Conferences

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Conference: Global Governance and the search for Justice

Call for papers

Halifax Hall, University of Sheffield
29 April - 1 May 2003

We draw your attention to the international conference on 'Global Governance and the Search for Justice', hosted by the Department of Law at the University of Sheffield, to be held from April 29-1 May 2003. As well as a number of leading academics in the field we have attracted speakers from the WTO, World Bank, Amnesty International, and some leading TNCs. David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, has also agreed to participate.

Call for papers: the deadline for submission of abstracts is 30th November 2002. Publishing rights have already been negotiated with Hart Publishing, who will publish all the conference papers in five volumes relating to the themed streams.

Moira Ruff Faculty of Law, University of Sheffield
Crookesmoor Building, Conduit Road
Sheffield S10 1FL
Tel: +44 (0)114 222 6776
Fax: +44 (0)114 222 6832
globalisation@sheffield.ac.uk

Conference: Reinventing Regions in a Global Economy

Call for Papers

Regional Studies Association International Conference

This conference is the 9th in the Association's international series of events. It comes at a time of great change within Europe. The challenge of enlargement has never been greater while restructuring of old industrial areas within the EU fifteen remains a stubborn challenge. The great hopes of innovation and the knowledge economy are not the panacea some thought they might be. In this context the conference considers the options for regions in the new global economy.

The conference broadly follows the structure of previous events with a number of plenary presentations interspersed with several parallel gateways many of which will run throughout the conference.

Those interested in contributing to the conference are invited to submit an abstract (between 400 and 1000 words), giving the relevant gateway and FULL CONTACT DETAILS by 11th October 2002. You are encouraged to discuss your ideas with the Gateway Conveners before submission but IN ALL CASES abstracts must be sent to the Regional Studies Association at the address given below or via the website so that they can be logged and author contact details registered for the receipt of further information. If accepted your abstract will form your submission to the conference volume

Gateway 1: Knowledge Economy

The Gateway encourages particularly those contributions that have made efforts to measure the knowledge economy and its regional incidence, in general or by specific sector or cluster. Moreover the magnitudes of skill, qualification and income variance that accrue to specific knowledge economies will be of major interest. Interest in the dynamic processes that act as drivers of knowledge economies in general or in specific sectors is also high.

The Gateway is also interested in papers that explore policy theory and policy instruments that, on the one hand, seek to generate or enhance localised or regionalised 'Knowledge Economies' and may have done so successfully, as in Germany's BioRegios, the Swedish and Finnish 'Centres of Excellence' and Science or Technology 'Cities' and Parks.

But equally, the Gateway is interested in papers that show how these new regional imbalances, forms of social exclusion and unsustainable development, shown most vividly in the boom-bust cycles that leave human and business wreckage in their wake, as in Silicon Valley's 'High-Tech & Homelessness' model, may be mitigated or already have been.

Papers are particularly welcome on:

The Knowledge Economy and the Regions

Knowledge Economies, Learning, Skills and Incomes

Knowledge Management: Clusters, Value Chains & Intermediaries

A New Knowledge Industry? R&D Contracts/Projects

Knowledge & Collective Learning: Traded or Untraded?

Knowledge & Generative Growth Policies

Regional Knowledge Economy Policies & Social Partnership

Gatekeepers:

Phil Cooke, Centre for Advanced Studies, Cardiff University, 44 - 45 Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3BB, United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)2920 874 945 Fax +44 (0)2920 874 994 Email cookepn@cf.ac.uk

Andrea Piccaluga, Universita di Lecce, Facolta di Economia, Via per Monteroni, 73100, Lecce, Italy. Email picca@sssup.it

Regions have renewed their role as contested arenas for restructuring in the current period of unprecedented and closely inter-related economic, social, technological, political and environmental change in territorial patterns of production, consumption and distribution. Emergent debates concerning the 'knowledge economy' and 'learning regions', 'globalisation', 'competitiveness', 'inclusion', 'governance' and 'sustainability' have suggested new ways of understanding and theorizing the implications of regional restructuring in the current era of complexity and uncertainty.

Increasingly, regions are interpreted as agents of change - to a degree in charge of their own developmental trajectories. Regions are experimenting with new approaches to renew their economic structures such as fostering entrepreneurship, building 'clusters', promoting adaption amongst existing industrial concentrations and embedding new forms of regional growth.

However, the pathways of regional restructuring are shaped by the geography of new and emergent growth sectors as well as declining industries, the historical path dependent development of regions and their differing abilities to adapt and imitate the strategies pursued by more successful and prosperous regions. Regional restructuring is unavoidably shaped by regional histories and the evolution of economy, society and polity in regions contains both barriers and opportunities for development.

