ESPON IRiE: Interregional relations in Europe (2020-2022)

The ESPON project IRiE (Interregional Relations in Europe) examined the diverse functional linkages between European regions. While economic and social interdependencies between countries have been widely studied, comparable knowledge about interactions at the regional level remained limited. The project therefore aimed to systematically analyse interregional connections across Europe and assess their significance for competitiveness, territorial cohesion, and regional development.

To address existing data gaps, IRiE developed and applied innovative methodologies to capture flows of people, goods, capital, knowledge, and services between regions. The project produced the first comprehensive picture of Europe’s interregional functional relationships, providing insights for different territorial contexts, including border regions, peripheral and central regions, outermost regions, and intra-national regional networks.

The analyses highlighted how interregional relations can both stimulate growth and competitiveness and create development challenges. The results provide valuable evidence for regional and national policymaking and support the assessment of major European initiatives, including the European Green Deal, in terms of their territorial impacts.

Project outputs include extensive datasets, analytical reports, future scenarios, and interactive applications covering trade, migration, commuting, tourism, and knowledge flows. The project also explored the potential impacts of COVID-19, the European Green Deal, and geopolitical developments on Europe’s regional development.

As an additional contribution, S&W developed the Flow Mapper, a web-based visualisation tool that enables users to explore and analyse interregional flows and dependencies. The tool supports policymakers, public authorities, and researchers in understanding spatial interdependencies and integrating them into decision-making processes.

IRiE was implemented within the ESPON 2020 Programme by an international consortium led by NASUVINSA (Spain). Consortium partners included S&W Urban and Regional Research (Germany), CEPREDE (Spain), the Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland), Delft University of Technology (Netherlands), the University of Eastern Finland, and the University of Thessaly (Greece).

Further information, project reports, datasets, and publications are available on the ESPON IRiE project website. The project's interactive IRiE Hub provide access to maps, visualisations, and analytical tools for exploring interregional flows and functional linkages across Europe. Information and presentations from the project's final conference, held in Pamplona, Spain, are also available online.