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The Eurométropole of Strasbourg (EMS) started its circular journey in 2010 with a focus on waste prevention, followed by the development of its 'Circular Economy Roadmap' in 2019, which aimed to integrate circular economy principles into EMS' public procurement and operations. The EMS is currently in the process of updating the Roadmap to address challenges related to regulation, co-ordination across the 33 municipalities and financing. This case study provides ways forward on how to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy through the OECD 3Ps framework: People and firms, Policies and Places.

In 2020, the Province of Zuid-Holland set up the 'Strategy Circular Zuid-Holland: Accelerating Together', with the commitment of reducing the use of primary raw materials by 50% by 2030 and to reach full circularity by 2050. New challenges in terms of value chain disruptions and increased scarcity of critical materials and opportunities led the province to develop several initiatives and collaborating platforms to advance towards a circular economy. This case study provides ways forward on how to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy through the OECD 3Ps framework: People and firms, Policies and Places.

The Welsh Government is refining its approach to regional development, adopting a regional lens directed to four regions to better allocate resources and address local needs. This OECD Multi-level Governance Study – a follow up to the 2020 OECD report The Future of Regional Development and Public Investment in Wales, United Kingdom – summarises the progress Wales has made to advance this regional lens, and identifies key areas of attention going forward. It synthesises the results of a vision-setting exercise, capacity-building workshops with the national government and regional bodies, and a multi-stakeholder workshop on collaborative working among Welsh regional development actors. This report identifies enablers for the effective use of a regional lens in Wales, including robust regional data, long-term and future-oriented objectives, effective co-ordination across Welsh Government policy areas related to regional development, capacitated regional structures, and trust and collaborative working among levels of government. The report's insights on establishing strategic direction and fostering collaboration among national, regional, and local levels could be valuable for countries exploring ways to optimise regional development policy, including in the face of resource constraints.

The Autonomous Province of Trento (Trentino) is among the most productive regions in Europe, but over the past two decades its productivity growth has stagnated. As a result, the productivity gap of Trentino widened by over 20% compared to regions with the same productivity level in 2000. The benchmarking of productivity drivers in Trentino with those of 'peer' regions points to several policy priorities, including: reviving productivity in tradeable sectors, also through increased internationalisation; increasing the share of the labour force with a tertiary education; and getting more out of public R&D while boosting private sector R&D.

Social impact measurement and management is a particularly helpful practice for social economy entities to understand their contribution to society and potentially improve the achievement of their mission. Impact areas that are particularly important for the social economy, such as economic prosperity and employment, social inclusion and well-being and community, are often the hardest to translate into quantitative metrics. Current social impact measurement and management practices are largely shaped by funders and for-profits with limited focus on the social economy. This guide offers a simple, straightforward approach for social economy entities to measure, manage and ultimately maximise their impact, and to prioritise the use of findings for strategic organisational learning and improvement.

The state of Paraná in Brazil has turned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a guiding framework for its territorial development policy since 2016. Building on the recommendations from the OECD report on 'A Territorial Approach to the SDGs in Paraná, Brazil' (2021), the state has continued to leverage the SDGs as a vehicle to address territorial disparities and challenges in a number of policy domains, including agriculture, health, education, economic growth, environmental conservation and public safety. This report assesses the state’s progress on the 2021 OECD recommendations and offers renewed guidance on how to harness the SDGs to tackle the state’s main challenges, including designing a state-wide Sustainable Development Plan and integrating the SDGs in its new 2053 Strategic Vision.

The blue economy is a major driver of urban and regional development, creating millions of local jobs in water-dependent sectors such as fisheries, tourism, and shipping. However, it can also contribute to carbon emissions and ecosystem degradation, while its reliance on freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems exposes it to the impacts of climate change. As the places where the blue economy takes place, creates value and provides jobs, cities and regions play a key role in unlocking the potential of a resilient blue economy that preserves the ecosystems that sustain it. Building on a global survey of 80+ cities, regions and basins, this report highlights the costs and benefits of the blue economy at subnational level, shedding light on the link between the blue economy and water security. This analysis provides an overview of the multi-level governance of the blue economy and related gaps. It calls on cities and regions to develop resilient, inclusive, sustainable and circular (RISC-proof) blue economies by establishing the right governance conditions related to policy making, policy coherence and policy implementation. The report concludes with a RISC Assessment Framework that offers a self-evaluation tool for subnational governments.

Ce rapport fournit une vue d'ensemble des effets du changement climatique sur les infrastructures et des principaux domaines dans lesquels les pouvoirs publics peuvent intervenir pour les rendre plus résilientes. Y sont examinées les avancées obtenues et les lacunes à combler dans la planification et le développement des infrastructures tout au long de leur cycle de vie pour intégrer la résilience climatique, ainsi que la question de savoir comment favoriser cette intégration par une approche territoriale. L’analyse porte également sur la manière de renforcer la prise de conscience et la compréhension des risques climatiques et d’en imposer la prise en compte dans toutes les décisions de financement et d'investissement, à l’aide de normes et d’instruments financiers qui intègrent l'adaptation et la résilience climatiques. Les solutions fondées sur la nature occupent une place particulière dans le rapport, qui donne des pistes pour en tirer parti efficacement, au service de la résilience climatique. Il est également reconnu que le développement économique des pays en développement suppose d’accorder une attention mondiale aux besoins qui leur sont propres ainsi que de renforcer le soutien et les partenariats internationaux. Ces travaux apportent des éléments utiles sur l’action à mener et plaident pour que les responsables de l’élaboration des politiques nationales et infranationales adoptent une approche de la résilience fondée sur une gouvernance pluri-niveaux, en travaillant avec les propriétaires et les exploitants d'infrastructures pour soutenir la prise de décision.