Building green is getting cheaper and more popular

"A study by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) found that some 90% of home-builders are now using green ideas. In 2005 the study found a 20% increase in the number of new homes that were environmentally responsible: water-efficient, energy-efficient, built of nature-friendly materials. Last year, the figures were up another 30%. Green building has become big business. Banks such as Bank of America are adding more green financing packages. Shops selling green building supplies are springing up, as are giant shows (...) lower building costs are helping the movement. It used to cost at least 15% more to build using eco-friendly ideas and products, but today they add only 1-3% to the cost of construction (...)"

Source: adapted from http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9804157

Conference 'Employability and Entrepreneurship - Gender Stereotypes' - Lisbon 3-4 October

The conference 'Employability and Entrepreneurship - Gender Stereotypes' will be held in Lisbon in the 3rd and 4th of October in the framework of the Portuguese EU Presidency. It aims at giving a contribution to mainstreaming the gender dimension in the Lisbon Strategy in particular in the framework of the preparation of the guidelines for the new cycle 2008-2011. It will also focus on the link between gender stereotypes and women’s employability and entrepreneurship in order to, on the one hand, overcome the barriers affecting women’s employability and entrepreneurship and, on the other hand, to empower men in family life for the promotion of economic growth and social cohesion.

More info here.
Conference programme here.

Municipal Excellence Network

The Municipal Excellence Network provides web-based access to information on business/operational practices in the areas of municipal governance, administration, human resources, financial management, infrastructure services, development services, safety services and community services. The Municipal Excellence Network operates primarily by sharing knowledge, cataloging practices as well as acknowledging and building excellence in local government. The resources section has invaluable material for practitioners.

INTERREG IVC project database

Officially approved by the European Commission on 11 September 2007, the INTERREG IVC Programme is part of the European Territorial Cooperation Objective. It is a EU programme that helps regions of Europe work together to share their knowledge and experience and will run until 2013. Meanwhile, in the project database one can start browsing all current project ideas, and sort by project priority, type of operation, country or region to find the project idea which one can be interested in. The project ideas have not been screened nor approved in any way by the INTERREG IVC secretariat, but one can start searching for partners now or even submit a project idea. It's never to early.

IRE - Innovating Regions in Europe

The Innovating Regions in Europe (IRE) network was created by the European Commission in the mid-1990s and aims at facilitating exchange of experience and good practice among European regions that are enhancing their capacity to support innovation and competitiveness among regional firms through the development and implementation of regional innovation strategies and schemes. Around 235 member regions are gathered in the IRE network which has generated quite some knowledge in regional innovation schemes and activities. The Library section allows to search or browse some of this knowledge. The Regional Innovation Strategies section provides information on most of the member regions' innovation strategies. The Schemes section presents regional innovation schemes implemented by the IRE members in the framework of their innovation policies and strategies, and much more is available in the network's website.

Reforming the Budget, Changing Europe

European Commission President Barroso and Commissioner Grybauskaitė have launched on the 12th of this month the public consultation on the reform of the budget. This is a major question for the future of Europe, one which answer has been postponed and away from European citizens for too much time. The budget review, agreed in May 20o6 and to be reported in 2008/2009, is a unique opportunity for a thorough assessment of the EU budget and its financing, free from the constraints of a negotiation on a financial framework. It is a unique opportunity to undertake a full, wide ranging review covering all aspects of EU spending, including the CAP, and of resources, including the UK rebate. If you are an European citizen it is both your right and your duty to participate!!

More on the budget review here.
Contribute here.
More on the budget here.

Regional Cultural Strategy for the East Midlands 2006 - 2011 - The Place of Choice

Launched in July 2006 by Culture East Midlands, the Regional Cultural Strategy for the East Midlands 2006 - 2011 - The Place of Choice recognizes the role the cultural sector plays in the region, representing some 10% of total regional employment and 6,6% of the total regional economy. The strategy aims at establishing the region as the place of choice for people to enjoy, create, work and participate in culture. In order to reach that objective, it builds on four themes: supporting cultural opportunities, fulfilling the potential of culture, valuing culture and achieving sector sustainability.

The Regional Cultural Strategy for the East Midlands 2006 - 2011 is available here.

