NORSA was formally established at a meeting in Umeå, Sweden, in September 2008. NORSA is a non-political, voluntary, self-governing organisation with non-profit objectives and shares the aims and objects of the Regional Studies Association, which are:
(a) to promote education in the field of regional studies (those studies which relate to the economic, physical and sociological problems of development in major areas) by the exchange of ideas and information.
(b) to stimulate and aid studies and research into regional planning, development and functions and to disseminate the results of such research.
Aim
a) promote knowledge about regional and local development and governance;
b) initiate and support studies and research on development and functioning of regional and local structures;
c) act for the promotion of regional sciences among all subjects participating in social, political and economic life;
d) establish international cooperation in theoretical and practical approaches to regional development; and,
e) cooperate with various institutions, organisations and associations with similar goals and objectives.
NORSA carries out its objectives through the following means:
a) conducting events such as seminars, conferences, courses, discussions etc.
b) participation of its members in seminars and conferences held locally, nationally and internationally;
c) promotion of its activities to the mass media and through its own publications and web presence;
d) cooperating with authorities, institutions and organisations interested in activities run by NORSA.
NORSA’s ambition is to organise biannual Nordic conferences. The working language at the conferences will be English, since we hope to attract participants also from other parts of Europe and the world with an interest of regional issues in the Nordic context.
Background
The idea of a Nordic Division of RSA was conceived by the four Nordic country reps in 2005, and a first conference of what was then called the Nordic Network of RSA was held in Balestrand, Norway in 2006. At this conference there was agreed to organise a second conference in Umeå 2008. Christine Hudson at Umeå University became the organising chair of this conference, while the Nordic country representatives (Markku Sotarauta, Finland, Henrik Halkier, Denmark, Peter de Souza, Sweden and Oddbjørn Bukve, Norway) took the role as a temporary board with Peter de Souza as chair. The board later supplemented itself with Margareta Dahlström from Nordregio. These were also elected to the first ordinary board of NORSA during the Umeå meeting. By electing country reps to the board of NORSA, we hope to develop NORSA in close co-operation with the RSA.
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PAST EVENTS
9th NORSA Conference
“Regional Outcomes of Global Challenges in the Nordic Countries”
2-3 May 2024, Vilnius, Lithuania
The 9th NORSA Conference “Regional Outcomes of Global Challenges in the Nordic Countries” organised by the Institute of Sociology at the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences, in partnership with Vilnius University and the Nordic Division of the Regional Studies Association, took place in Vilnius between 2nd– 3rd May 2024. The conference was kindly supported by Vilnius City Municipality Administration (www.govilnius.lt/) and the Regional Studies Association.
The conference featured three invited plenary speakers: Jiri Blazek (Charles University, Czech Republic) presented on the roles of system-level agency on the development of regional industries. Maria Tsouri (Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway) highlighted the relationships between innovation networks and green transition and the final plenary presentation was by Tiit Tammaru, (Tartu University, Estonia) on trends of counter-urbanisation in the context of digital transition and decreasing urban housing affordability.
Delegates represented all countries of the RSA’s Nordic Division (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden) as well as further afield with guests from Hungary and Poland. The conference presented opportunities to discuss and debate the most recent issues concerned with regional studies and regional policy in Northern European countries and ample networking opportunities resulting in strengthened scientific links across the Baltic Sea and beyond.
Plenaries and paper sessions were accompanied by social events such as an informal pre-conference get-together, a conference dinner, a visit to the premises of Vilnius City Council for great views over the city and an energising walking tour with more vistas over the city, interesting insights and anecdotes and local hospitality. In addition, nice spring weather provided the perfect conditions for this first RSA-related conference in Lithuania.
A NORSA conference is organised every other year in a Nordic country by a member of the NORSA Division and preliminary plans have been made to organise the 10th NORSA conference in 2026 in Sweden.
More information about the conference can be found here: https://www.norsa2024.lt/
Conference photos can be accessed here.
RSA Annual Conference: Transforming Regions: Policies and Planning for People and Places
Ljubljana, Slovenia, 14-17 June 2023
Special Session:
SS33: Regional industrial path development and restructuring – assets, agency, and policy
Open session organised by Nordic Division of the RSA (NoRSA)
The purpose of this special session was to advance our understanding of economic, social, and environmental transformation of regions, by focussing on assets, agency, and policy. We examined the drivers, hinders, processes and mechanisms for regional industrial restructuring and new path development. We welcomed theoretical contribution as well as empirical studies, especially, but not exclusively, from the Nordic territory.
The special session had three main objectives:
(1) to advance existing theories on regional industrial path development, with a particular focus on assets, agency, and policy,
(2) to introduce new methodological approaches to analyse and understand regional path development and structural change, and
(3) to provide empirical evidence on drivers, hinders, processes and mechanisms for regional industrial restructuring in different geographical settings.
