2016 RSA North America Conference Special Sessions

SS1. Smart City-Regional Governance for Sustainability

Session organiser(s)

Dr. Gerd Lintz, Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development, Germany: g.lintz@ioer.de

Core Members of the RSA Reseach Network:

Dr. Igor Calzada, University of Oxford, UK
Dr. Stefano Di Vita, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Prof. Yonn Dierwechter, University of Washington, Tacoma, USA
Dr. Tassilo Herrschel, University of Westminster, UK
Prof. Iwona Sagan, University of Gdańsk, Poland
Prof. Ethan Seltzer, Portland State University, USA

This call invites papers for the inaugural session(s) of the new RSA Research Network on 'Smart City-Regional Governance for Sustainability' which is thematically closely linked to the two conference strands 'Smart Cities – Smart Regions' (track A) as well as 'Sustainable Cities and Regions' (track D). We are expecting interesting topical cross-links with the papers in those two strands.

The new RSA Network 'Smart City-Regional Governance for Sustainability' aims to explore meaning and practice of 'smartness' in city-regional governance, as it seeks to balance the competing quests for urban international competiticeness, national economic development, societal and territorial cohesion as well as environmental protection. This competition is understood here as sitting under the discursive umbrella of 'sustainability' as the overarching concept guiding this network. Sustainability thus addresses more than the often pre-eminent focus on limate-related challenges and policies. Instread, it is finding the 'best-effective' – and that of course, depends on established values, preferences, etc. – taht circumscribes the scope for reconcoling diverse interests and thus make the agreed agendas and practices sustainable as values and practices. 

Based on that broader understanding of the complexity of 'sustainability', papers are invited that encompass one or more of the following main topics:

• the variety of (possible, explicit and implicit) meanings of 'Smartness'
• different usage in varying contexts of city-regional governance for sustainability
• rationale for using the term 'Smartness' both in theory and practice
• evolution of the intellectual-political history of 'Smartness' both as a theoretical concept and practical policy
• claims to 'Smartness' in governance practices and rationales

Submission guidelines

To participate in the inaugural sessions(s) of the RSA Network, please register and (at the same time) submit your abstract via the conference website: https://members.regionalstudies.org/lounge/Meetings/Meeting?ID=132

During the process of registering/submitting you can choose in which track or special session your abstract whould be included. Please choose 'Smart City-Regional Governance for Sustainability'. Then, a decision will be made wheter the paper is assigned to the inaugural session(s) or, alternatively e.g. to strand A. We want to put together strong, interesting and discussion-inducing sessions and are therefore particularly interested in papers with novel arguments and/or approaches to the topic of 'Smartness'.

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SS2. Working Regions: Rethinking Regional Manufacturing Policy

Session organiser(s)

Dr. Marc Doussard, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA: mdouss1@illinois.edu
Dr. Laura Wolf-Powers, City University of New York Graduate Centre, USA: lwolfpowers@gc.cuny.edu

Core Members of the RSA Research Network:

Dr. Jennifer Clark, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
Dr. Nichola Lowe, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA
Dr. Greg Schrock, Portland State University, USA
 

This call invites papers for two sponsored sessions being organized by the RSA Research Network on Working Regions: Rethinking Regional Manufacturing Policy, which is thematically linked the the conference strands Regiona Innovation: Theory, Methods, Practice (Track B), Labor Markets in Cities and Regions (Track F) and Regional Economies: SME's, Scale-up and the Future of Production Networks (Track G).

The RSA Network Working Regions: Rethinking Regional Manufacturing Policy, initiated in 2013, is concerned with recent developments in manufacturing policy in advanced industrialized countries, including the shift towards comprehensive regional strategies to support advanced manufacturing. In the context of a strong motivation to link research and design functions to local production networks, policy research and leaders are increasingly emphasizing regional institutions focused on innovation and technology transfer. The composition of regional manufacturing governance networks varies from on region to the next, in terms of both its membership, the thickness of institutional supports, and the scalar organization of governance bodies.

We invite papers addressing a variety of themes related to regional manufacturing economies, including:

• Trends in regional manufacturing growth and restructuring;
• Emergent forms of design-production integration and production networks in manufacturing, such as teh “maker movement”;
• The role of regional governance institutions in supporting manufacturing development and regeneration, including the diffusion of innovation within regions;
• Changing skill formation systems and the role of human capital and other labor market policies, withing regional manufacturing networks.

