ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses a number of key issues concerning the development of regional strategies and policies in the context provided by regional institutional arrangements, roles and responsibilities and given the increasing interest in the regional policy agenda. It outlines the approach adopted within the East Midlands over the past two to three years in response to the new regional agenda. The new Labour Government elected in May 1997 pledged its commitment to create Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) to improve the competitiveness and prosperity of the English regions. A challenge which relates economic and environmental aspirations is 'to ensure that in seeking to push into the top twenty economic regions in Europe, the East Midlands must also ensure that our environmental objectives are achieved'. By highlighting these key challenges in a clear and open manner, the IRS enables policy and decision makers to address them through their own work.