This strand of the conference will comprise papers that examine the processes of restructuring and the experience of regions - successful, laggard and failing - in adapting to regional change. This strand will include papers that address:

Industrial evolution and regional evolution over time, documenting the embeddedness of industries in their territories

The rise of new firms, of new sectors, and of new industrial districts comprising those enterprises and their supporting institutions

The role of new firms as positive and negative channels for adapting to the forces of restructuring

The role of clusters that must comprise companies, governance structures and other local institutions, such as labour market and knowledge systems, upon which clusters depend

Gatekeepers:

Ed Malecki, Center for Urban and Regional Analysis, Ohio State University, 1036 Derby Hall, 154 North Oval Drive, Columbus, OH 43210-1361, USA Tel + 1 614 688 5688 Fax + 1 614 292 6213 Email malecki.4@osu.edu

Andy Pike, Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU United Kingdom Tel +44 (0)191 222 8011 Fax +44 (0)191 232 9259 Email a.j.pike@ncl.ac.uk

There are a number of important issues that need to be researched and which could form the basis for contributions in the Gateway sessions. Examples are:

What is likely to be the impact of enlargement on regional imbalances across the whole of the new Union? Which regions are likely to be winners and losers? Thus, some large cities and border regions in the new Member States may be the first to benefit. More peripheral regions will experience more problematic impacts. There are clearly many possible outcomes depending on the theoretical approach adopted.

In the existing Member States there are regions that still have relatively weak traded goods sectors and they may suffer from the increased exposure that further enlargement will bring. The new member regions will have lower wage costs and could prove attractive locations for branch plant activity. The sectoral impacts are likely to vary considerably and there is again scope for sectoral analysis.

A further avenue to be explored relates to the form that policy interventions might take in the enlarged Union. At the present time there is estimated to be some ?12 billion euros allocated for structural fund support for the Central European Countries in 2006. What should be the type of intervention in the light of the experience of operating the structural funds in the existing member states?

Another area that could form the basis for discussion is the impact of the reforms to the Structural Funds on those regions that have historically been large recipients in the existing member state regions. Significant re-allocations are occurring and the effects could be very significant indeed.

The impact of monetary union on regional disparities across the existing members could be explored in a number of ways. It is also possible that some contributions may wish to consider whether in considering the impact of enlargement at the regional level there is merit in making comparison with the United States, particularly when it comes to considering the scope for policy intervention.

One area that has been relatively poorly researched in relation to regional development across Europe is what greater integration and further expansion is likely to mean for migrationary flows.

Peter Tyler, Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, Department of Land Economy, Cambridge University, 19 Silver Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom Tel +44 (0)1223 337 138 Fax +44 (0)1223 337 130 Email pt23@cam.ac.uk

Frank Giarratoni, Centre for Industry Studies, 4S01 W.W. Posvar Hall, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, P.A.15260, USA Tel + 1 412 648 1741 Fax + 1 412 648 1793 Email frankg@pitt.edu

Gateway 4: Rural Development and the New Rural Economy

The gateway considers the prospects and development of the contemporary rural economy and agriculture's altered role within it. Much has changed in recent years in the nature of rural economies, calling for fresh and critical perspectives of approaches to rural development.

The priority must be to ensure that local rural economies are more robust and versatile and based on sufficiently diversified income sources. The most pressing problems lie with those localities where the rural economy is dependent upon a narrow economic base. It follows that the focus of intervention to promote rural development and employment should be the rural and regional economy. Although there seems to be consensus about diversification as a core strategy for rural areas it is difficult to achieve in practice. The concept can be defined in quite different ways, making agreement over what it means at a local level difficult to achieve. For some, the basis of the definition is the word 'diversity'; hence the aim is broadly to ensure that the rural economy has a range of activities; that farm families have multiple income sources; that school leavers have a choice of jobs. For others, the definition has more to do with transformation and the development of new and distinctive economic functions as rural areas redefine their comparative advantage in a changing world.

Papers are welcomed on:

Dynamics and structure of contemporary rural economies

Rural enterprise

Farm futures and agricultural restructuring

Endogenous and exogenous approaches to rural development

Governance and policy

Mario Pezzini, Territorial Reviews and Governance Division, OECD, 2 Randre Pascal, F-75775, Paris, Cedex 16, France Tel + 33 145 248 200 Email Mario.pezzini@oecd.org

Philip Lowe and Jeremy Phillipson, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU Tel + 44 191 222 8940 Email cre@ncl.ac.uk

Are the present forms of regional/urban governance really new or rather the return of issues of old growth and capital independence?

