Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EXIT (EXPLORING SUSTAINABLE STRATEGIES TO COUNTERACT TERRITORIAL INEQUALITIES FROM AN INTERSECTIONAL APPROACH)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-11-01 al 2024-01-31
The EXIT research analyses manifestations, root causes, and implications of socioeconomic inequalities in areas often labeled as "left behind" through a mixed-methods approach. With a place-based focus that incorporates local perspectives and experiences from 17 case-studies in 8 countries, the research employs qualitative and quantitative methods to explore territorial disparities. Through an intersectional, interdisciplinary, and participatory approach, it analyses how inhabitants, institutions and civil society actors perceive, experience, and counteract inequalities, whilst identifying existing needs and strategies. This examination is articulated through several key areas, including Social services and health, Formal and informal education, Work and professional life, Community and social life, Housing, environment, and regeneration, Mobility and immobility, and Digital inclusiveness.
The next phase aimed to understand the policy context surrounding territorial inequalities at various levels. This involved reviewing research findings, analysing existing policies, conducting an online survey with 409 respondents, organising focus groups with 103 stakeholders across seven countries, and facilitating a joint cross-country analysis. These tasks aimed to aiming to deepen understanding of policymakers' and other stakeholders' perceptions of the efficacy and innovative potential of policies that address territorial inequalities.
Simultaneously, quantitative data collection and analysis are underway to provide a detailed overview of territorial inequalities across Europe. This involves compiling regional data from EUROSTAT databases, moving towards smaller spatial units to address policy intervention effectively. Entropy techniques are being used to estimate local income and poverty figures from NUTS2 regional aggregates for specific countries.
The next phase, including ethnographic fieldwork with residents and stakeholders across 17 case-studies, including rural, urban, and postindustrial areas, is currently being planned.
Further results are founded on the policy analysis conducted, including a mapping and analysis of existing policies addressing territorial inequalities, as well as an analysis of policy drivers of territorial inequalities. The direct involvement of policymakers and other stakeholders at different levels through the survey and focus groups, has allowed for an exploratory analysis of gaps between measurable factors of inequality and perceptions. While policy analysis suggests that territorial disparities are a significant concern and an important topic in national political discourse in most countries, findings from focus groups and online surveys involving various stakeholders in these eight countries reveal a prevailing belief that territorial inequality is not adequately discussed or prioritised in policy and public discourse. Discussions with stakeholders at both the national and local levels reveal limited use of the term "left-behindness" in political or academic discourse. Participants across various countries instead favour expressions such as "marginality", "remoteness", "disadvantage", "underdeveloped areas", and "rural areas". Direct outputs from these tasks include a report on the analysis of key policies, as well as a report that reflects the exploratory analysis of gaps between factors of inequality and perception.