The report was prepared by the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE), led by Lamia Kamal-Chaoui. It was produced as part of the Programme of Work of the Regional Development Policy Committee (RDPC). The report was prepared in the framework of a project on ‘Helping regions adapt to demographic change’ and implemented in the context of the OECD’s programme on Preparing Regions for Demographic Change and the European Commission’s Talent Booster Mechanism. It was made possible thanks to the financial contributions of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO).
The project was co-coordinated by Courtenay Wheeler and Jaebeum Cho, under the supervision of Dorothée Allain-Dupré, Head of the Regional Development and Multi-level Governance Division (RDG) and Rüdiger Ahrend, Head of Economic Analysis, Data and Statistics Division (EDS), all in CFE. The report on Castilla y León, Spain was co-ordinated by Marc Bournisien de Valmont, under the supervision of Enrique Garcilazo, Deputy Head of the Regional Development and Multi-level Governance Division, CFE.
Chapter 1 was prepared by all authors. Chapter 2 was prepared by Joana Duran-Franch, Sandra Jolk, and Marc Bournisien de Valmont, with contributions from Agustin Basauri and Lukas Kleine-Rueschkamp in the Local Employment, Skills and Social Innovation Division of CFE. It was reviewed by Alexander Lembcke, Andrés Fuentes Hutfilter, Isabelle Chatry, and Courtenay Wheeler. Chapter 3 was prepared by Andrew Lombardi, with contributions from Emilie Yoda, and reviewed by Camille Viros and Andrés Fuentes Hutfilter. Chapter 4 was prepared by Sandra Jolk and reviewed by Isabelle Chatry and Courtenay Wheeler. Chapter 5 was prepared by Marc Bournisien de Valmont, with contributions from Felix Winkelmayer, and reviewed by Enrique Garcilazo.
The OECD would like to thank the Junta de Castilla y León for their co-operation and support during the study process. Special thanks are given to the local team composed of María Pardo Álvarez, Ángel María Marinero Peral, and Cristina Gredilla Cardero, among others, who provided support for implementation of the study and helpful comments on the report. The OECD also thanks Gergana Miladinova, François Gallaga, Diletta Zonta, Andreea Maier, and Isabel Milheirico from DG REGIO for their support and input throughout the preparation of the report. The OECD also thanks Ricardo Simões and Paulo Santos, from the Norte Portugal Regional Coordination and Development Commission, for their peer review of the study. Finally, the OECD gives thanks to the many stakeholders met during the study for their warm welcome to the region and valuable contributions, including representatives from local governments, civil society organisations and universities. The draft also benefited from comments from Delegates of the RDPC.
Special thanks are given to Jack Waters (CFE) who provided guidance on preparing the publication, Isabela Edgecombe (CFE) for providing support with the policy highlights, and Roxana Glavanov and Jiin Lee (CFE/RDG) for support with project communications.