Program Description

In this interdisciplinary M.Sc. in Urban Strategies (MUS) program, students will acquire fundamental knowledge about contemporary urban transformation and the necessary skills and tools for developing and implementing urban projects of various scales, scopes, and specificities. The program is open to students from any academic discipline and professional background who are interested in urban issues and potential solutions.

Throughout the one-year program, students will learn urban development theories and methods through case studies from Southeast Asia and beyond. In addition to required classes that focus on basic knowledge and skills, students will select their concentrations from four topics: Urban Development and Mobility, Urban Living and Livelihoods, Urban Regeneration, and Urban Security and Resilience. Students will also write their theses based on the selected concentration.

Our basic pedagogical philosophy is student-centric and interactive. Our program combines interactive lectures and studio-based classrooms where students are encouraged to share and demonstrate concepts and ideas. The learning processes are facilitated by our faculty members who have extensive experience in teaching, research, consultancy, and advocacy in Thailand and overseas. The studios use real cases in Bangkok and other cities in Thailand, so as to promote in-depth exploration of urban issues and solutions. Specific skills indispensable for developing urban projects are also emphasized, including data analytics, institutional analysis, strategic foresight, city branding and marketing, finance, and project management. For their theses, students are encouraged to work collaboratively in actual projects with partner organizations in Thailand or other countries of interest. Through such collaboration, students gain first-hand experience of applying the knowledge and skills learned in class to real-world cases.

Studying urban issues and strategies in Bangkok offers a unique learning and living experience. Bangkok, or for that matter other cities in Thailand, is a living laboratory for exploring contemporary urban issues and solutions. From transit-oriented development projects and flood management efforts to community-based housing development and formalization of informal activities, students will live and learn in a real and dynamic platform where they gain insights into how social, economic, and political institutions actually shape urban transformation. As a regional hub for international development agencies, the city also offers uniquely international exposure while learning local specificities that could provide global lessons.

More information at: http://www.cuurp.org/courses-apply/msc-urban-strategies/

Dear Colleagues and Friends,
 
We are opening a 2-year Post Doc position in the ANET Lab Budapest.
 
The future colleague will work on a project entitled "The Role of Geography in the Complex Diffusion of Innovation"  under the supervision of Balázs Lengyel. In this interdisciplinary research, motivated by the increasing urban-rural divide in Western societies, we aim to understand how topologies of large social networks influence adoption dynamics on local scales. To achieve this goal, we analyze data revealed from various sources including social media websites, cell-phone communication, patent and scientific publication databases and reveal empirical features of spatial diffusion. Further, we develop models of dynamic adoption in networks, which reflect on the role of social connections within towns and across locations, in order to forecast adoption in specific places and over the life-cycle of technologies.
 
ANET Lab is an interdisciplinary group at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and aims to uncover how urbanization and the structure of social networks are interrelated. We build our research projects on large data bases and intend to answer the questions how social networks form in geographical space, how the structure of social networks explain economic and technological progress in cities and how dynamic learning and spreading processes happen in spatial social networks. For more information, see our website at http://anet.krtk.mta.hu.
 
Please, find the call details on this link.
 
Application deadline: January 30, 2019. Starting date: February 4, 2019 or upon agreement. 
 
With best regards,
Balazs

We are are happy to launch the Call for Application of the 32nd edition of our Summer School, co-organized by ERSA Polish Section and the University of Katowice, Poland.

Target: PhD students and junior researchers with less than 10 years of research experience.

Call for Application Deadline: 8 March 2019. more

Highlight on the Invited professors to provide ex-cathedra lectures

Ron Boschma, Utrecht University, The Netherlands; Andrea Caragliu, Politecnico di Milano, Italy ; Chiara del Bo Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy; Leila Kebir, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland; Stefan Rehak, University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovak Republic; André Torre, University Paris Saclay, INRA-Agroparistech, France; Eveline van Leeuwen, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands

The Journal of Regional Research – Investigaciones Regionales (http://investigacionesregionales.org/en) announces a call for papers for a Special Issue devoted to the spatial dimension of Social Inclusion policies.

