Integrated planning of development

Integrated development planning of a territory is understood by the Carpathian Development Institute as a process that 

• is based not only on the requirements, but primarily on the needs of subjects in the territory;
• focuses not only on problems, but also on external trends, threats and opportunities;
• deals not only with development directions that are under the direct responsibility of the local or regional government, but also reflect areas where the self-government can be a partner, enabler or initiator of development activities in the area.

We view integrated planning not only as harmonization, but also as the integration of strategic development documents, and especially as a projection of development directions into the area, in connection with its exploitation and carrying capacity. Part of integrated planning is the identification and following formulation of development priorities and related activities implementable within a given planning period and based on clear professional criteria.

The output of the process of integrated planning is the creation of a good development document which sets objectives and measures of socio-economic-environmental balance, which are provided specifically for the territory and can be evaluated and regularly updated. A good development plan serves to bond and network human, financial and material resources in the region to support development priorities and to achieve synergy and multiplier effects.

An interactive approach to the integrated planning process, in a rapidly changing environment, with ambiguous forecasts of the development of the external environment, can be illustrated in the figure below.



The Carpathian Development Institute has professionally led the process of drawing up local development documents (e.g. Kosice City), regional (e.g., Presov self-governing region) or supra-regional (Development Plan for East Slovakia). We have published several studies and articles on this subject and set up and delivered a training program in this area.