"More innovation through regional cooperation" EU Commissioner for Regional Policy Danuta Hubner

European Commissioner responsible for Regional Policy Danuta Hubner has, during the EU Interregional Cooperation Forum 2007 in Lisbon on the 20th September, has launched the new interregional cooperation programme for 2007-2013, INTERREG IVC, the new European programme aimed at promoting the exchange of experiences in innovation and economic modernisation. The programme's three-step process - getting access to information, cooperating with others in order to develop new approaches and finally the transfer of the good practice to the implementation stage - is expected to be invaluable in helping regions benefit from experiences made elsewhere and cooperating with other regions to develop solutions and address the challenges they are facing.

European Commissioner responsible for Regional Policy Danuta Hubner speech here.
More information on INTERREG IVC here and access to the project database here.
More information on INTERREG IIIC here.

EU Budget 2006: Improvement in quality of EU spending is confirmed

The "EU Budget 2006 Financial Report", released yesterday, confirms some positive trends in EU resources allocation: an almost 70% increase in spending on Competitiveness for Growth and Employment and further improvements in monitoring and planning keep execution rate at historically high level. Execution rate of structural funds was particularly high in some countries, such as Ireland (90%), Austria (86%) and Portugal (82%), demonstrating both better planning and monitoring by the Commission's services and better delivering capacities by the managing authorities and their partners.

Full report here.
Press release here.
Slides presentation of the Report here.
Detailed data 2000-2007 here (xls).

EURES - The European Job Mobility Portal

Job vacancies in 31 European countries, CVs from interested candidates, information about living and working abroad and much more available at the EURES network. At the time of writting this post there were 1395815 job vacancies, 279160 CVs and 11014 employers registered. An invaluable resource for those seeking jobs abroad.

ALSO Project Final Event: The Contribution of the Regional and Local Institutions to the Cohesion Policy, Osimo 4-5 October

In the context of the INTERACT Programme, Marche Region together with a large partnership comprising regional and local authorities, development agencies and universities from all over Europe, has led the ALSO Project, whose final goal was to investigate the contribution that territorial cooperation can offer to the achievement of Lisbon and Gothenburg Strategy Objectives. The objective of the ALSO Final Conference is to present to public and private actors engaged in territorial cooperation the results and tools developed by the project and give an overall view of the opportunities offered by the European Cohesion Policy for enhancing the competitiveness and sustainability of local socio-economic systems. Full programme here.

Solar-Powered Laser

"A new kind of efficient, solar-powered laser has been developed by researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, in Japan. They hope to use the laser to help them realize their goal of developing a magnesium combustion engine (...) The idea (...) is to make a powerful laser capable of combusting the magnesium content of seawater. In the process, large amounts of heat and hydrogen are given off. Magnesium has great potential as an energy source because it has an energy storage density about 10 times higher than that of hydrogen, says Yabe. It is also highly abundant, with about 1.3 grams found in every liter of seawater, or about 1,800 trillion metric tons in our oceans, he says (...)"

Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/19402/

Cultural Forum for Europe, Lisbon 26-28 September

Tomorrow will start in Lisbon the EU Portuguese Presidency-prooted Cultural Forum for Europe, which will go on until the 28th September. The Forum aims at gathering representatives of civil society for a debate on what should be jointly achieved in this field, inside the EU and in the ambit of its international projection, and the conclusions drawn from this exchange of different perspectives will be conveyed to decision-makers. The debate will be organised around three main issues: intercultural dialogue, the economy of culture and Europe and the rest of the world. The programme can be accessed here.

Creative City Network of Canada

The Creative City Network of Canada is an organization connecting people employed by municipalities across Canada working on arts, culture and heritage policy, planning, development and support, in order to develop ways of being more effective in cultural development in Canada communities. Beside news, events and job opportunities sections, the strong assets of the network are the three membership-based listservs and the resources section, in which staff employed by Canadian municipalities can access numerous resources. Some resources are freely available, namely the project profiles. Also available in French.

Conference "Telling the story. Communicating Cohesion Policy together", Brussels 26-27 November

The Directorate General for Regional Policy, in cooperation with the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities and the Directorate General for Communication, is organising a conference "Telling the story. Communicating Cohesion Policy together", to be held in Brussels on 26-27 November. Nine workshops grouped into three thematic blocks, networking activities and 30 expected speakers will showcase examples of efficient information campaigns and the most interesting information measures adopted by managing authorities. About 450 partcipants are expected. You can see the the agenda for the workshops and networking here, while the programme should be available soon in the conference website.