The special issue is titled “Towards a social inclusion model: territorial experiences and challenges”, and expects to collect research articles and letters, devoted to topics such as

• Inclusion strategies within and between regions and cities, including comparative analysis;
• Community development to promote social inclusion
• Childhood investment to prevent the social exclusion
• Inclusive employment policies and intervention programs
• Good practices of coordination within and between social services and employment services

The promotion of social and territorial inclusion in Europe is one of the goals of European 2020 Horizon and to this day, it is a commitment acquired by the different European countries. European policies such as the Structural funds and the European Social Fuds are mainly focused on the fight against unemployment and poverty, such as job activation programs. Nevertheless, Social Inclusion is a multidimensional process, including social networks, participation, housing, etc. In this line, recent studies emphasize that the inclusion strategy in Europe must contemplate different sustainable goals such as adequate protection on basic income systems, community development, childhood investment, inclusive employment policies, social services or partnership alliances.

Several studies have advanced in the comparative analysis of minimum income policy impact on poverty reduction (OECD, 2017, Atkinson et al., 2010) or the diagnosis of new social exclusion dynamics (Förster, et al., 2003; European Commission, 2015). The impact of the economic crisis and austerity policies are having devastating effects on social protection (Taylor-Gooby, 2017). As a result, various restrictive actions have been implemented to access economic benefits or employment inclusion policies for vulnerable groups (Targeting strategy). However, other territories opted for actions that reinforced the inclusion process with programs such as Housing First (Feantsa, 2016), community networks or investment actions in childhood (European Social Network, 2014). All these experiences can help identify some innovations in the inclusion field, with potential for mutual learning between territories.

Special Editor: this Special Issue is edited by Miguel Laparra. The volume collects international works on Social Inclusion and also works resulting from the INCLUSIVE project (CSO2014-51901-P, funded by Spanish Ministry 2015-2017) and also welcomes other works on this topic.

The Journal of Regional Research – Investigaciones Regionales is the flagship journal of the Spanish Regional Science Association (https://investigacionesregionales.org/en/). While being specialized in regional issues, this journal is multidisciplinary and strongly devoted to European and Latin American topics. It is an academic journal, where all papers are subject to a double and blind review process. The journal is full Open Access, free for authors and readers. It is indexed in Clarivate’s Analytics Emerging Sources Citation Index and in Scopus, where it is listed in the first quartile of Economics according to the 2017 CiteScore rank.

Deadlines and publication schedule

• December 21^st, 2018: Deadline for Title and Abstract (//aecr.org/es/novedad/journal-of-regional-research-investigaciones-regionales-call-for-papers-for-a-special-issue-towards-a-social-inclusion-model-territorial-experiences-and-challenges/This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 138, 178); text-decoration: none;">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
• February 28^th, 2019: Deadline for full papers submission
• Expected publication: Fall 2019 – Early 2020.

Submission Instructions

• All works submitted must be analytic and rigorous and will be subject to the normal blind refereeing process undertaken by the journal.
• All submitted works must not be under review by any other journal
• Letters should be about 3,000 words. Full articles are should have between 8,000 and 10,000 words.
• Submission guidelines are reported at https://investigacionesregionales.org/en/envio-de-articulos/submission-of-papers-and-others-contributions/
• The article will be sent through the portal Open Journal System (OJS) of the Spanish Repository of Science and Technology (RECYT): https://recyt.fecyt.es/index.php/IR/login.

https://aecr.org/es/novedad/journal-of-regional-research-investigaciones-regionales-call-for-papers-for-a-special-issue-towards-a-social-inclusion-model-territorial-experiences-and-challenges/

We welcome submissions for two special issues. The first explores the role of Institutes of Higher Education in the sustainable development of regions (contact: Rüdiger Hamm, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) and the second special issue will explore new forms of territorial development through collective action, commons and commoning (contact: Artur Ochojski, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). Both calls are available on REGION’s website. Also, visit the website to read REGION’s latest article about the role of spatial spill-overs in regional economic development in Europe.

Seasonal greetings from the REGION editorial team and see you in 2019!

