In 2022, we continued to celebrate the research and work that has made an original and outstanding contribution to research concerned with the analysis of regions and regional issues. This year, some of our awards are being presented live, and some ceremonies have been held online.
You can watch recordings of the online ceremonies in the page below.
The full list of 2022 winners:
2022 Sir Peter Hall Award (I)
Roberta Capello, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
2022 Sir Peter Hall Award (II)
Henry Yeung, National University of Singapore, Singapore
2022 Regional Leadership Award
European Policies Research Centre, University of Strathclyde, Scotland
2022 Media Communications in Regional Studies Award
The Media Communications in Regional Studies Award is a recognition of the best media communications across the regional field and science; and its importance to showcase research and data widely. 2022 Winner: UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE)
2022 RSA Institutional Ambassador Award
Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, China
2022 Distinguished Service to Regional Studies Award
Carolyn Haynes, Taylor and Francis, UK
2022 Distinguished Service to Regional Studies Award
Jim Walsh, Maynooth University, Ireland
Jim Walsh is an Emeritus Professor of Geography at Maynooth University in Ireland. He was Head of the Maynooth Department of Geography between 1995 and 2005 and a co-founder of the National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis. After 2005 he was Vice-President of the University until 2016 with a wide range of responsibilities including Deputy President 2007-2012. His research interests are in rural and regional development, demographic change and spatial planning. He has published extensively and made numerous presentations on these topics. He has extensive experience as an advisor in many areas of public policy, including membership of the National Economic and Social Council, the Expert Advisory Groups for National Spatial Strategy and the National Planning Framework, and Ireland’s rural development strategy. He was for many years Ireland’s contact point for the European Spatial Planning Observation Network.
He has been a member of the Regional Studies Association since 1979. He became a member of the Executive Committee of the Irish Branch in 1993 and served as Chairperson between 1994-1998. In that period he organised several conferences on themes related to regional and local development which helped to advance the case for a strategic approach to regional development in Ireland.
“I was surprised and delighted when I was first contacted about this award which I accept as a great honour. I feel privileged to be included among the first recipients of this new award. I have benefitted greatly from my involvement with the Regional Studies Association. The journals and conferences are always a stimulating source of new ideas, concepts and evidence which I relied upon in my teaching, research and advisory work. I am constantly guided by the RSA tagline Research Today, Policy Tomorrow.”
2022 Distinguished Service to Regional Studies Award
Paul Dalziel, Lincoln University, New Zealand
Paul Dalziel has been Professor of Economics at Lincoln University since 2002 and Deputy Director of its Agribusiness and Economics Research Unit since 2010. He is a Fellow of the Regional Studies Association and was appointed as its Ambassador to New Zealand in 2017. Lincoln University has given Professor Dalziel awards for excellence in research and in teaching, and presented with its inaugural Critic and Conscience of Society award in 2019. He has published more than 100 refereed journal articles and book chapters, and was the lead author of Wellbeing Economics: The Capabilities Approach to Prosperity, published in 2018.
Professor Dalziel says he is honoured and delighted by the Award. “The Regional Studies Association is outstanding for its work to support the discovery of new knowledge that delivers impact for science and for communities. It has been a pleasure to be part of the Regional Studies Association team.”
