Date and time
The Regional Studies Association’s fifth Central Eastern and Europe Conference 2026 is set to take place in partnership with Poznań University of Economics and Business, Poland. This three-day event will bring together academics, policymakers, and researchers to share insights, perspectives, and the latest findings in regional studies, economic development, policy, and planning.
Central and Eastern Europe is having to navigate geopolitical turbulence and economic realignment at the national level while recognising and operating through a complex mosaic of subnational regions with deeply varied prospects, vulnerabilities, and opportunities. Current developments—be they political, economic, demographic, or environmental—are producing highly differentiated territorial impacts. A sustained focus on regional and subnational dynamics reveals both the persistence of old divides and the emergence of new growth poles or lagging peripheries, calling for truly place-based strategies. What is more, on the eve of budgetary shifts in the EU, understanding the role of regions in transforming the dynamics of CEE is only going to become more important.
This is because the legacies of past policies, sectoral specialization, and historic divisions have resulted in profound spatial differentiation across CEE. Today, the impacts of external shocks, climate policies, digital change, and migration play out very differently in resilient city regions, rural hinterlands, and once-thriving industrial towns. Recognizing these territorial disparities and focusing on regional empowerment, innovation, and place-based solutions is crucial for fostering truly resilient and inclusive development in Central and Eastern Europe.
The RSA Central and Eastern Europe Conference 2026 presents an important opportunity to champion a positive agenda for regional change and development based on a deep knowledge and understanding of what we can learn from knowing about regional pasts and regional presents. The event will provide an important platform to discuss and debate regional futures, establish new connections, and assess options for practitioners and policymakers working towards brighter regional futures.
The conference organisers are keen to attract papers and sessions which identify new connections, address broad research and policy agendas, and include contributions from any discipline offering insights at local and regional levels. Papers which are highly innovative, collaborative, international or multi-disciplinary are especially welcome.
Broad themes and key agendas the organisers are keen to facilitate discussion around include, but are not limited to:
| 1. Geopolitical Realignment and Regional Security
a. How shifting borders, alliances, and external pressures differentially affect borderlands and strategic subregions. b. Subnational impacts of the war in Ukraine and responses in regions bordering conflict zones. c. Revisiting the geographies of the defence industry in Eastern Europe. |
| 2. Economic Resilience, Recovery & Inequality at the Territorial Scale
a. Regional disparities in economic recovery and adaptation to global shocks. b. Case studies: Successes of capital regions vs. deindustrializing subregions or mono-industrial towns. c. The evolving role of Regional Development Agencies and the effectiveness of EU Cohesion Policy on local growth trajectories. d. The persistence of place-based poverty. e. Regional resilience in a polycrisis context: measuring vulnerability, exposure and outcomes. |
| 3. Green Transition: Place-Based Impacts and Opportunities
a. Territorial Just Transition Plans (TJTPs) and their socio-economic effects on coal regions, industrial clusters, and rural peripheries. b. Subnational case studies on regions transforming from high-carbon to sustainable economies. c. Regional disparities in access to green technologies, renewable energy, and climate adaptation funding. d. Regional and national policy to support a just transition. |
| 4. Demographic Shifts: Local Challenges and Regional Responses
a. The impacts of migration, population decline, and brain drain at the municipal and NUTS 3 regional level. b. Regional strategies for integrating minority groups and return migrants in specific border or rural regions. c. Regional variation in population growth and decline. The what and why of contemporary demographic change. |
| 5. Digital and Innovation Divides
a. Successful emergence of tech hubs in key cities vs. digital exclusion of rural and peripheral areas. b. Territorial impacts of public investment in digital infrastructure and skills. c. Global platforms, local work? Exploring the power imbalances of the digitalisation of work. d. Data centres – sources of growth or hype? |
| 6. Societal and Civic Resilience at the Local Level
a. The role of civic organizations, local activism, and bottom-up innovation for regional and rural resilience. b. Diverse patterns of political polarization and civic engagement across subnational territories. |
| 7. Spatial Inequalities and Regional Development Pathways
a. Analysis of persistent and new regional inequalities. b. Place-based policy tools for revitalizing lagging regions and fostering locally anchored development. c. The role of institutions in regional resilience. |
| 8. Territorial Governance and Multi-Scalar Policymaking
a. The impact of EU funds and cross-border cooperation on subnational governance. b. The role of regional and local governments in multilevel policy landscapes, especially in health, education, and social services provision. |
Special Sessions
We invite scholars, practitioners, and policymakers to submit session proposals for inclusion in the upcoming conference programme. We offer two types of Sessions:
Open Session – the session organiser proposes the topic and provides a short description/call for submissions. Anyone interested can submit their abstract for this session.