Click here for more information on the 2023 RSA Annual Conference “Transforming Regions: Policies and Planning for People and Places” Ljubljana, Slovenia
Annual General Meeting and Board Election 2022
The Board of the RSA Nordic Division held its Annual General meeting (AGM) by Zoom on Monday 5 December 2022. All members of the Regional Studies Association in the Nordic countries were invited to participate in this meeting. Prior to the meeting, nominations were invited for the position of Chair of the RSA Nordic Division.
Please find below the minutes from the meeting with the results of the Board elections:
Regions in Recovery Second Edition 2022: Re-imagining Regions
21st March – 1st April 2022, Online
Special Session SS2:
Regional industrial restructuring and new path development – assets, agency and policy
Open session organised by Nordic Division of the RSA (NoRSA)
Roman Martin, Marte C.W. Solheim, Markku Sotarauta, Anne Nygaard Tanner
Globalisation, climate change, resource depletion, and global health crises are placing major transformative pressures on regions, which need to continuously adapt their structures and functions
to remain competitive. Regional industrial restructuring has become a central concern among researchers and policy makers interested in regional development.
The main purpose of this special session was to advance our understanding of economic, social and environmental transformation of regions, by focussing on firm- and system-level assets and agency. We were interested in drivers, hinders, processes and mechanisms for regional industrial restructuring and new path development. We welcomed theoretical contribution as well as empirical studies, especially, but not exclusively, from the Nordic territory.
Watch the recordings of these sessions here:
NORSA-ESPON Conference
Dates: October 13-14, 2021
“POST-COVID-19 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND REGIONAL RESTRUCTURING IN THE BALTIC SEA REGION”
Every second year the Nordic Section of Regional Studies Association (https://www.regionalstudies.org/network/norsa/) organises a conference mainly targeted on the Baltic Sea Region issues, bringing together regional researchers and practitioners from all over the world. This time, we collaborated closely with ESPON and URBACT networks. Dramatic changes call for action, and not only medical scientists, but also the research community had already been involved in several policy-aided research projects.
The focus was on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and EU Green Deal that will change the economy in an unprecedented way. The pros and cons of this major change for geographic resource-rich peripheries was analysed.
Please click on the links below to watch the sessions:
However, we cannot ignore the COVID-19 pandemic that expanded a new distance working culture overnight and put the tourism and travel industries on hold. Trade and subcontracting patterns are also changing and supported by the Western trade war with China, numerous jobs have already been returned from Asia to Europe. At the same time, migration flows within the continent have been slowed down. In combination with green energy and the circular economy projects, these changes are impacting regional labour division in Europe as well as the role of governmental policies on all administrative levels.
For more information, including the draft program click here.
FURTHER PAST EVENTS
Annual General Meeting and Board Election 2021
The Board of the RSA Nordic Division held its Annual General meeting (AGM) by Zoom on 14 October 2021. All members of the Regional Studies Association in the Nordic countries were invited to participate in this meeting. Prior to the meeting, nominations were invited for the position of Chair of the RSA Nordic Division.
Please find below the minutes from the meeting with the results of the Board elections:
Annual General Meeting and Board Election 2020
The Board of the RSA Nordic Division held its Annual General meeting (AGM) by Zoom on 8 November 2020. All members of the Regional Studies Association in the Nordic countries were invited to participate in this meeting. Prior to the meeting, nominations were invited for the position of Chair of the RSA Nordic Division.
Please find below the minutes from the meeting with the results of the Board elections:
NoRSA 2019: Davids and Goliaths: Regions in the Age of Urbanisation and Digitalisation
Time: Monday 17th June 2019 – Wednesday 19th June 2019
Place: Seinäjoki, Finland
Venue: Frami Conference and Congress Centre
In June 2019 the University Consortium of Seinäjoki, Finland hosted the NoRSA Division’s biennial conference. It focused on the following questions.
Regions are entities consisting of different types of places and spaces. There are cities, towns and rural areas with different potentials and challenges. Regions are also in constant flux due to versatile economic, social and cultural processes both internal and external to them. Megatrends, such as urbanisation and digitalisation, are affecting all kinds of regional places by changing their positions, opportunities and future potential. Some regions turn out to be agile Davids and some transform into powerful Goliaths, but how will this transition happen? How can we reveal the transition process? What this development means for the future of different regions? What kind of development strategies are feasible?
NoRSA’s annual AGM was also held during that conference.
For information about this event please contact the NoRSA Chair Arne Isaksen.
Please note: The Nordic Division (NoRSA) is a limited agent for the Regional Studies Association but without any authority to incur financial liability for that Association.