Are the policy-networks, network management, regime analysis adequate and sufficient conceptions of contemporary forms of governance?

How and why the shifts toward devolution and increasing uses of collaborative/participatory decision-making in regional governance alter the power and politics of governing?

Are policies of entrepreneurialism and competitive advantage only an option for a few strong players or available to every region?

How do local institutions, traditions and values influence the individual fortunes of regions developed under the same system of regulation?

What forms of governance and policy instruments can protect and implement the idea of sustainable development into the regional policy?

How to balance and co-ordinate the interest of metropolitan regions involved in global city networks with local policy?

What is the role and meaning within regional development policy of market and voluntary sector institutions and their policies, of formal governing bodies and informal powerful actors, and of institutionalised partnerships?

Iwona Sagan, University of Gdansk, Department of Economic Geography, al. Pilsudskiego 46, 81?378 Gdynia, Poland, Tel: + 48 58 6202101 ext 70, E?mail: geois@univ.gda.pl

Henrik Halkier, Aalborg University, European Research Unit, Fibigerstr?de 2, 9220 Aalborg East, Denmark, Tel: + 45 96 35 91 38, Email halkier@humsamf.auc.dk

Papers are welcome exploring the regional, age, gender and ethnic/race dimensions of the issues outlined below:

Regional development, demographic change and labour market dynamics

Regional development, social capital/social investment and the knowledge-driven economy

Immigration, skills and regional development

Social inclusion/exclusion of individuals, groups and regions

Geographical concentrations, impacts and implications of an ageing population

Education, skills and lifelong learning in the knowledge-driven economy.

Irene Hardill, Department of International Studies, The Nottingham Trent University, Clifton Lane, Nottingham NG11 8NS, United Kingdom. Tel: + 44 (0)115 8483305, Fax: + 44 (0)115 9486385, Email: Irene.Hardill@ntu.ac.uk

Lionel Guillemot, Department of Geography, University of Angers, 35 rue de la Barre, 49000 Angers, France. Tel: + 33 2 41 36 54 54 Fax: + 33 2 41 36 54 55 Email: lionel.guillemot@univ-angers.fr

Gateway 7: Regional Competitiveness

In recent years there has been growing interest by policy makers in the US and in the EU in regional competitiveness, not only from the viewpoint of enhancing regional development but also because regional competitiveness is key to understanding and improving national economic performance. This session seeks to explore these issues, from a theoretical and conceptual perspective, in terms of empirical evidence, and with respect to policy debates. Papers are invited under five major themes:

The conceptualisation and measurement of regional competitiveness

Determinants of regional competitiveness

Empirical trends in regional competitiveness

Policies and strategies to boost regional competitiveness

EU policies and regional competitiveness

Gatekeepers:

Iain Begg, IBL, South Bank University, 103 Borough Road, London SE1 0AA, United Kingdom Tel +44 (0)207 815 8277 Fax +44 (0)207 815 8279 Email iain.begg@sbu.ac.uk

Ron Martin, St Catherine's College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1RL, United Kingdom Tel +44 (0)1223 338 316 Fax +44 (0)1223 338 340 Email rlm1@cam.ac.uk

Gateway 8: Cultural Foundations of Regions

The growing interest in the role of culture has made a substantial contribution to our understanding of regions. Recent work has vindicated the significance of cultural factors for the formation and identification of regions, for moulding processes of social interaction within regions, and for sustaining regional competitive positions. However, the concept of culture, as well as its bearings on regional development, remains subject to intense debate.

Regional identities and identification

Regional conventions

Cultural assets/activities and regional competitiveness

Anthropological accounts of culture and regional development (learning)

Cultural politics vs. regional cultural policies

Cultural turn and beyond: redressing the balance?

Gatekeepers:

Arnoud Lagendijk, Nijmegen School of Management, PO Box 9108, NL-6500 HK Nijmegen, The Netherlands, Tel. +31 24 3616204/3611925 Fax: +31 24 3611841
E-mail A.Lagendijk@nsm.kun.nl

Brian Graham, Academy for Irish Cultural Heritages, University of Ulster, Magee campus, Londonderry BT48 7JL, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, Tel. +44 (0) 2871 375785 Fax: +44 (0) 2871 375435, Email: bj.graham@ulster.ac.uk

Gateway 9: New Development in Regional Theory

The gateway will comprise papers which address the problems outlined below from the following perspectives - theory, empirical and policy.

