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CfP for the 8th Nordic Geographers Meeting in Trondheim, Norway

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Please consider this CfP for the NGM 2019 in Trondheim, Norway (June 16-19, 2019), for a paper session Regional development paths and critical junctures.

Session organisers:

Dr Markus Grillitsch, Department of Human Geography & CIRLCE – Center for Innovation Research and Competence in a Learning Economy, Lund University;

Dr Nadir Kinossian, Department of Regional Geography of Europe, the Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography (IfL)

Regional development paths and critical junctures

This session will explore possible linkages between the current debates in (1) regional path development studies, and (2) critical junctures and window of opportunity studies. Structural factors such as industrial composition, the size of the economy, or the level of infrastructure can only partly explain regional development paths. Changes in politics, policy, and institutions can be explained by analysing the behaviour of actors. If we presuppose that the establishment of a new regional development path is an outcome of a critical juncture in economic or institutional development, we could use the critical juncture literature to explain the mechanism of such change.

This session invites contributions that i) disentangle the effects of structure and agency on regional economic change; ii) link institutional change and regional development, and iii) focus on the micro-level processes, agents and their networks. Contributing to this line of inquiry, this session invites papers that address the following questions:

  • To what extent, under which conditions, and how can agency contribute to regional growth paths beyond what could be expected due to structural preconditions?
  • How can critical junctures and window of opportunity models be used to analyse regional path development?
  • Which processes within and beyond firms underpin regional growth paths?
  • What are the causal factors explaining new path development in (different types of) regions?
  • How do different regional industrial paths interplay and shape regional growth paths?
  • What is the role of policy in shaping regional growth paths?

Please send an abstract of around 300 words to: markus.grillitsch@keg.lu.se and n_kinossian@ifl-leipzig.de

Deadline for abstract submission: December 15, 2018

Notification: January 15, 2019

More information from the conference web site: https://www.ntnu.edu/geography/ngm-2019

5 Early State Researcher Positions available for the project Agents of Change in Old-industrial Regions in Europe

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Agents of Change in Old-industrial Regions in Europe is an international joint research project funded by the Volkswagen Foundation a 925.200 Euro grant through the period of 36 months (January 2019 – December 2021). The project is coordinated by the Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography in Leipzig, Germany. A research consortium includes the following project partners:

  • Dr Nadir Kinossian (PL), Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography (Germany);
  • Dr Markus Grillitsch, Lund University (Sweden);
  • Dr Vladan Hruška, Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem (Czechia);
  • Dr Erika Nagy, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Hungary);
  • Prof Kevin Morgan, Cardiff University (UK)

Each project partner institution will appoint an Early State Researcher (ESR) to conduct his or her research project contributing to the overall goals of the Agents of Change project. Successful candidate employed in all project partner institutions are expected to become an engaged member of the joint research project and to conduct research activities according to the regulations of the host institution and the Volkswagen Foundation.

Each ESR will be responsible for the following tasks:

  • To work on two selected national cases, including data collection through different techniques (e.g. interviews with key actors), data analysis, and presentation of the results. ESR’s project will contribute to the overall aims and the scientific output of the joint research project.
  • To take a share of responsibility in the preparation of project workshops, conferences, and outreach activities and to participate in project events according to the schedule;
  • To contribute to project dissemination activities through academic and policy publications and conference presentations,

Calls for applications of project member institutions are available below.

Cardiff University

Cardiff University

Jan Evangelista Purkyne University

Jan Evangelista Purkyne University

Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography

Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography

Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Lund University

Lund University