Erik Gløersen
Senior Consultant, Spatial Foresight, a consultancy with partners in Berlin, Luxembourg and Paris. Researcher at the University of Geneva.
Dr Erik Gløersen is a senior consultant at Spatial Foresight and a researcher at the University of Geneva. His work focuses on European territorial policies and the analysis of social and economic trends at the regional and local scales. Based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, he seeks to provide stakeholders and decision-makers with inputs that facilitate policy debate and help design more efficient policies. This may include the analysis and mapping of territorial structures with the help of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which is carried out in interaction with qualitative foresight methodologies, based on a dialogue with local and regional stakeholders. He regularly presents his methods and findings at meetings with stakeholders and researchers and at seminars organised as part of postgraduate courses, for example at the University of Paris 1 – Panthéon Sorbonne and the University of Geneva.
Erik currently cooperates with Nordregio on the ESPON GEOSPECS project, which analyses social and economic development conditions in areas with geographic specificities such as mountains, islands and sparsely populated areas (see also geospecs.eu) and on the compilation of results from the European research programme ESPON that would be relevant for Norwegian regional policy stakeholders.
Kaisa Lähteenmäki-Smith
Head of Department, Rambøll Management Consulting
Kaisa is responsible for business development in the evaluation and policy analysis sector in the Finnish branch of Rambøll Management Consulting. The main business areas that she works with include the development of evaluation and monitoring systems, and the evaluation of projects, programmes and institutions. Her areas of expertise include innovation and territorial cohesion policies. She left Nordregio in 2007 to work for Net Effect Ltd as a development director. In her project activity, she deals primarily with public sector clients such as ministries, national and regional authorities and national agencies in Finland and across Europe. Her recent evaluation projects have included an evaluation of VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Sitra, the Finnish innovation Fund.
Margareta Dahlström
Professor, Department of Human Geography, Karlstad University
In her position at Karlstad University, Margareta is engaged in research, teaching and administration. The focus of her research is positioned at the crossroads between economic geography and planning, often with a multi-disciplinary perspective. In recent years, she has conducted research on issues related to the knowledge economy and regional development, particularly through international comparative projects. Her research has also focused on the role that policy actors at the local, regional, national and international levels can play in relation to knowledge interaction and innovation that benefits regional development. Margareta's teaching is linked to her research profile and involves teaching at both undergraduate and advanced levels. She is also involved in a PhD course entitled 'Innovative Applications of Research and Science'. The course is a collaborative effort between four Swedish universities.
Margareta's administrative tasks relate to the strong multi-disciplinary environment at Karlstad University, where a number of different endeavours come together under the theme of 'Region Building'. In addition to staff at the department of Human Geography, this environment includes researchers, lecturers and PhD students from the Departments of History, Political Science, Sociology, Social Work, Public Health and Biology. The umbrella organisation for this environment is the 'Forum for Region Building' where she is part of the management team. Another important aspect of this setting is the Masters of Region Building Programme, where she is the programme director and also coordinates the course on Local and Regional Development.