2032 244 6 Growth Ambition 3: Connectivity - Connected Region
- 7Growth Ambition 4: Quality of Life - Inclusive Region 245
- Growth Ambition 4: Quality of Life - Inclusive Region 7.1 Introduction How future development in Ireland is planned will continue to be a significant determinant of people’s quality of life. Location and place have an important influence on the quality of life that people enjoy. (National Planning Framework) Strengthening local economies, meeting people’s social needs and addressing problems of poverty and social exclusion are central to building sustainable communities. There is clear evidence that employment creation and economic growth in a community do not in themselves necessarily directly reduce unemployment or increase the prosperity and wealth. Achieving economic growth while reducing disadvantage and inequality is a challenge to which the region must rise to achieve its vision. The region needs to embrace inclusive growth principles in the delivery of services, such as housing, education, health and transport investments. How we deliver services to our people shall also need to be adaptable to new ethnic communities and the changing demographic trends, as the region has both an ageing population and people are continuing to live longer. Over the past several years, a national consensus has emerged on the need for a more sociallyinclusive approach to generating economic growth. While the National Planning Framework recognises that it cannot effect change in all of the dimensions that contribute to the quality of life, there are some key elements that it will directly impact on, most importantly ‘the natural and living environment’. This is why place is intrinsic to achieving good quality of life - the quality of our immediate environment, our ability to access services and amenities, such as education and healthcare, shops and parks, the leisure and social interactions available to us and the prospect of securing employment, all combine to make a real difference to people’s lives.Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy 2020-2032 246 7
- Our region excels in many important areas – a robust economy, diverse population, abundant natural assets, lower property prices and a variety of distinctive sub-regions and communities. But there are also concerns— some immediate and some longer-term—that we will need to address if we are going to continue being a ‘great place to live’. The overarching policy framework for social inclusion can be found by following the link below: VIEW PDF ! https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/f96bb9- social-inclusion-policy/ WHY PLAN FOR A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE? If we do not plan to meet the needs of employers through the provision of a skilled and healthy workforce with high levels of participation and housing provision in proximity to employment locations, then we will stifle industry productivity, expansion and retention. If people are unemployed or underemployed, they cannot purchase many of the goods and services the economy produces, hurting small businesses and entrepreneurs. Furthermore, inefficient use of land and infrastructure, including the congestion it can create, hampers job access, limits productivity and reduces property values. Integrating this growth ambition to our vision is justified through baseline review and extensive consultation detailing: 1. Many of our communities and local economies are disconnected from wider national growth. 2. Work is no longer a guaranteed route out of poverty. 3. The shortcomings of getting people job-ready in a rural environment with neither employment, broadband nor an adequate transport system to enable them to access jobs in urban centres. 4. Inequalities between cities, towns and rural communities in the region are tangible. 5. Increases in poverty and unemployment impact the region’s competitiveness. The NWRA aspires to reflect the OECD definition of ‘inclusive growth’: “Economic growth that creates an opportunity for all segments of the population and distributes the dividends of increased prosperity, both in monetary and non-monetary terms, fairly across society”Northern & Western Regional Assembly 247 7 Growth Ambition 4: Quality of Life - Inclusive Region
- To promote inclusion, our objectives must encourage industries that provide good, family-sustaining jobs that raise per capita incomes and enable this region to enhance its national contribution to GDP. Sustainable regional growth needs to improve living standards for all. Having a good place to live means access to education, health, employment, recreation and opportunity. Having a great place to live means our people are capable of taking advantage of education, health, employment, recreation and opportunity. A strong economy not only means having diverse, well-paid jobs but also being able to attract new types of employment that will keep this region competitive and thriving, providing more opportunities for all to prosper.Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy 2020-2032 248 7 Growth Ambition 4: Quality of Life - Inclusive Region
- 7.2 Inclusive Growth Although sometimes described as a peripheral region, the region boasts urban growth engines and major economic assets including energy (see Growth Ambition 1). However, our workforce is ageing, mobile and our education system is not producing enough workers with appropriate skills to keep pace with the growing and changing needs of the economy. This is draining our skills base. There is also a significant deficit in skilled labour requiring policy and local response to promote ‘apprenticeships’. SPATIAL CHALLENGES There are concentrations of deprivation in particular areas - typically some urban centres, coastal areas and rural places across the region. However, the pattern of exclusion and deprivation is not only area-based, as certain groups are not always easily identified in statistical indicators which focus on CSO collated data. Some groups may be more susceptible to data gaps, such as minority ethnic communities, travellers, refugees and asylum seekers, people with disabilities, young people and the elderly. These groups are particularly vulnerable and face unacceptably high risks of unemployment or disadvantage which need to be addressed wherever they occur. HOUSING CONSIDERATION Housing problems can be acute for disadvantaged groups but they are not confined to those on low incomes and can also be a characteristic of both rural and urban areas. Affordability has a significant economic impact affecting the recruitment and retention of workers in essential public services such as health and education and across the private sector. The lack of affordable housing can undermine the sustainability of communities, as people are forced to either travel longer distances to work or move to new areas, weakening local networks and social contacts. Continuing the regions economic growth depends on keeping and attracting businesses, creating diverse job choices and providing access to technology to all areas of the northern and western region. Continued success also depends on having a competitive workforce. Early career and technical education, expanded apprenticeships, job training programmes and ETB Further Education programmes will strengthen the employment base and ensure the competitiveness of our local economies. The availability of a skilled and educated workforce will make our citizens more employable, improve competitiveness and raise incomes, in addition to attracting new businesses.Northern & Western Regional Assembly 249 7 Growth Ambition 4: Quality of Life - Inclusive Region
- HORIZONTAL AIMS The OECD’s Framework for Policy Action on Inclusive Growth recommends investing in people and places, supporting business dynamism, and creating more inclusive labour markets, which will contribute to rebuilding trust and strengthening social cohesion. This strategy adopts an approach that is consistent with the principles of this framework, It embraces an inclusive approach to development and also lays foundations for more sustainable growth. The RSES focuses on three horizontal aims to integrate ‘economic growth’ – People, Place and Resilience. PEOPLE g To ensure citizens within the region play a meaningful role in the design and evaluation of policies that concern them. g Ensure that equity aspects are enshrined in the design process of regional policy development, ensuring disadvantaged socio-economic groups and geographical areas are taken into account. g To ensure that the region is a great place to be – as a visitor, worker, entrepreneur or resident. g Promote public spaces and physical places to engage with each other, particularly in our MASP and urban areas. g Our people have access to education and training opportunities to allow them to realise their full potential; enhancing this region’s ability to retain talent. g Our people live in safe, healthy communities with transportation options, including walking, cycling, transit and driving. g Residents are physically and mentally healthy and can lead healthy lifestyles. g Our region provides choices for individuals and for local communities to fulfil their needs.Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy 2020-2032 250 7 Growth Ambition 4: Quality of Life - Inclusive Region
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