Networks Categories: Research Network

This Research Network considers the theoretical underpinnings of topical concepts in regional studies, particularly those that have emerged under the label of ‘New Regionalism’.

This Research Network explores similarities in experiences of industrial restructuring in western and central Europe, focusing on how ‘industrial knowledge’ has become a factor driving stability, regeneration and growth in these areas.

This research network will examine the diversity of tourism in Europe and its implication for socio-economic development and public policy. Three meetings will be held focusing on particular types of tourism: organised leisure tourism in the south (Izmir, Turkey, Spring 2008); developing tourist destinations (Aalborg, Denmark, Autumn 2008); business and cultural tourism in metropolitan areas […]

The proposal has three central aims: To conceptualise the varieties of neoliberal adjustment that have impacted on regional and urban restructuring and performance over the last 30 years. To consider the implications of the current crisis on these neoliberal adjustment processes and what it means for the future of regional and urban economic and social […]

Regional economic development is facing a range of challenges around Europe due to budget restrictions and austerity measures. The current economic crisis and the lack of investment in regional infrastructure appear to reinvigorate the North-South divide instead of promoting convergence. However, this environment presents opportunities for new initiatives and regional planning and policy. Although austerity […]

EU cohesion policy remains one of the most prominent and hotly debated of EU policies, while being a test bed for a range of new policy approaches and ideas. This innovative policy provides assistance to disadvantaged regions and localities through a unique multi-level, rationalised and partnership-based approach and the use of a constantly evolving set […]

The aim of this Research Network is to compare and contrast the development of the Low Carbon Vehicle (LCV) sector in three regions in which the participating partner institutions are located – Piedmont, Italy, Upper Silesia & Małopolska, Poland and the West Midlands, UK. By examining a range of key factors impacting on the sector […]

The question of how to shape regional policies to incubate, support, and sustain emerging manufacturing technologies and spur job creation has become the subject of extensive debate in the wake of the global recession. This research network proposal, Rethinking Regional Manufacturing Policy, engages scholars studying recent developments in manufacturing policies in advanced industrialized countries including […]

Recognising that definitions of the illicit vary over time, space and cultures, there has long been strong evidence that a range of illicit actors, including, but not restricted to, those engaged in organised criminal activity, have been involved in the processes and institutions of regional governance and development across a diverse, international terrain. This has […]

The final report of the Cohesion Policy Research network is available here. Report on the RSA Workshop on EU Cohesion Policy in Eastern and Southern Europe: Taking Stock and Drawing Lessons for the Future is available here: https://regions.regionalstudies.org/ezine/article/report-on-the-rsa-workshop-on-eu-cohesion-policy-in-eastern-and-southern-europe-taking-stock-and-drawing-lessons-for-the-future/ EU cohesion policy remains one of the most prominent and hotly debated of EU policies, while being a […]

The EU Cohesion Policy (CP) is one of the most prominent and hotly debated of EU policies since decades, while being a fundamental reference for urban and regional policy even beyond the EU. This policy aims to support all the European regions and cities through a unique multi-level governance system and the use of a […]

The RSA Research Network on Infrastructural Regionalisms (NOIR) challenges regional studies to attend to infrastructural questions by critically unpacking how infrastructure shapes regional lives, governance, and developmental pathways. Our conceptual framing of ‘infrastructural regionalism’ focuses on those infrastructures that have relevance beyond the local. Analyzing regions through infrastructure provides a novel perspective on the regional […]

The Gender and Regional Studies network is a research network whose purpose is to bring together researchers and research perspectives on the topic of gender in regional studies. The network organises activities such as workshops, special sessions, book projects, conferences etc. in various locations throughout the globe – all with the shared purpose of pushing […]

We are delighted to announce the launch of www.fingeo.net, the website of the Global Network on Financial Geography (FinGeo). You can read the report on the 5th Global Seminar & 1st Spring School of the RSA research network The Global Network on Financial Geography (FinGeo) here: https://regions.regionalstudies.org/ezine/article/report-on-the-5th-global-seminar-1st-spring-school-of-the-rsa-research-network-the-global-network-on-financial-geography-fingeo/ The key aim and ambition of the RSA Research Network […]

Read more about our past activities and events: The final report of the Leadership and Urban and Regional Development Research network is available here. Report on the Workshop Combining State and Non-state Partnerships for Effective Place Leadership of the RSA Research Network Leadership and Urban and Regional Development is available here: https://regions.regionalstudies.org/ezine/article/report-on-the-workshop-combining-state-and-non-state-partnerships-for-effective-place-leadership-of-the-rsa-research-network-leadership-and-urban-and-regional-development/ The purpose of this […]

Established in 2015, this research network brings together scholars, policymakers and practitioners across Europe and beyond to provide a forum for debating current and emerging issues on European economic migration as well as fostering collaboration and expanding research opportunities. In its first phase (2015-2018), the MICaRD network focussed on labour mobility within the EU and […]

The Regional Studies Association (RSA) Research Network on Smart City-Regional Governance for Sustainability aims to explore the meaning and practice of ‘smartness’ in city-regional governance, as it seeks to balance the competing quests for urban international competitiveness, national economic development and societal and territorial cohesion. This competition sits under the discursive umbrella of sustainability as the overarching concept guiding this […]

The outcome of this network – a book Regional Economic Development and History has been published recently. Through a selection of accessible theoretical, methodological and empirical chapters, this book explores the connections between regional development and history. Drawing on the expertise of scholars in several disciplines, it links history to topics such as behavioural geography, […]

Coastal areas, despite only occupying a relatively small percentage of the Earth’s land-surface, provide more than one third of the globe’s value of ecosystem services. Coastal areas are also increasingly at risk due to changing environmental conditions as well as human development pressures. These factors, coupled with the large-scale failure of contemporary governance approaches to […]

The manufacturing sector is changing and a new manufacturing model is emerging. Recent scholarly debate has unpacked this ‘production organisation revolution’. It is therefore timely to understand what form this new manufacturing model will take in both Europe and the United States how it can contribute to regional economic development.  Indeed, the core of this […]

We are a network of academics and practitioners that aims to bridge the practice research divide across humanitarian emergency management – from preparedness to response, recovery, and back to development. We enable knowledge exchange between academic experts and governments, civil society organisations, humanitarian emergency responders, recovery personnel, and development actors. Linking these groups is vital […]

This research network intends to bring together scholars, regional specialists, activists and experts from civil society to offer alternatives to these perspectives by attending to the historical, socio-spatial and religious underpinnings of displacement that complicate notions of universal humanity and bounded citizenship. Have a look at our past activities and events: Final Summary – https://www.regionalstudies.org/news/final-summary-of-the-rsa-research-network-on-politics-of-displacement-identity-and-urban-citizenship-in-migratory-contexts/ […]

RSA Research Network on Polycentric Urban Regions ‘Polycentric urban regions’ (PURs) have become a key concept in regional studies, both as an analytical framework to capture empirical realities as well as part of normative visions and goals in regional development policies. Nevertheless, PUR research and policy-making is built on surprisingly limited comprehensive evidence and hampered […]