Submission guidelines

To participate in these special session(s), please register and (at the same time) submit your abstract via the conference website: https://members.regionalstudies.org/lounge/Meetings/Meeting?ID=132

During the process of registering/submitting you can choose in which track or special session your abstract would be included. Please choose 'Working Regions: Rethinking Regional Manufacturing Policy' Then, a decision will be made whether to include the paper in one of the two “Working Regions” special sessions or refer it to the relevant tract.

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Panel Session. Regional Collaboration for Effective Economic Development Manufacturing Strategies: IMCP Communities

Session organiser(s)

Leigh Hopkins, AICP, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA

Purpose of Panel:  To highlight local, regional, and federal efforts currently supporting advanced manufacturing, and to share community successes/outcomes, best practices, and lessons learned.

Panel Session Abstract:

Advanced manufacturing is a national security issue for the U.S.  Maintaining technological superiority is critical for sustaining global competitiveness, which is inextricably linked to our capacity as a nation to innovate.  The proximity to manufacturing processes creates innovation spillovers leading to the next generation of products and processes.[1] The White House Administration has made a big push to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. as evidenced by two initiatives: Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) and the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI). These initiatives encourage communities to develop strategies to strengthen their competitive edge and develop the manufacturing research infrastructure where U.S. industry and academia collaborate to solve industry-relevant problems.

At the Regional Studies Association conference, panelists drawn from Round I and Round II IMCP communities, industry, and government will share with an audience of researchers in regional manufacturing and economic policy information on the following areas:

• Overview of the innovation/industrial ecosystem – which includes public-private partnerships, such as the NNMI and IMCP – and other ongoing initiatives.

• Discussion on how leveraging regional assets and collaboration led to a clear value proposition for industry, government, and academia – in developing advanced manufacturing strategies in diverse sectors such as aerospace and defense, automotive, chemicals, composites, food and beverages, medical devices, metals, photonics, precision machining, ship building, textiles, and advanced wood products, among others. 
• Dialogue on best practices and lessons learned in specific IMCP pillar areas – with assistance from industry experts, if applicable – that other states and/or regions could learn from. 

• Highlights of successes and outcomes in different communities vis-à-vis job creation, entrepreneurship, workforce development, private sector investments, and regional partnerships, including a discussion on how challenges have been overcome.

Potential IMCP Communities/Participants:  Washington, Georgia, California, Maine, New York, Michigan, Utah, Tennessee

[1] President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. July 2012. Capturing Domestic Competitive Advantage in Advanced Manufacturing. Washington, D.C.: Executive Office of the President.

Submission guidelines

Only invited participant's may submit to this panel session using the Following link:  https://members.regionalstudies.org/lounge/Meetings/Meeting?ID=132

Non presenting participant's are welcome to join the discussion.

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What Open Access Can do for You?

Special Session with RSA Editors

Session organiser(s)

Alasdair Rae, University of Sheffield, UK
Heather Stephens, West Virginia University, USA

The Regional Studies Association is one of the leaders in the field of social science open access publishing, having launched an entirely open access journal at the Association's last North American conference at UCLA in 2013. In partnership with Taylor and Francis, Regional Studies, Regional Science has become a key player in the dissemination of regional knowledge across disciplines and domains, yet open access itself is still something of an unknown in some parts of the scholarly community. 

This special session seeks to demystify open access, highlight its benefits and provide an insight into the experience of RSRS to date, from two of the Editors – one each from North America and Europe.

Session Format
We begin with a brief presentation on open access from RSA CEO Sally Hardy, who is a leader in the field of open access in the UK. Sally has advised the UK government and other learned societies on how, why and when open access is best deployed and to what end.

Sally will be followed by Heather Stephens (West Virginia University), who will discuss her experience of open access publishing from an Associate and Editorial perspective. Heather has been involved in RSRS since the beginning and, since 2015, has served as our North American Editor. 

Following Heather, current RSA Editor Alasdair Rae (University of Sheffield, UK) will provide more background on the open access publishing landscape before forwarding a number of propositions and questions for discussion at this roundtable. Alasdair will also provide a 'brief history' of RSRS and discuss the significant volume of exposure it has received to date. We hope these will help stimulate discussion and highlight the benefits of open access and what the long-term impacts of it might be.

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