UPDATE: APDR CONGRESS POSTPONED TO 10-11 SEPTEMBER 2020

Considering the evolving nature of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak, APDR has chosen to proactively postpone the APDR 2020 Annual Conference. The conference, previously scheduled for July 9-10, will now be held September 10-11, 2020.

Call for Papers

The APDR invite regional scientists, economists, economic geographers, urban planners, policy makers, and researchers of related disciplines to participate in the 27th APDR Congress that will be held from 10 to 11 of September, 2020, at the Centro Cultural e de Congressos de Angra do Heroísmo (CCCAH) in Terceira Island, Portugal.

Beyond the various themes related to regional science this congress will focus on the emerging topic of Sustainable Management of the Sea for Sustainable Regional Development. With the enlargement of the ocean areas managed by countries it is important to know what are the aims? What the management tools are? And what the impacts are for human communities?

The call for papers and Special Session Proposals are open and your participation is very welcome!

Special Sessions:

SS01 - Demografia e Economia dos Açores

SS02 - Creative tourism and local/regional development

SS03 - Transport Infrastructure, Accessibility and Regional Development

SS04 - The spatial management in the cultural landscape of Pico Island

SS05 - Variability and Change on Hydro-Meteorological Extremes and Hazards

SS06 - Estratégias de Desenvolvimento Regional nos Países Africanos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa (PALOP)

SS07 - Driving forces of Urban Transformation: data, models and tools

SS08 - Smart Specialisation and Place-based Innovation Policies for Sustainable Regional Development in Islands and Remote Territories

SS09 - Bioremediation as a solution for regional environmental issues

SS10 - Regional Drivers Effects and Policies of Coronavirus

Regular Sessions:

RS01 - Sustainable Management of the Sea for Sustainable Regional Development

RS02 - New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals

RS03 - Circular Economy at Regional, National and International Level

RS04 - Migration, Integration, Growth and Welfare

RS05 - Social, Economic and Environmental spatialized impacts of tourism and sports

RS06 - Spatial Aspects of the Green Deal

RS07 - Climate change mitigation and adaptation

RS08 - Spatial Allocation of Public Goods and Services

RS09 - Regional resilience and crisis

RS10 - Low-density regions and development

RS11 - Big and Available Data for regional science

RS12 - Geographic Information Systems and location modelling

RS13 - Systemic Analysis of Transport and Communication Networks

RS14 - Methodological approaches to Innovation and Entrepreneurship

RS15 - Operational Models for Cities and Regions

RS16 - Qualitative analysis of spatial interaction within space

RS17 - Spatial econometrics

RS18 - Ecological Economic Approaches and Methods

RS19 - Tools to analyse, evaluate and Manage Ecosystem Services

RS20 - Urban design and city competitiveness and sustainability

Deadline for Abstracts submissions: July 31, 2020. Authors should submit their abstracts through online submission system by following the link https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/APDR2020.

All information at the congress website: http://www.apdr.pt/congresso/2020

Looking forward to meeting you in Angra do Heroísmo!

The Organizing Committee and the Board of APDR

27th APDR Congress

RSPP Call for Papers

Special Issue on Tackling with societal, technological and climate changes in peripheral territories

Dear Colleagues,

Nowadays, peripheral regions have become an essential objective of regional science. Those territories can be understood as the outer peripheries, especially in the European Union, where the migratory pressure is quite evident. And as the so-called inner peripheries, where depopulation is a challenge that calls into question the survival of some of these regions. 

Regional science should be considered as a point of confluence of multiple approaches, and it is usual to interpret the evolution of regions in terms of economic development, placing the economy at the core of territorial policy decisions. However, it is necessary to introduce other approaches to territorial development. As such, issues such as demographic change and depopulation risk have been incorporated in European structural and investment funds of Agenda 2021-2027. 

The aim should be to generate opportunities in peripheral areas and reduce the gap between regions, guaranteeing the differential elements of both. Regional science must provide compatible and respectful solutions with the use of endogenous resources of all type of regions.

The proper platform for presenting scientific novelty and the policy relevance of the proposed papers will be the XLV International Conference on Regional Science: "Tackling with societal, technological and climate changes in peripheral territories " (20-22, November 2019, Universitat Jaume I, Castellon, Spain).

A special issue of the journal Regional Science Policy and Practice will publish selected papers presented at the conference, under the same theme. Both empirical and theoretical papers will be considered. Submissions should be made using the journal's online submission portal (https://rsaiconnect.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/17577802), and the deadline is April 11, 2020.

