Call for Papers: Regional Studies Association Annual Conference 2016

Call for Papers
 
Regional Studies Association Annual Conference 2016
 
Building Bridges: Cities and Regions in a Transnational World‘
 
3rd – 6th April 2016, Karl-Franzen- University, Graz, Austria
 
Registration open
 
Throughout history, cities and regions have been cornerstones of economic, social and cultural institution building and centres of communication and trade across borders of empires and nations. In a globalised world dominated by multi-level governance and declining economic and political significance of the nation-state, cities and regions are becoming ever more so important in building bridges across nations, supra-national unions, and even continents.
These challenges surpass the usual aspects of integration: it is not sufficient to reduce barriers for the mobility of labour, goods, services and capital, to create a homogenous competitive environment, and a solid monetary system. What is needed in addition are more elements of a new regionalism, which is based on non-hierarchical relationships, on self-government, and on the creation of flexible alliances leading to interregional transnational cooperation. The development of a region is affected by its competitive and complementary relationships with other increasingly distant regions.
These relationships have to be embedded in an overall structure of relations which encompass the purely economic ones and have strong social, cultural, legal and political dimensions. The objective of the conference is to initiate an interdisciplinary dialogue about the future of a transnational world of urban and regional cooperation. We welcome submissions from researchers, policy makers and practitioners working in all areas of regional analysis.
 
Special Sessions Proposals
 
Besides paper presentations we also welcome Special Sessions. A Special Session could be a themed workshop or innovative forms of networking and collaboration. We are open to your ideas and happy to discuss these with you.
There are two types of Special Sessions:
Open Session: the session organiser proposes the topic and provides a short description for a special session. Delegates can submit their abstracts for this session when they register for the conference.
Closed Session: the session organiser proposes the complete session including all speakers. Other delegates cannot submit their abstracts for this session. Both sessions are open to all delegates to attend as audience.
 
General Call for Papers
 
We welcome papers that address any of the following conference themes:
Austerity (Risk and Resilience)
Socio-Spatial inequalities, Aging, Knowledge Exchange,  Demography and Wellbeing
Urban and Regional Sustainability
Innovation, Agglomeration, Evolution
Leadership and Governance
Clusters, Competence Centres, Smart Specialisation and Global Production
Geo Economy and Geo Politics
Local and Regional Economic Development and Planning
City Region Building and Metropolitics
Identity, Citizenship and Lived Differences
Territorial Politics, Metropolitics and Federalism
Cohesion, Competition and Smart Cities
Urban and Regional Theory, Methodology and Data
Infrastructures and Built Environment
Developing Area Studies
Smart Rural Areas and Peri Urban Areas
Health and Wellbeing/Health Economics
Spa Tourism/Music Tourism/ Sports Tourism/Film Tourism
Climate Change, Sustainability and Mitigation
Federalism, Subsidiary and the Allocation of Competences
Submission of abstracts
 
Please submit proposals for papers in the form of a 400-500 word abstract (text only, no pictures, graphs or tables) through the Regional Studies Association online portal byMonday 7th December 2015. Proposals will be considered by the Conference Programming Committee against the criteria of originality, interest and subject balance. For conference updates, please visit www.regionalstudies.org/conferences.
 
Conference Bursaries
 
We have conference bursaries available for this conference. For more details, go towww.regionalstudies.org/uploads/documents/Bursary_Guidelines_Graz.pdf.
 
Contact
 
Please contact Wanda Miczorek at wanda.miczorek@regionalstudies.org for further details and questions regarding abstract submission.
Wanda Miczorek
Events and Membership Officer
Regional Studies Association
PO Box 2058 Seaford
BN25 4QU
 
tel: +44 (0) 1323 899 698
fax: +44 (0) 1323 899 798
Company No 4116288;
Charity No 1084165

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