Effective Policies for Small Business

The 2004 UNIDO/OECD 'Effective Policies for Small Business' guide focuses on practical guidelines for policy makers on how best to review the process of policy development and establish strategic plans for micro, small and medium enterprise development. The guide is divided into two parts: Part I develops A framework for a Policy Review Process, covering the key areas of policy development and policy management; Part II constructs a structure for the creation of a Strategic Development Plan, based on the Review, which is an instrument for policy makers to set out their strategies and targets for SME development.

The report is available for download here.

State of the English Cities: Report and Database

The State of the English Cities is the most comprehensive study ever undertaken on England's cities and towns, focusing on 56 major towns and cities in England and covering five main themes: demographics, social cohesion, economic competitiveness & performance, liveability, governance & the impact of policy. The Community and Local Government website includes links to the full report, the progress and thematic reports and the The State of the Cities Database.

MIT OpenCourseWare: Urban Studies and Planning

OpenCourseWare from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology provides free, searchable, access to the school's course materials for educators, students, and self-learners. The OpenCourseWare of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning includes the syllabus, calendars, readings, lecture notes, projects and assignments for some of the Department's undergraduate and graduate courses since 2001.

Portugal hosts launch of new EU interregional cooperation programme

The Portuguese Presidency of the EU has hosted the launch of the new EU interregional cooperation programme "INTERREG IVC" during "The Interregional Cooperation Forum", held in Lisbon 20-21 September, a conference attended by more than 800 specialists from all 27 Member States, as well as Norway and Switzerland. The new interregional programme supports cooperation among regional and local actors in the fields of innovation and the environment with a budget totalling €405 million, including € 321 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

ConnectKentucky - Connecting rural America

The 2006 Winner of the United States Economic Development Administration's Excellence in Innovation Award ConnectKentucky programme is a public-private partnership charged with carrying out Kentucky's 'Prescription for Innovation' (page 22&23) comprehensive plan to accelerate technology growth. The partnership has now been recognized as the national leader in technology acceleration in rural communities, recognition gained due to the diverse ICT-based initiatives launched, of which the provision of inexpensive broadband services is the most visible. The outcomes are impressive: broadband availability has increased from 60% to 94%, broadband use at home has increased 73% and broadband use among Internet connected businesses rose from 65% to 85%.

Social Explorer

The Social Explorer is an evolving and interactive interface based in the Sociology Department at Queens College, CUNY. providing easy access to demographic information about the United States, from 1940 to 2000, organised in two main types of resources: maps and reports. The maps section provides Interactive Demography Maps, of which the United States 1940 -- 2000 Census Demographic Map is the most impressive. The reports section includes U.S. Census reports since the 40's. An impressive project!

Urban Age - a worldwide investigation into the future of cities

Urban Age is a network of individuals and institutions that exchanges information, experiences and data aiming at the construction of a new urban agenda for global cities which links the physical to the economic, environmental and social. It is structured around international and multidisciplinary events and research based on both theoretical reflection and empirical evidence, such as the city profiles.The institutional partners include some of the top academic institutions.

Examples of regional innovation projects

With a foreword by EU Commissioner for Regional Policy Danuta Hubner, the document contains summaries of case studies of good practice from the regional programmes of innovative actions, 2000-2006. These case studies, in English or in French, present the objectives and activities of the projects, the strategic context, the innovative aspects, partnership, obstacles in terms of design or implementation, results and impacts. The full case studies can be found on the InfoRegio website.

Communities and Local Government

The UK Communities and Local Government sets UK policy on local government, housing, urban regeneration, planning and fire and rescue. In the Publications section one can find a huge amount of useful information including good practice and guides, impact assessments, legislation and policy, manuals, reports and summaries, and strategies and action plans.

Local Innovation Systems Project

The MIT-based Local Innovation Systems Project gathers a remarkable research team in trying to address issues of economic prosperity of local communities in the rapidly changing global economy, focusing on innovation as promoter of productivity growth and competitive advantage. 23 locations in the United States, Finland, Japan, the United Kingdom, Norway, Ireland, India, Taiwan and Israel have been used as case studies. The Working Papers sections provide strong theoretical and empirical research on innovation promotion policy.