The coordinators of special issue are:

Vicente Budi Orduña (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Emili Tortosa Ausina  (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Luisa Alamá Sabater (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Call for papers for RSPP Special Issue on

“Regional Development in Latin-America”.

Dear Colleagues,

The aim of Regional Science Policy & Practice - RSPP is to promote and diffuse the understanding of human interaction in space; based on sound, rigorous and up-to-date methodologies; and focusing on real and urgent issues for peoples and places, that require adequate policy responses.

Latin America has experienced different challenges in this new era that affected many areas of Regional Science: such as migration, trade, economic growth, income inequality, poverty, regional disparity, concentration of economic activity, energy and environment, to mention just some. Therefore, this special issue will feature research (with sound methods and replicable evidence) that sheds light on the different challenges that Latin America will face in the next decades, with a special focus on regional policies which can lead to solve this issues. 

The objective of this issue is to provide a better understanding of the regional economic challenges that Latin American countries are facing in the next decades. Case studies from any developing countries will be considered, as well as applied theoretical work.

Authors should submit the full papers to the regular review process of the journal until April 1, 2020. TEarly submissions are encouraged and will be processed immediately. Papers will undergo the normal refereeing process.

Coordinators of this Special Issue:

Rafael Garduño-Rivera This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Patricio Alessandro Aroca This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

The University Centre of the Westfjords is searching for an energetic individual to fill the demanding role of Director of the master’s program in Coastal and Marine Management. Coastal and Marine Management is an international, multidisciplinary program, run in conjunction with the University of Akureyri with a cohort of 20-25 students each year. The program began in 2008, and in 2019 a comparable program in Coastal Communities and Regional Development was established. The University Centre is a small but growing institution, for example, the current Coastal and Marine Management Program Director will remain at the University Centre in a newly-established research position.

The Program Director works in a small but progressive university and research environment in Ísafjörður, in the Westfjords region of Iceland, and has ample opportunity to show initiative with the aim of creating an outstanding study and work environment for an international group of students. The Program Director organises teaching, maintains relations with program's partners, and is first-step adviser to students on their master’s theses. The role demands excellent organisational skills, professional working habits, and the desire to provide an excellent service. The role demands a high level of cooperative working, as both master's programs must run simultaneously in harmony. The Program Director needs to carefully follow students’ thesis work in close co-operation with thesis advisors and therefore must have a good professional overview and knowledge of the main research methods used in environmental and resource management. The Program Director should ideally have experience as a thesis advisor to master's students. The Program Director may also undertake some teaching activities.

Necessary qualifications and experience:

• Multidisciplinary training and/or research experience in a relevant field
• Master’s degree or PhD
• Service-minded and a good communicator
• Well-organised
• Initiative and flexibility in the workplace
• Experience in research and as a thesis advisor desirable
• Excellent spoken and written English. Knowledge of Icelandic highly desirable

The new Program Director should be able to start no later than autumn term 2020. For further information contact Peter Weiss, Director of the University Centre, telephone: (+354) 450 3045 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Applications with list of published work, list of teaching experience, and other academic work, if applicable, should be sent by e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Deadline for applications is 27.03.2020.

https://www.uw.is/events/Masters_Program_Director_Coastal_and_Marine_Management/

Dear RSAI Members and World Congress Participants:

It is with great regret that I have to announce that the June 2020 World Congress in Marrakech is postponed and will not be held this June. While European countries have suffered the recent brunt of the virus, until late last week, the situation in Morocco was quite good in terms of Covid 19 with zero cases, but that has greatly changed. Last weekend, the local organizers asked to cancel the Congress given the rapidly deteriorating conditions on the ground and RSAI Council agreed.

The RSAI  offers the following two options for your fees:

1. The RSAI keeps the money on its bank account, which will remain valid as individual registration fee for next year's world congress;
2. Upon your request, to be sent to the RSAI secretariat, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., with the Executive Director in cc (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), the RSAI refunds all money wired, only retaining the costs for refunding, as follows: 

• The costs of refund for payments received by credit card is none.
• Payments received by wire (bank transfer) will have the followings costs:

Countries in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA): 0.83€

Countries non SEPA available online to transfer: 35.55€
Countries not listed above: the transfer goes with an onsite (bank branch) transfer, and costs 45.95€.

We had expected a fantastic program for the Congress in an excellent location. Our local organizers and RSAI Executive Director had done incredible work and it is a disappointment. We are considering multiple future options, including again holding the World Congress in Morocco in May 2021. Of course, at this stage, we have to let the dust settle to see what plans we can feasibly make for next year. When appropriate, we will have further announcements. I appreciate all of your support for the Congress and Regional Science and take care of yourselves and family.