2022 Nathanial Lichfield Award
Iacopo Gronchi, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Italy
Rethinking embedded autonomy: Innovation governance in comparative perspective
2022 Paul Benneworth PhD Student Award
Gina Gatarin, Western Sydney University, Australia
Designing cities for dignified commuting: Watersheds of hope in metro Manila, Philippines’ traffic situation
2022 RSA Routledge Early Career Award
Rui Alexandre Castanho, WSB Academy, Poland
Identifying critical factors for success in cross border cooperation (CBC) development projects
Watch the recording of this year’s online ceremony celebrating the winners of the 2022 Nathanial Lichfield Masters Student Award, the 2022 Paul Benneworth PhD Student Award and the 2022 RSA Routledge Early Career Award:
2022 Best Book Award
Uneven innovation: The work of smart cities
Jennifer Clark, Ohio State University, USA
2022 Regional Studies Best Paper
Seth Schindler, University of Manchester, UK
Miguel Kanai, University of Sheffield, UK
2022 Regional Studies: Urban and Regional Horizons Best Paper
Change agency and reproductive agency in the course of industrial path evolution
Nora G. Bækkelund, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway
2022 Regional Studies Policy Debates Best Paper
Brexit disruption and transborder leadership in Europe
John Gibney, University of Birmingham, UK
Joyce Liddle, Northumbria University, UK
John Shutt, Northumbria University, UK
2022 Spatial Economic Analysis Best Paper
Alfredo Cartone, G. d’Annunzio’ University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy
Paolo Postiglione, G. d’Annunzio’ University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy
2022 Territory Governance Politics Best Paper
The world is more than a stage: foreign policy, development and spatial performativity in Ethiopia
Derick Becker, Augsburg College, USA.
John H. S. Aberg, Malmö University, Sweden
2022 Regional Studies Regional Science Best Paper
Regional State innovation in peripheral regions: enabling Lapland’s green policies
Diana Morales, Umeå University, Sweden
Laura Sariego-Kluge, Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica
2022 Area Development and Policy Best Paper
Banking ‘Development’: The Geopolitical Economy of Infrastructure Financing’
Dimitar Anguelov, University of British Columbia, Canada
2022 Regional Studies Best Referees
Tasos Kitsos, Aston University, UK
Mariachiara Barzotto, University of Bath, UK
Zhan Cao, KU Leuven, Belgium
Mara Giua, Roma Tre University, Italy
2022 Spatial Economic Analysis Best Referee
Michiel Gerritse, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2022 Territory Governance Politics Best Referee
Carolyn Cartier, University of Technology Sydney, Australia
2022 Regional Studies Regional Science Best Referees
Haifeng Qian, University of Iowa, USA
2022 Area Development and Policy Best Referee
Rory Horner, University of Manchester, UK.
2022 Regions Best Paper (I)
A well-being network approach to Covid-19 recovery: the approach of 4theRegion
Beth Cummings, Swansea University, Wales, UK
Samantha Burvill, Swansea University, Wales, UK
Robert Bowen, Swansea University, Wales, UK
Leonie Themelidis, Swansea University, Wales, UK
2022 Regions Best Paper (II)
Building networks for sustainable transition of old industrial areas
Carolin Schack, Osnabrück University, Germany
Thomas Neise, Osnabrück University, Germany
David Heimann, Osnabrück University, Germany
Martin Franz, Osnabrück University, Germany
2022 Best RSA Blog Award
Thomas Fisher, CoDEL, Outer Hebrides of Scotland
How remote communities turned the challenges of peripherality to their advantage during COVID-19
The list of the RSA Awards Winners 2021 is available here.
Support researchers in the field
The Regional Studies Association is a registered charity that works with researchers and policymakers across all career stages and geographical regions in the field of regional studies and science. We believe that all voices should be heard, and we work hard to ensure our community is an inclusive and diverse environment in which to share and disseminate regional research. Through research grants, knowledge exchange, capacity building events, publications, excellence awards and policy engagement, and together with our membership community, we support regional research, policy and development. Our contribution to research and knowledge exchange leads to evidence informed policymaking and improves people’s opportunities and outcomes via the latest research and through engagement and communication. We welcome donations and legacies that will contribute to the RSA fund now and in years to come.
Help us support and celebrate current and future leaders in the field by donating to the RSA Fund or by donating a Prize or Award. Monies raised will be used to support the RSA community including excellence awards or research grants. To donate to the RSA Fund, please go to www.justgiving.com/regionalstudiesassociation or to discuss a prize/award please contact Daniela Carl, RSA Deputy Chief Executive, tel: +44(0)1273 698 017, email Daniela.Carl@regionalstudies.org.