World Bank - Doing Business 2007 Report

Doing Business 2007: How to Reform is the fourth in a series of World Bank annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Singapore has overcome New Zealand for the easiest country to create, run and expand a business, while the USA kept their 3rd post. The easiest country to do business in Europe is the United Kingdom, which came in 6th.

Full report here.
Doing Business Map here.

OECD Territorial Reviews: Competitive Cities in the Global Economy

The 2006 OECD publication gives case studies and policy recommendations to help cities, often the drivers of national economies, continue to thrive. The book also provides a strong statistical database on the world’s principal cities. The report studies the 78 largest metro-regions in the OECD, ranging from Tokyo with close to 35 million inhabitants to Auckland with about 1.5 million. An important publication for urban and regional policy-makers, as it makes a strong case for the role of cities as drivers of economic development.

Browse the publication here.
Order the publication here.

Cultural Initiatives Silicon Valley

Cultural Initiatives is a now extincted nonprofit organisation which was created to implement the plan for the cultural transformation of Silicon Valley developed in 1997, by working with a network of public and private cultural agencies and organizations to provide the necessary resources and leadership to turn the plan into a reality. The website is still active and you can get information on the now implemented initiatives: the Creative Education Program, the Community & Neighborhood Arts inititiative and the Leadership Development Program.

National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship

The National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship (NDE) is an initiative of the Public Forum Institute which is attempting to broaden attention to the field of entrepreneurship and to connect thought leaders looking to advance it, by discussing policies and initiatives to remove barriers to entrepreneurs who want to grow; to create incentives for risk-taking to fuel the growth of entrepreneurs, to make more Americans aware of their entrepreneurial potential; and, to increase the understanding of the value of an idea-driven society among a wider constituency. Research papers and official reports, articles and reports on different policy areas and a newsletter are some of the NDE website resources.

Researchers develop an environmentally friendly light bulb

"(...) a team of researchers has devised a light bulb that is not only much more energy-efficient—it is also expected to last longer than the devices into which it is inserted. (...) The resulting light is bright, and the process is energy-efficient. Indeed, whereas traditional light bulbs emit just 5% of their energy as light, and fluorescent tubes about 15%, the Ceravision lamp has an efficiency greater than 50%. Because the lamp has no filament, the scientists who developed it think it will last for thousands of hours of use—in other words, for decades. (...)"

Source: The Economist
More info: http://www.ceravision.com/technology-introduction-2.html

The European TrendChart on Innovation

The European TrendChart on Innovation is an initiative of the European Commission, Enterprise & Industry Directorate General, Innovation Policy Development unit which provides access to the following services and publications, amongst other:

• A database of innovation policy measures across 33 European countries;
• A news service and related innovation policy information database;
• A «who is who» of agencies and government departments involved in innovation;
• Annual policy monitoring reports for all countries and zones covered;
• The European Innovation Scoreboard and other statistical reports;
• An annual synthesis report (latest - 2006) bringing together key of the Trend Chart.

Portuguese EU Presidency - Informal Meeting on Territorial Cohesion and Regional Policy, Azores 23-24 November

The Portuguese EU Presidency is to hold an informal ministerial meeting on spatial planning and regional development in Azores on 23 and 24 November, the main event organised by the Portuguese Presidency in terms of regional policy. The first day will focus on spatial planning, including the discussion of further implementation of the Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities and the probable adoption of a concrete action plan. The second day will focus on regional development, including the discussion of a document prepared by the Commission's DG Regio on the extent to which the Lisbon strategy is taken into account in the national strategic reference frameworks drawn up by Member States.

Knowledge Network "Governance in Action"

The Knowledge Network "Governance in Action" is an EU co-funded project in which 21 partners from 11 countries share local governance instruments, information and practices in themes such as creation of employment, renovation and rehabilitation and involvement of inhabitants; safety and civic crime; education and social inclusion; health and a healthy environment; social and economic development; and practices to bridge the gap between inhabitants and local politics and the municipal organisation. The Communities of Practice section provides an inventory of 14 best practices on which the network actively exchanges information through forums. There is also a section with documentation on the project.