Vassilis Tselios, Roberto Patuelli, Özge Öner, Francisco Rowe, Sierdjan Koster, Declan Jordan

Taller

Infraestructuras de América del Sur y Desarrollo Regional Sostenible

29-30 de abril de 2019

UMSS, Cochabamba, Bolivia

La propuesta de ponencias será hasta el 31 de Enero con envío de un resumen y un título para This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." data-type="mail" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: 0px 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; color: inherit;">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Se seleccionarán 18 autores a enviar los textos hasta 15 de abril. Se invitará a los autores de los documentos seleccionados a la presentación de sus contribuciones y a la sumisión de los textos en la Edición Especial RSPP.

Las personas interesadas tendrán que pagar el equivalente de $ 50 USD tarifa de inscripción.

Los dos días de taller incluirán la presentación de borradores de documentos sobre el impacto de las Infraestructuras Planificadas de América del Sur en el Desarrollo Regional Sostenible Los documentos presentados se seleccionarán para un número especial de Regional Science Policy and Practice. Este taller servirá para desarrollar, aplicar y difundir nuevos métodos de evaluación sobre el impacto de las redes de infraestructura en el desarrollo regional sostenible

LINK: https://rsai64.wixsite.com/cochabamba2019

CALL FOR PAPER

https://www.uibk.ac.at/congress/imc2019/index.html.en

International Mountain Conference, Innsbruck, 08–12 September 2019

Application open (December 3rd 2018 to February 10th 2019 23:59 UTC+1) - join us ☺

Link: Application

About the Conference

The evaluation of responses and resiliencies of mountains as social-ecological systems towards climate change requires the consideration of multiple and mutually interact... [more]

Thematic focus

The conference should stimulate intense crossdisciplinary exchange, create and foster collaborations, force common papers and give birth to a living document on the curre... [more]

Key Dates

Abstract Submission: 03 December 2018 - 10 February 2019 Registration: End of February 2019 - 15 May 2019 Summer school: 01 - 06 September 2019 Conference: 08 - 12 Sep... [more]

The Venue

The conference will be held in Innsbruck, Austria, at facilities of the University of Innsbruck and the Congress Innsbruck. [more]

Workshop 1.3.B: Challenges and potentials of demographic change in Mountain regions

Moderators: Ingrid Machold (Chair), Andrea Membretti

Many mountain regions, particularly in its more peripheral parts, face considerable demographic changes. On the one hand, there are considerable challenges due to a significant outmigration mainly of the younger cohorts, implying a trend towards overageing and a loss of skilled workers in these regions. On the other hand, many mountain regions also record considerable immigration of different groups of people, like amenity migrants or returnees or labour, but also migrants (many of them having come already as ‘guestworkers’ in past decades) and more recently forced migrants (asylum seekers and refugees). While demographic change as such already poses challenges to the social and economic fabric of local areas and puts severe pressure on local development of these mountain regions, in addition to that changes in life styles, increasing flexible working arrangements, persistent gender inequalities (due to the access to resources and distribution of income and workload) lead to social transformation and increasing social and cultural diversity in mountain regions.

This workshop encourages contributions that analyze features of demographic change in mountain regions in all its different characteristics including

• Trends, patterns and types of demographic change in mountain regions.
• Explanations of, and theoretical perspectives on demographic change in mountain regions.
• Analysis of the place-based transformational impact (social, economic, cultural) on different types of mountain regions.
• Analysis to what extent mountain regions present specific challenges and patterns as well as models for migrant integration.
• Examples of good practice, particularly with regard to governance and social innovation.

Question 1: How does the loss of population and the approach towards migrant integration in mountain regions differ from the approaches in other regions?

Question 2: Under what conditions (political, social, economic, environmental) are the “newcomers” able to become drivers for local and regional development, social and cultural innovation, community resilience, and lead to a reconsideration of the relationship between urban and rural areas?

Question 3: What is the impact of population flows on changes in the physical space and how do these movements re-shape and transform local geographies?