Location dynamics and NEG models

Knowledge spillovers and NIG models

Space and territory

Regional growth models

Congestion and negative spatial externalities

Inter-industry interdependences

Social interactions and power

Critical mass and tipping (-in/out) models

Cohesion policies

Relative vs. absolute competitive advantages

Gatekeepers

Amy Glasmeier, Penn State Department of Geography, 312 Walker Bldg, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16902-5011,USA Tel + 1 814 865 3433 Fax + 1 814 863 7943 Email Akg1@ems.psu.edu

Alberto Bramanti, Insituto di Economia Politica, Universita Bocconi, Via U. Gobbi 5, I-20136 Milano, Italy Tel + 39 02 5836 5440 Fax + 39 02 5836 5839 Email alberto.bramanti@uni-bocconi.it

Gateway 10: Infrastructure and Planning

This gateway will explore in greater depth the role of planning and infrastructure in the future sustainable development of regional and sub-regional territories. Papers are welcome which address both theoretical and practical aspects of spatial strategy development at the regional and strategic scales and the contribution that land use planning and infrastructure can have in terms of regional development in environmental, social and economic terms.

Regional and sub-regional planning systems

Scales of regional/sub-regional planning (e.g. sub-national territories; city-regions etc.)

Institutional frameworks for regional/sub-regional planning

The relationships between spatial and/or land use planning at the regional/sub-regional level and planning policy-making at the national and/or local level

Infrastructure and regional development

The role of the EU in promoting spatial planning and infrastructure provision

Gatekeepers

Mark Baker, Manchester University, School of Planning & Landscape, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL United Kingdom Tel +44 161 275 6888 Fax +44 161 275 6893 E-Mail m.baker@man.ac.uk

Gateway 11: Community Regeneration and Social Inclusion

Community engagement is now widely recognised as an essential ingredient in successful, long-term local and regional regeneration. The European Commission has been actively involved in promoting community economic development through its regional programmes and national governments too have begun to promote community-based approaches to local regeneration, often as part of wider efforts to promote social inclusion. Local social partners have also embraced community regeneration, particularly as a means of improving the condition of areas suffering most from social exclusion, in cities, smaller towns and rural areas.

After nearly a decade of renewed interest from policy makers we should be in a better position to evaluate how successful recent community regeneration initiatives have been, learning something of their successes, difficulties and failures. Were we too optimistic in our expectations of community regeneration helping to promote greater social inclusion, or too cautious? Where next for community regeneration?

· Which approaches to community regeneration appear to work best and in which particular local contexts?

· Are there distinctive approaches to community development across Europe which might usefully be shared between countries?

· Innovative community schemes can also be assessed fully by adopting non-conventional indicators and evaluation systems. What progress has been made in developing our evaluation tools?

· How can community regeneration continue to grow without undermining the very conditions of local rootedness and focused interventions which make them successful?

Gatekeepers:

Graham Haughton, Department of Geography, University of Hull, Hull, North Humberside, United Kingdom Email g.f.Haughton@hull.ac.uk

Michael Murray, School of Environment and Planning, Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland Tel +44 (0)2890 274 743 Email m.r.murray@qub.ac.uk

Gateway 12: Evaluation and Regional Policy

Research into issues concerned with regional development is increasingly concerned with finding ways to ensure the application of evaluation ideas within the messy world of policy. Policy makers are also increasingly using evaluation for a variety of purposes ranging from providing accountability for the expenditure of public money to its role as a mechanism for the on-going improvement and relevance of programmes, and for helping to enhance institutional capacity to deliver policies. The drive towards policy relevant research has taken on an increasing importance with both academic and policy level initiatives across Europe, seeking to bridge the divide between research and policy application.

Papers are welcomed on:

Regional policy and the Structural Funds

Multilevel governance - decentralising evaluation

Evaluation of the Structural Funds - improving policy?

Cohesion in an enlarged Europe - building capacity through evaluation

Institutionalising learning through evaluation

Reconciling theory and evidence what matters for policy formulation?

Gatekeeper:

Sarah Batterbury, University of Glamorgan, Evaluation Institute, Pontypridd CF37 1DL, Wales, Tel +44 (0)1443 483 693 Fax +44 (0)1443 482 138 E-mail sbatterb@glam.ac.uk

Regional Studies Association, Pisa Conference 2003, PO Box 2058, Seaford BN25 4QU, United Kingdom Tel +44 (0)1323 899 698 Fax +44 (0)1323 899 798
Email rsa@mailbox.ulcc.ac.uk Web www.regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk

The RSA is a charity (no. 1084164) and a company registered in England (no. 41162880)