Date and time
Urban and Rural Wellbeing, First Nations Economies and Global Value Chains for Regional Sustainability
New Zealand and Australia occupy a distinctive position in global location, offering opportunities for unique contributions to understanding of regional economies and their dynamics. As proponents of Southern Theory have argued ours is a history of legacies from colonialism, with enduring impacts on the nature and functioning of regions and economies.
The centrality of land-use choices and connections to global markets in shaping the economies of Australasia have impacted on the experiences of First Nations peoples and have challenged capacities for innovation and the forging of new regional futures in a post-industrial world. These realities are pressing as New Zealand and Australia become more tightly embedded in global supply networks and value chains than ever before.
Asian investment is reconfiguring national and regional economies, disrupting long-established relationships with Europe and North America. International students are a central feature of the tertiary education sector in Australia and New Zealand, influencing new investment in our cities. As members of a Trans Pacific Partnership that does not include the US, both nations may see new forms of development that create opportunities and risks for First Nations economies and for regional economies as new markets for land-based products and resources emerge.
Conference Themes and Special Sessions
The RSA’s Third Australasian Conference will address these issues in keynote addresses and special sessions. The conference also encourages presentation of research on any of the following major themes:
- Enabling regional development: policy, strategies and practice;
- Innovation and entrepreneurship in regional economies;
- Smart specialisation and place-based development;
- Infrastructure investment and regional productivity;
- Smart cities and city deals;
- Urban development and the emerging roles of peri-urban places;
- New urban and regional theories, paradigms and perspectives;
- Mega urban regions, pan-regional approaches and alternative regionalisms;
- Governance, failures of governance and the leadership of cities and regions;
- Regional livelihoods and global agri-food value chains;
- First Nations economies: environmental stewardship and economic wellbeing;
- First Nations economies: mining and the resource economy;
- Spatial justice and inclusive growth;
- Special Economic Zones and spaces of exception;
- Regional autonomy, decentralisation and intergovernmental relations;
- Local government and regional wellbeing;
- Industrial policy and strategy, clusters and business incubators;
- Tourism development, technological disruption and emerging markets in Asia;
- Climate change, sustainability and resilience at the local and regional level;
- Innovation in analytical methods and big data;
- New approaches to measuring the impacts of local economic development;
- New perspectives on spatial planning in emerging and established economies;
- EU policy and its implications for other economies;
- US economic development – trends and opportunities;
- Implications of the Belt and Road Initiative and the reshaping of trade and political alliances; and,
- Early career development in regional studies and regional science: which strategies, what impact?
Who should participate?
- Policy makers and government officials;
- Elected and professional representatives from local governments;
- Regional development practitioners;
- Think tank researchers;
- Consultants and interested individuals; and,
- Academics and research students.