Workshop 3.4.C: Enhancing transformation of strategies for Mountain regions towards sustainable pathways

Moderators: Thomas Dax (Chair), Thomas Streifeneder

Over the last three decades mountain regions have been increasingly addressed as areas of both socio-economic development concern and spaces of particular human-nature pressure. An increased commitment for appropriate policy frameworks has been established particularly in European mountain ranges (e.g. Alpine Convention and Carpathian Convention) but extends also to non-European contexts (like ICIMOD in the Himalaya, the ANDEAN initiative and the evolving Caucasus network). The tremendous challenges, largely aggravated through on-going socio-economic changes and impacts of climate change, put a severe pressure on the future development of these regions and strategy building in these areas. Increased policy focus on supporting regional mountain development through specific programmes and consideration for foresight studies (e.g. ESPON Alps2050-project) underpins the momentum for trans-regional and trans-national cooperation in mountain development strategy approaches.

This workshop builds on recent policy initiatives and studies analyzing the institutional framework and procedural developments to take account of societal needs and to address the altered policy objectives aiming at sustainable pathways within current situation of climate change requirements. The potential transfer of good practice examples and lessons from recent analysis of programmes’ implementation in various mountain contexts should provide an interesting base for discussion of participants between mountain regions of different parts of the world. This should include analysis of the aspects of transfer of policy implementation aspects between different cultures.

Question 1: What can be learned from different mountain ranges for the implementation of comprehensive integrated policy approaches and how can dialogue between researchers, local people and stakeholders, and politicians be enhanced?

Question 2: How can transfer of useful policy approaches between different mountain ranges be promoted, lessons for transformation be shared and how can pitfalls of “transfer” schemes be avoided?

This workshop connects to themes of multi-level governance, institutional cooperation, social innovation and adaptation to sustainable development goals.

Workshop 1.3.C: Social inclusive development in Mountain regions analyzed along gender, generation and diversity as driver for adaption to structural changes

Moderators: Theresia Oedl-Wieser (Chair), Karin Zbinden Gysin, Catrin Promper

Farming families in mountain regions play an important role regarding the agricultural production and ensuring sustainable livelihoods. Furthermore, they are active in climate change adaption and disaster management as well as in preservation of biodiversity. Due to ongoing societal, ecological and economic challenges, adaptation and innovation of role models is crucial for gender and generational adaptations in farming families, diversification and integration of off-farm jobs and tasks. Despite of their important activities and performances for a sustainable and social inclusive development in mountain regions, the vital roles of women, young as well as retired farmers are often invisible and not appreciated enough in society. There still exist structural discrimination, especially of women, which are caused by patriarchal societies, social and cultural norms as well as difficult economic situations. Mountain regions are gendered spaces, which means that the living conditions, resources, power relations and perspectives for a good livelihood are unequally distributed between men and women. Considering the need to foster the dynamic and sustainable development of mountain regions all over the world it is of paramount importance to reflect and integrate issues, problems and needs of these various rural actors to a larger extent in research, public policy and in worldwide decision-making agendas.

In this workshop contributions are welcome that deal with the different living and working conditions of women and men as well as active and retired generations or other disadvantaged groups in mountain regions and their capacity to shape their economic, social and ecological environment all over the world. The following topics are of relevance:

• Role models of women and men of different generations as represented in the economic, social and ecological sphere in mountain regions, their challenges and changes,
• Explanations and theoretical perspectives of the unequal situation of disadvantaged groups in mountain regions,
• Role of women and men according to their socially attributed roles in climate adaption and disaster management of mountain regions,
• Analysis to what extent livelihoods in mountain regions face specific societal and socio-economic challenges,
• Good practice examples, particularly with regard to governance and social innovation.

Question 1: How can the acknowledgement, the appreciation and the understanding of the vital role of actors of different genders and age in mountain regions be strengthened?

Question 2: How can efforts of policy interventions better address the local realities and needs of women and men as well as of other disadvantaged groups in adapting to changing socio-ecological and socio-economic situations?

Question 3: How can different generations on family farms get support for adaptations and renegotiations of roles (tasks, rights and duties) in order to run a farm sustainably?

Question 4: How can gendered power relations in mountain regions be transformed although these processes are inherently political and demanding?

This workshop connects themes of gender and generational issues in relation to agriculture in mountain regions, biodiversity, climate change and disaster management.