We are pleased to announce that the RSA Board have agreed funding for the RSA Research Network on VOICES — Visions on Inequality, Community, Exclusion, and Spatial Justice
This Research Network on Visions on Inequality, Community, Exclusion, and Spatial Justice (VOICES) is an RSA international research network on denied agency in local and regional development, with a focus on left-behind places. While existing scholarship highlights human agency as a driver of regional change, it overlooks those excluded from decision-making — the “denied agents,” including small firms in marginal sectors, third-sector organisations, women, youth, minorities, and immigrants. These groups remain underrepresented in policy processes, yet their perspectives reveal alternative pathways for inclusive development. VOICES will unite experienced scholars to identify denied agents, develop innovative methods to capture their voices, and analyse the mechanisms sustaining their exclusion.
Find out more about the Research Network and their future events here.
The organisers said
“With support from the RSA Research Network funding, VOICES is grounded in a simple premise: inclusive regional development cannot be achieved if those most affected remain unheard. By recognising denied voices as potential agents of change, the network will build comparative international insights to support development of more just development pathways.”
The RSA is looking forward to working with the network’s community and the organisers, Giuseppe Calignano (University of Bologna, Italy), Will Eadson (Centre for Regional Economic & Social Research – CRESR, UK); Stefania Fiorentino (University of Cambridge, UK), Simon Baumgartinger-Seiringer (AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Austria); Jiří Blažek, (Charles University in Prague) and Viktor Květoň (Charles University in Prague).
Connect with the organisers on social media