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 Jaebeum Cho and Courtenay Wheeler, under the supervision of Rüdiger Ahrend, Head of Economic Analysis, Data and Statistics Division (EDS) and Dorothée Allain-Dupré, Head of the Regional Development and Multi-level Governance Division (RDG), all in CFE. The report on the Banská Bystrica region, Slovak Republic, was co-ordinated by Caroline Gentet-Raskopf, under the supervision of Andrés Fuentes Hutfilter, Head of the Environmental and Land Use Economics Unit in EDS.
Chapter 2 was prepared by Joana Duran-Franch and Brendan Irish, with contributions from Agustin Basauri and Lukas Kleine-Rueschkamp in the Local Employment, Skills and Social Innovation Division of CFE, as well as Petra Bayerova. It was reviewed by Isabelle Chatry, Head of the Decentralisation, Subnational Finance and Infrastructure Unit in RDG, Alexander C. Lembcke and Caroline Gentet-Raskopf. Chapter 3 was prepared by Caroline Gentet-Raskopf, with contributions from Petra Bayerova, and reviewed by Andrés Fuentes Hutfilter. Chapter 4 was prepared by Brendan Irish and reviewed by Isabelle Chatry and Sandra Jolk. Chapter 5 was prepared by Rang Lee and Joana Duran-Franch, with contributions from Petra Bayerova. It was reviewed by Alexander C. Lembcke and Andrés Fuentes Hutfilter.
The OECD would like to thank the Banská Bystrica Self-Governing Region Office for their co-operation and support during the study process. Special thanks are given to the local team composed of Jana Murgašová, Barbora Mesárošová and Bronislava Ceľuchová, 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, Tereza Sikorova, Natalia Palsova, Katarina Prokopic, and Eva Wenigova from DG REGIO for their support and input throughout the preparation of the report. Thanks are also extended to Kristina Gendova Ruzsikova, from the Delegation of the Slovak Republic to the OECD. 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 county and 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 and Roxana Glavanov and Jiin Lee (CFE/RDG) for support with communications.