European Regional Policy in times of transition
The ARL – Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association – is bringing together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners for its congress on
European Regional Policy in Times of Transition
to be held in Cologne, Germany, on 1 – 2 October 2026.
European regions are undergoing multiple, overlapping transformations. While the green and digital transitions offer new opportunities, they also risk reinforcing existing spatial and social inequalities. Disparities within and between regions – urban and rural, central and peripheral, growing and shrinking – persist or are even deepening. The problem of ‘left-behind places’ has, for good reason, gained increasing attention in recent years. At the same time, geopolitical instability, demographic change, and environmental risks are adding new layers of territorial vulnerability and contestation.

