The South and East European Development Center (UTH), was established in 1998 as an interdisciplinary research and policy analysis Center at the Department of Planning and Regional Development (DPRD), University of Thessaly, Greece. The Center intends to contribute to the design, analysis and evaluation of development policies applied to the less advanced regions of Europe. UTH is actively seeking to contribute through research and policy analysis to the solution of specific economic, structural and spatial development problems in the European South and East that often escape the attention of scientific and applied research. The analytical approach of UTH maintains a strong spatial dimension. The level of analysis may include European macro-regions, especially in the South and East, individual countries or regions, cities, border areas, industrially declining or lagging behind areas. UTH specializes in the research fields of growth and development, integration and structural change, international economic relations, European policies, human capital and R&D policies, demographic analysis, cross-border cooperation, and policy evaluation.
UTH has become very active in publishing quality research analyzing and discussing the recent development experience in the European South and the East. The Center cooperates with a large number of Academic and Research Institutes in the EU and especially in Southeastern Europe, participating in regional research and policy networks. Cooperation takes the form of workshops, conferences, invited lectures, short staff visits, joint research, joint participation in EU and national programs, student exchange and transfer of know-how.
