The Regional Studies Association Research Network on on Green(ing) Global Value Chains for Sustainable Regional Development (GGVC4SRD)
The Green Transition presents significant economic, institutional and political shifts, challenging our understanding of sustainable regional development. Green Global Value Chains (GGVCs) and their actors such as lead firms and labourers take centre stage in this evolving relationship between sustainability and economic development. How frameworks like the EU’s Green Deal, due diligence laws, carbon taxes and carbon markets will reshape value chain governance and outcomes, particularly at the sub-national level, remains under-explored. This Research Network addresses this gap by advancing an interdisciplinary research agenda on GGVC and sustainable regional development from multiple, critical angles. Through workshops, RSA special sessions, and digital events, the network will create a platform for sharing cutting-edge research from established scholars while fostering new voices, especially from early career researchers and Global South scholars to push an emerging agenda of highest societal importance. A digital workshop and a webinar will promote and disseminate the network’s work.
Future Events
Global South and Early Career Researcher Joint Call for Papers: Green(ing) Global Value Chains for Sustainable Regional Development
A joint call from the Regional Studies Association (RSA) Research Network on Green(ing) Global Value Chains for Sustainable Regional Development (GGVC4SRD), Globelics and the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) O Network on Global Value Chains.
We invite papers on green(ing) global value chains and sustainability, including work on the geographical consequences of internationalisation. We welcome contributions from any discipline and particularly encourage submissions from early career researchers and scholars based in the Global South.
What the call offers
Submitting to this call puts your paper forward for a programme that runs through 2027.
- Online winter workshop, January–February 2027. Selected papers are presented online and receive feedback from members of the RSA GGVC4SRD network, Globelics and SASE O Network on Global Value Chains.
- 2027 cohort, from March 2027. After the workshop, a smaller group of presenters is invited to work with the partner organisations through the year. [This will involve feedback and dialogue with relevant researchers in the partner organisations]
- Travel bursaries, awarded June 2027. Cohort members can receive a bursary covering flights and accommodation to present their paper in November 2027 at either the RSA Regional Futures Conference in London or the Globelics International Conference in Mexico City. [Eligability will be based on RSA Bands.]
Presenters in November are also asked to join the other city’s cohort session online. If you present in London, for example, you would follow the Mexico City session remotely.
How to submit
Upload [a full paper or working draft, as a PDF] using this form by 4 December 2026 [23:59 UK time]. Please tell us on the form which conference you would prefer to present at.
Key dates
- 4 December 2026: call closes
- January–February 2027: online winter workshop
- March 2027: cohort announced
- June 2027: bursary decisions
- November 2027: presentations in London and Mexico City
Any issues with this form, please email o.harman@lse.ac.uk
Further Future Events
ESADE Workshop (TBC)
c. 2027
LSE Winter Workshop
December 2027, alongside the RSA Regional Futures Conference
Past Events
SASE 2026, Network O (Global Value Chains)
1–3 July 2026, Sciences Po Bordeaux.
The network ran an organised session on GGVC4SRD
2026 RSA Annual Conference, Gothenburg
June 2026
Special Session SS51 Green(ing) Global Value Chains and Changing Regional Consequences
Green Global Value Chains for Sustainable Regional Development (GGVC4SRD)
Kick-off workshop with network members, LSE (Closed Event)
The kick-off workshop for the Green Global Value Chains for Sustainable Regional Development (GGVC4SRD) network will convene members to outline the network’s objectives, establish a shared agenda, and catalyse collaboration. Network members will briefly introduce their ongoing research on green global value chains, fostering visibility of expertise and complementarities across the network. A mini-keynote will frame key concepts and emerging debates, followed by Q&A to carve out research priorities. Building on this, a facilitated group discussion will map a pipeline of future activities—including thematic research areas, methodological approaches, joint publications, and engagement with policy partners—setting the foundation for an impactful, well-coordinated research programme.
Read the 2025 GGVC4SRD event report.
RSA Regional Futures Conference
Sustainability in a Fragmented World: Rethinking Regional Development through GGVCs
13 November, 2025
Amid evolving geopolitical dynamics and shifting trade relationships, the transition toward Green Global Value Chains (GGVCs) raises important questions about the balance between sustainability goals and increasing global fragmentation. As firms and regions respond to emerging carbon regulations, due diligence requirements, and green industrial policies, the uneven capacity to adapt risks reinforcing existing disparities. This panel explores how the green transition is reshaping value chain governance and the possibilities for sustainable regional development. Drawing on perspectives from global value chain analysis, innovation studies, and regional political economy, the discussion will examine how the tensions between fragmentation and sustainability shape new opportunities—and risks—for regions across both advanced and emerging economies.
Opening Talk: Stefano Ponte, Centre for Business and Development Studies (CBDS), Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
Roberta Rabellotti, Università di Pavia, Italy
Watch the RSA Regional Futures Conference session Sustainability in a Fragmented World: Rethinking Regional Development through GGVCs below.
RSA Regional Futures Conference Special sessions
This special session, convened as part of the inaugural meeting of the RSA-funded Green Global Value Chains for Sustainable Regional Development (GGVC4SRD) Research Network, examines the critical roles that actors within GGVCs — particularly multinational lead firms, suppliers, and labourers — play in shaping sustainable development outcomes. It will explore how these actors respond to new green governance mechanisms, how their decisions shape patterns of regional upgrading or exclusion, and how subnational institutions can engage more effectively to promote just and place-sensitive transitions. At the same time, the session will consider how green global value chains can be aligned with the protection of natural capital — ensuring that expanded global linkages through trade and investment do not intensify pressures on local ecosystems or planetary boundaries.
Green Global Value Chains for Sustainable Regional Futures I
Green Global Value Chains for Sustainable Regional Futures II
13 November 2025