Cross-border Assessment 2023

Dossier 1: Euregional Barometer: broad prosperity indicators from a cross-border perspective

Dossier summary

The summary of this dossier can be viewed in the overall summary of the ITEM Cross-Border Impact Assessment 2023.

• Dossier 1: Euregional Barometer: broad prosperity from a cross-border perspective
• Dossier 1: Euregionale Barometer: Brede Welvaart vanuit grensoverschrijdend perspectief

Dossier explanation

Worldwide, there is increasing attention to the idea of measuring and promoting prosperity in the broad sense, as under the Sustainable Development Goals and in the Netherlands under ‘Brede Welvaart’. In the Netherlands, it has become a popular concept at the national level as well as in provincial and local government agreements. It encompasses everything people consider of value. Besides material prosperity (including gross domestic product), it also includes immaterial prosperity (wellbeing) such as the living environment, social cohesion, health and safety. In the Netherlands, Brede Welvaart is measured by various monitors and qualitative and quantitative indicators. Like the EU Regional Competiveness Index and OECD Regional Wellbeing Index, among others. For all existing indices and broad welfare approaches, although these are also available on a regional basis, they are not cross-border. This does not take into account the cross-border region, what exists across the border and what interactions exist across borders. For example, how can the theme of living (including distance to elementary school and distance to café) be reliably measured if residents cross the border for these activities?

In this dossier, the indicators of Brede Welvaart in the Netherlands are highlighted from a cross-border perspective. This file is a follow-up to the 2022 Euregional Perception file and a prelude to the creation of a Euregional Barometer, in which ITEM makes the situation in the cross-border regions more transparent and measurable. In doing so, ITEM will make an initial pilot for the purpose of a baseline measurement in a number of cross-border regions.