Eurotowns and CAPTURE project

The Eurotowns network was established in 1991 as a Europe wide network for towns and cities with populations between 50,000 and 250,000 and it promotes the exchange of information and good practice within and beyond the network by organising events, running projects and conducting research. The activities section provides information on the activities and projects of the network, including a link to the knowledge economy-related CAPTURE project and its activities.

Leading Practice in Local Government

The Australian Government's Department of Transport and Regional Services provides a very useful search tool on best practices in local government. These are government-awarded practices since 1997 which provide valuable experience on different thematic areas.

Social Enterprise Coalition

The Social Enterprise Coalition (SEC) is the UK's national body for social enterprises. Social enterprises are dynamic businesses with a social purpose working all the world to deliver lasting social and environmental change. The SEC website includes policy documents, training materials, best practices guides, and a exhaustive case studies database.

The US Conference of Mayors

The United States Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organisation for the 1,139 US cities with more than 30,000 inhabitants. Its primary roles are to: promote the development of effective national urban/suburban policy; strengthen federal-city relationships; ensure that federal policy meets urban needs; provide mayors with leadership and management tools; create a forum in which mayors can share ideas and information. Its website provides numerous resources, including a searchable best practice database, a newspaper, subject-based projects and services, amongst other resources.

Centro and Norte (Portugal) are the EU15 less productive regions (2004)

The EU Fourth Report on Economic and Social Cohesion demonstrates that the Portuguese regions Centro and Norte were the EU15 less productive regions in 2004, as measured by GDP per person employed, reaching only 46.6 and 47.0 of the EU27 average and below some of the new member states regions, such as Prague in Czech Republic (55.1), Közép-Magyarország in Hungary (56.8), Slovenia (58), Malta (58.8) and Cyprus (72.7). On the other side is Luxembourg with a productivity of 182.3 of the EU27 average, a 19 times higher productivity than the one of Yuzhen tsentralen in Bulgaria (9.6)!! A long way to go in European cohesion policy...

Full report here
Main regional indicators here (xls)

Smart Growth Online

The Smart Growth Network was formed in 1996 in response to increasing community concerns about the need for new ways to grow that boost the economy, protect the environment, and enhance community vitality. The Smart Growth Online website provides a a searchable catalogue of reports, websites, tools and case studies dating from 1997 until today, which can be brwosed by issue, principle, type and State.

Knowledge and Innovation for Regional Growth

The ERIK publication “Knowledge and Innovation for Regional Growth - Policy Recommendations Based on Good Practices” is available on line after being officially presented at the ERIK Conference in Brussels on the 10th and 11th of May. With a foreword written by European Commissioner for Regional Policy Danuta Hübner, the report provides guidelines and highlights good practice from public innovation policies in four important areas: Clusters and business networks, Industry-Science Relations, Innovation Finance and Start-ups & Spin-offs. The empirical evidence given by successful projects in each area is one of the study's asset of the .

Report on the contribution of the future regional policy to the innovative capacity of the EU

The Janowski report, adopted by the European Parliament in plenary session on 10 May and focuses on the contribution of regional policy to the innovative capacity of the EU. The report calls on Member States, the Commission and regional and local authorities to:

• ensure equal access to education at every level;
• maximise access to information and communication technology;
• support the development of ‘clusters’;
• provide comprehensive support to SMEs;
• foster cooperation by setting up European technological platforms calls for financing mechanisms that meet real needs.

Luxembourg seven times richer than Bulgaria!

Based on first preliminary estimates for 2006, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per inhabitant expressed in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS), varied from 37% of the EU average in Bulgaria to 280% of the average in Luxembourg. The two new Member States, Romania and Bulgaria, were more than 60 % below the average. See full Eurostat news release here.

Fourth European Cohesion Forum 27th-28th September , Brussels

The Fourth European Forum on Cohesion will be held on 27 and 28 September 2007 in Brussels. The event will be based on the findings and issues of the Fourth Report on Economic and Social Cohesion which the European Commission adopted on 30 May 2007. It will involve over 800 representatives at European, national, regional and local level from all EU Member States, the candidate countries and EU institutions. On that occasion, Commissioner Danuta Hübner will launch an EU-wide consultation on how the Union's cohesion policy should adapt to new challenges and how its delivery can be improved in order to maximise its impact in the future. The draft version of the Forum programme is available here.