Mark Partridge

President of RSAI

24-month Month Postdoctoral Fellow – Web-based Geovisualization

The Food and Resource Economics Department and the School of Forest Resources and Conservation (Geomatics Program), at the University of Florida seek to jointly hire a Postdoctoral Fellow to develop a webGIS that will offer a permanent and comprehensive data visualization system for Florida Cooperative Extension and its stakeholders. Candidates should have a strong technical background with expertise in GIS and geovisualization. Knowledge of geographic data and metadata standards and cartographic norms and conventions is expected. Additional details and link to application can be found here.

RSPP Call for Papers on Regional Drivers Effects and Policies of Coronavirus

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) is spreading around the world somehow anticipated by the news that announces it. The World Health Organization (WHO) issues daily reports that include the number of people infected by country and by region.

On the one hand, from a medical perspective, critical questions arise regarding the development of vaccines, methods of diagnosis and treatment of patients.

On the hand, there are pressing issues associated with monitoring and prevention that concern everyone and long-term issues related to the birth and spread of this infection naturally related to the structure and interaction of humans in space.

- Are all countries and regions monitoring the spread of the virus efficiently? - Are there places where preventive measures are more effective than in others? Are there cities where medical care is more adequate than in others? Are there policies that have worse net effect for peoples and places?

Regional Science can and should commit to this urgent research questions treating large amounts of data and information to generate useful knowledge for people, journalists, health providers and policy makers.

• RSPP Working Papers on the topic are very much welcome. For that use the template available and submit it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We review and assess the submission of Working Papers and can accept sequential versions of each when new data can provide updated evidences.
• Full papers on the Regional Drivers Effects and Policies of Coronavirus (Covid-19) are also very much needed. For that, use the platform of RSPP https://rsaiconnect.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/17577802. The editorial team will put an extra effort on the revision of the papers submitted to this urgent topic.
• Once accepted and edited the papers will be available free on-line for some time and once we get a set of papers of the topic, we will compile them in a Special Issue on the Regional Drivers Effects and Policies of Coronavirus (Covid-19).

The Editorial Team

Useful data

- Relevant Papers:

• Pandemic risk: how large are the expected losses?
• The global spread of 2019-nCoV: a molecular evolutionary analysis
• The Effects of Social Media Use on Preventive Behaviors during Infectious Disease Outbreaks: The Mediating Role of Self-relevant Emotions and Public Risk Perception
• Finding an Accurate Early Forecasting Model from Small Dataset: A Case of 2019-nCoV Novel Coronavirus Outbreak

- Stata format data for the diffusion of the virus in Italian NUTS3 regions that are on a daily basis published by the Ministry of Health - FILE (download)

- Data Bases on the daily infected and deaths related to Corona Virus for the countries of the world and for China based on WHO reports - Last update (27/3/2020 - updated weekly by Catia Azevedo)

• WORLD
• CHINA
• PORTUGAL

The Centre for European Studies of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Romania will organise between 13 – 15 May 2020 an intensive program for PhD and postdoctoral students on INTRODUCTIVE METHODS AND APPROACHES IN REGIONAL SCIENCE.

The event, supported by the Regional Science Association International (RSAI), will focus on sharing new methodological approaches in regional science methodology and on developing particular abilities and competences required for PhD and postdoctoral students.

The program will benefit from the expertise of distinguished lecturers in regional science:

• Dimitris BALLAS, University of Groningen
• Peter NIJKAMP, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University / Adam Mickiewicz University
• Karima KOURTIT, Jheronimus Academy of Data Science
• Andrea CARAGLIU, Politecnico di Milano
• Tomaz Ponce Dentinho, University of the Azores, Portugal
• Jacques POOT, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands

The workshops are designed for PhD and postdoctoral students from Eastern Europe from fields related to regional science.

The Intensive program INTRODUCTIVE METHODS AND APPROACHES IN REGIONAL SCIENCE has no participation fee.

The organisers will cover for: Lunch and coffee break throughout the event; Accommodation for four nights in double rooms; Registration for EURINT 2020 Conference and participation to gala dinner.

Applications must be submitted by e-mail until March 31, 2020 and include a short CV and a two-page summary of a research project.

For complete details regarding the eligibility and application process please consult the following website: www.cse.uaic.ro/en/nurturing.htm .

CONTACT PERSON: Local Organising Committee, Bogdan IBANESCU, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.