Economic, Social and Spatial Inequalities in Europe in the Era of Global Mega-trends (ESSPIN)

Project Information

ESSPIN

Grant agreement ID: 101061104

DOI

10.3030/101061104

Project closed

EC signature date 8 June 2022

Start date 1 October 2022

End date 30 September 2025

Funded under

• Culture, creativity and inclusive society

Total cost

€ 2 674 000,00

EU contribution

€ 2 674 000,00

Coordinated by

PANEPISTIMIO THESSALIAS
Greece

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ESSPIN (Economic, Social and Spatial Inequalities in Europe in the Era of Global Mega-trends (ESSPIN))

Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The goal of this research proposal is to re-examine the nexus of social, economic and spatial inequalities in the EU, the various typologies and the arrangements and mix of policies addressing them, in the light of emerging and highly interacting mega-trends and challenges, threatening to increase pressures and make policy choices even more difficult. As new and older drivers of change are projected to create a rather unfavourable environment for balanced growth and socio-spatial resilience, this research will focus on the analysis of policy responses, aiming to make them more pro- active, inclusive and effective. The novel contribution of the proposed research project lies on a holistic and integrated approach that relates in an interactive way drivers to outcomes and levels of aggregation. The aim is to detect, model and map the interdependence among drivers of inequality and outcomes in a multi-level, poly parametric context with specific tailor-made policy recommendations.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The ESSPIN project was successfully completed on the 30th of September 2025 which was the official end date of the project. All work packages were completed successfully and were the result of the fruitful and collective effort of the whole consortium which collaborated effectively, smoothly and productively throughout the project’s life producing over 30 publications in top tier international peer-reviewed scientific journals and with over 70 publications currently in submission/revision status which showcases the richness and high level of scientific quality and the substantial impact of the consortium’s collective research output. The project produced two full policy reports with critical policy related findings and empirically backed evidence to inform policy making in the realm of regional sciences, inequalities and the future rounds of the EU Cohesion policy. Both Policy reports have been posted on the project’s website and social media to increase the project’s outreach and visibility. The overall impact of the project is based on novel scientific contributions, new empirical evidence and research outputs offering valuable and applicable insights in the scientific field of inequalities and its drivers, the creation of new databases, new composite inequality indices, novel holistic methodologies and online platforms (openly available) produced by all WPs along with impactful policy implications that are based on the new research evidence that the project produced and has published.

The research produced has been widely and broadly disseminated in national and international scientific conferences throughout the world. Currently the project counts over 120 conference participations-registrations, while ESSPIN featured widely in the academic and scientific community through Special Sessions that attracted a high number of academic scholars and scientists in the fields of regional science and inequalities. As part of the open science objective of the project capacity building activities have been prioritized, specifically a Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) was designed and implemented openly available on YouTube and the project website.

Overall, the project generated sustainable impact owing to EU funding, laying a solid foundation for future research, policy engagement, and capacity-building activities. The experience gained and the networks established will continue to support excellence and foster long-term benefits well beyond the project’s formal conclusion.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The ESSPIN project has provided valuable insight regarding the evolution of inequalities and has stressed the importance of an EU or international taxation so that tax policies can be effective in tackling inequalities. For the first time, the point after which growth generating income diversity becomes growth damaging inequality was identified based on solely economic terms. Novel indices of multiple deprivation have been created, regarding the incidence, intensity and inequality of material and social deprivation both across the entire population as well as across the poor population. The Composite Index of inequality (W_CINI) incorporates measurements for economic, spatial, treatment, membership, opportunities and environmental inequalities. The empirical application of the framework was data-driven in total 18 variables were selected to evaluate 76 countries worldwide in the 2000-2022 period. The analysis revealed that there is a general positive trend in the relationship between GDP per capita and the value of weighted composite index (W_CINI). However, for the lagging countries the increase in their GDP figures may augment inequalities. Therefore, improvements in income should be followed by other structural transformations for any effect of policies against inequalities to start being visible.