Closed Session – the session organiser proposes the complete session including all speakers. Other delegates may not submit their abstracts for this session. Please note that all speakers need to register to be able to present.
We particularly welcome sessions that are interdisciplinary, internationally collaborative, and align with the conference’s themes. This is a great opportunity to bring together voices around a shared topic and foster meaningful dialogue. Please submit your session through the portal here: https://www.regionalstudies.org/2026-cee-special-sessions/
Please find below the special sessions submitted so far.
Special Sessions
This session examines the European Commission’s July 2025 proposal for the MFF 2028-2034, totalling nearly €2 trillion (1.26% of EU GNI), and its implications for Cohesion Policy. Key changes include National and Regional Partnership Plans to streamline cohesion funds like ERDF and Cohesion Fund, aiming to reduce disparities while prioritising competitiveness via the €409 billion European Competitiveness Fund for strategic technologies. Papers are invited on funding shifts—cohesion dropping from 62% to 44% of commitments—regional impacts, policy alignment with twin transitions, and strategies to balance convergence with innovation-driven growth. Abstracts can explore, and are not limited to, evidence-based reforms for a simpler, more impactful budget supporting EU competitiveness and resilience.
This session explores regional resilience amid overlapping crises like geopolitical tensions, climate shocks, economic disruptions, and health emergencies. It focuses on frameworks to measure vulnerability (inherent sensitivities), exposure (risk intensity), and outcomes (recovery trajectories). Papers are invited on empirical methods to assess EU regions’ capacities under polycrisis scenarios, drawing from e.g. Cohesion Policy evaluations. Abstracts should propose policy tools to enhance resilience, including early warning systems and targeted investments in twin transitions in vulnerable areas.
This session explores bordering regions through the lens of regional economics, assessing whether they function as integrated economic systems and the key determinants involved. Focus areas include synchronisation of business cycles, structural interlinkages like cross-border labour markets and supply chains, and shared infrastructure networks that drive economic cohesion. Papers are invited on empirical analyses—e.g., cycle correlation indices, input-output linkages, or gravity models—to evaluate integration levels and barriers such as regulatory divergences or geopolitical frictions. Abstracts should propose policy frameworks, leveraging EU Interreg programs, to enhance functional integration and competitiveness in these transnational zones
The aim of this session is to discuss the role of universities in regional ecosystems, especially European university alliances, not only the traditional knowledge transfer and innovation contribution, but also and most of all their role in a difficult time of complex transition, industrial revolution, that are reshaping societies. European alliances are actively working to increase the regional impact of universities, both within and across regions. The discussions in this session will provide new insights into how extra-regional collaboration of universities and other stakeholders of the quadruple helix might contribute to regional impact and European Cohesion.
Submission Details: Please submit your abstract (up to 250 words and text only) through the RSA conference portal at https://lounge.regionalstudies.org/Meetings/Meeting?ID=604 by 29th May 2026.
Special Panels & Territorial Activities
- MFF 2028-2034 and its impact on the Cohesion Policy and Competitiveness
- Regional Innovation Labs: Hands-on workshops on building innovation ecosystems in smaller cities and peripheries.
- Territorial Just Transition Forum: Exchange of best practices on TJTPs with regional policymakers, NGOs, and local stakeholders.
- Regional Disparities Mapping Booth: Real-time data visualization and discussion on territorial divides and convergences.
- Place-Based Policy Simulation: Interactive scenario-building to design tailored strategies for different types of regions (post-industrial, rural, border).
Local Organising Committee
Ida Musiałkowska, Poznań University of Economics and Business, Poland
Piotr Idczak, Poznań University of Economics and Business, Poland
Dorota Czyżewska-Misztal, Poznań University of Economics and Business, Poland
Maciej Pietrzykowski, Poznań University of Economics and Business, Poland
Paweł Capik, University of the West of England, UK
Scientific Committee
John Bachtler, European Policies Research Centre, UK
David Bailey, University of Birmingham, UK
Sandrine Labory, University of Ferrara, Italy
Ida Musiałkowska, Poznań University of Economics and Business, Poland
Laura Polverari, Università di Padova, Italy
Maciej Smętkowski, Centre for European Regional and Local Studies (EUROREG), University of Warsaw, Poland
Marijana Sumpor, Euro ekspertiza j.d.o.o., Croatia
Mario Vale, University of Lisbon, IGOT, CEG, Portugal
The conference is held as one of the events under 100th anniversary of PUEB