World Telecommunication/ICT Development Report 2006: Measuring ICT for Social and Economic Development

The eighth edition of the International Telecommunication Union’s World Telecommunication/ ICT Development Report (2006) specifically addresses the issue of evaluating and measuring the impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) on social and economic development, an highly discussed theme as work on the impact they have had on people’s lives is rare. The ITU comes up with a system that is based on inputs (resources), outputs (direct results of inputs) and outcomes (impact of outputs).

Executive summary here.
Order the full report here.

Entrepreneurship & Regional Development New issue (Vol. 19 Issue 5)

The new issue of 'Entrepreneurship & Regional Development' (Volume 19 Issue 5) is already available at informaworld website for those with (paid) access to the journal. The issue contains the following articles:

• A new editorial order in entrepreneurship & regional development - Original Articles
• Success factors for new businesses in Austria and the Czech Republic - Alexander Kessler
• 'Types' of private family firms: an exploratory conceptual and empirical analysis - Paul Westhead; Carole Howorth
• Enterprising expatriates: lifestyle migration and entrepreneurship in rural southern Europe - Ian Stone; Cherrie Stubbs

Special rights to attract qualified immigrants to Europe

EU Commissioner for Freedom, Security and Justice Franco Frattini has presented yesterday in Lisbon, during the High Level Conference on Legal Immigration, the main guidelines for two directives to be proposed in October, aimed at attracting qualified immigrants to Europe and guaranteeing an all-member states equal base of socio-economic rights for immigrants. Europe faces a tremendous challenge: European countries receive 85% of non-qualified workers whilst the USA only receives 5%; contrarily, the USA attracts 55% of qualified workers while the EU is only capable of attracting 5% of the qualified workers. When one considers the challenges brought by an increasingly aged population, the pressures on welfare systems and the rising socio-economic inequalities, one realises there is much to be done in European immigration policy.

Adapted from: http://jn.sapo.pt/2007/09/14/nacional/direitos_especiais_para_atrair_imigr.html

Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

As its slogan states, the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship is a research and policy centre dedicated at stimulating and supporting entrepreneurship in rural America. The Library is definitively a plus, with case studies, development tools, stories of entrepreneurs and publications on entrepreneurship, amongst other material. The Energizing Entrepreneurs Compass is presented as a roadmap for those interested in learning more about entrepreneurship as a rural economic development strategy. You can also check the centre's old website.

URENIO - Urban and Regional Innovation Research Unit

URENIO is a research unit affiliated to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and Development in the Faculty of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, but has partners from different European regions. Its central research theme is the cities and regions of innovation including knowledge clusters, technopoles and science parks; regional innovation systems and strategies; digital innovation spaces and intelligent cities. Links to different projects in which the unit has been involved are available. A very active research unit with participation in numerous projects funded by national and international research institutions and the European Commission.

European Urban Knowledge Network

The European Urban Knowledge Network is a knowledge and experience sharing network on urban issues, involving partners from various European countries. Its strongest tool is a searchable electronic database containing practical experience on six urban policy domains: social inclusion & integration; housing; transport & infrastructure; urban environment; economy, knowledge & employment; security & crime prevention.

The Economic Value of Walking in Rural Wales

Health, entertainment, jobs and sustainable development all come together in simple initiatives with large impacts. A Welsh scholar has evaluated the economic impacts of walking in the Welsh countryside and some findings are unexpected:

"(...) focusing on rural impacts alone, a conservative estimate of the current impact of walking in Wales shows it to be responsible for generating incomes of £55 million and 3,000 jobs, if both direct and indirect impacts are included. If mountaineering activities were also taken into account, a further £22 million and 1,250 jobs would be added.These figures represent around 2 per cent of rural GDP, and about 1 per cent of rural jobs; (...) Creating a job via the mechanism of supporting and improving walking opportunities in the Welsh countryside may be estimated to involve public cost of £433; in contrast, the direct and indirect public cost of supporting a job in agriculture is almost ten times higher, at £4,279."

Full study here.
More information on walking and footpaths in the UK here.