ESPON Territorial study – Quality of life in the Alpine Convention Space

Quality of life
Quality of Life (QoL) addresses our well-being and looks beyond economic output and living standards. The concept of QoL is rather subjective, and is shaped by what matters to us in life in the context of our culture and value systems, but also in relation to our expectations and needs.
The need to consider the people’s QoL is increasingly reflected in local, regional, national and European policymaking, along with demands for participation and proactive engagement of citizens in policy processes. Examples at the European level are the Cohesion Policy, which aims to reduce imbalances in the ‘economic, social and territorial preconditions for people’s well-being’ and the Territorial Agenda 2030, which aims to ensure a ‘future for all places and people.
Quality of life is also a priority for the Slovenian presidency of the Alpine Convention as, according to the Multi-Annual Work Programme of the Alpine Conference (MAP) 2023-2030, improving the quality of life of the population is key to a resilient Alpine area and it is linked to all three spheres of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental.

In this framework this territorial study was requested in January 2023 by the Slovenian presidency of the Alpine Convention to provide support in the field of Quality of Life and address the following needs:
- To contribute to the endeavour of the Slovenian Presidency of the Alpine Convention
- To further explore the introduction of TQoL concept in policymaking
- To support the implementation of the Multi-Annual work programme of the Alpine Conference 2023-2030 in which quality of life is one of the three priority themes.

The Slovenian presidency of the Alpine Convention is expecting the following results:
An analysis at sub-national level on the Quality of life in the Alpine Convention space, considering its territorial diversity.
- Test TQoL living labs in the Alpine Convention space and recommendations to support the use of TQoL living labs in policy making.
- Recommendations to the ESPON programme on how further develop the TQoL approach (based on the work carried out for the Alpine Convention) and how to promote Quality of life measures in policy making processes at all territorial levels.
- Data, maps and figures on Quality of life in the Alpine Convention space.

Those results will be used as an input to the preparation of the 10th Report on the State of the Alps (RSA 10) on Quality of life in the Alps, a task entrusted to Slovenia by the XVII Alpine Conference, the highest body of the Alpine Convention. This input will particularly come from the results of living labs and findings and the recommendations on how spatial planning policy making can be used to better contribute to achieving QoL objectives.
In addition, results will also be used to develop policy recommendations on howhe ESPON approach and Living Laps can be further used to promote the inclusion of quality-of-life measures in public policymaking processes at all territorial levels.

The Territorial study
The objective of this service is to build on previous ESPON results on the QoL, in particular the ESPON applied research on Quality of Life Measurements and its spin-off project focusing on the cross-border region Slovenia-Croatia-Italy and to produce new territorial evidence in measuring quality of life in the Alpine Convention (Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Slovenia, and Switzerland) at sub-national level.
More concretely a study will identify which factors and territorial features are more prominently influencing the TQoL in the Alpine region.
Additionally, the service also includes a testing of Territorial Quality of Life (TQoL) Living Labs where experts work together with citizens’ civic society and institutional stakeholders to define a common understanding and priorities of the QoL. The testing QoL living labs will be done in: Trento (Italy), Carinthia (Austria), Koroška region (Slovenia) and Canton Ticino (Switzerland). Finally, this territorial study will identify activities and explore opportunities for further use of the ESPON TQoL approach in planning processes in the Alpine Convention space and will provide recommendations on how Territorial QoL living labs can support policy-making

Policy questions
The study will address the following policy questions:
- How can we use the ESPON (place-based and citizen-centred) approach to measure QoL in the Alpine space?
- How TQoL is perceived in the different types of territories in the Alps? And which territorial profiles can be identified at sub-national level? Which are the most pronounced elements of Territorial QoL? What similarities and differences can be identified within Alpine regions/territories?
- How Territorial Quality of Life living labs in the Alpine Convention space should be tested and further developed? How can citizens, community initiatives, associations, and public actors be involved?
- How can TQoL be integrated into spatial planning instruments/processes and sectorial policies in the Alpine Convention space?