Universities have a key influence on society in a two-fold manner: they train and educate people and they participate in governance at the national and regional level. This paper focuses on ...universities and how they function to foster sustainable development. It identifies their actual and potential roles in fulfilling educational, research, governance, and economic development functions, as well as facilitative and mediating functions. A set of seven hypotheses has been derived from the literature and used to develop an analytical framework for considering the three main functions: education, research and governance. The framework distinguishes the individual and the societal educational functions, knowledge creation and knowledge transfer within the research function, and finally the internal and external governance functions. This framework has been applied to a particular case study – the University of Graz, which hosts a Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development. The case study analysis allowed a first test of the hypotheses. For this specific case a couple of prerequisites were identified as helping universities act as facilitators for sustainable development at the regional level. A diverse institutional set-up, a committed leadership as well as alliances with particular bridging organizations such as the Regional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development are only a few of the factors that were found to be facilitative in the case under study.
► We focus on universities as facilitators for sustainable development. ► The case study analyzes the institutional set-up and its effects. ► Competent bridging institutions provide network opportunities for universities. ► Besides this a committed leadership has been identified as supporting factor.
In this paper we address two topical questions: How do the quality of governance and agricultural intensification impact on spatial expansion of agriculture? Which aspects of governance are more ...likely to ensure that agricultural intensification allows sparing land for nature? Using data from the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Bank, the World Database on Protected Areas, and the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, we estimate a panel data model for six South American countries and quantify the effects of major determinants of agricultural land expansion, including various dimensions of governance, over the period 1970–2006. The results indicate that the effect of agricultural intensification on agricultural expansion is conditional on the quality and type of governance. When considering conventional aspects of governance, agricultural intensification leads to an expansion of agricultural area when governance scores are high. When looking specifically at environmental aspects of governance, intensification leads to a spatial contraction of agriculture when governance scores are high, signaling a sustainable intensification process.
Discussion on the growth limits and carrying capacity of tourism destinations is not new. Already for decades, carrying capacity has been at the core of sustainable tourism development and aims at ...offering ‘time/space-specific answers’ for individual localities of various European regions. There are many definitions of this concept and the calculation of a single ‘magic number’ quantifying the carrying capacity is infeasible for reasons such as differences in the thresholds established by visitors and residents, ecological limits, various resources, etc. The discussion about carrying capacity in the context of regional sustainability is linked to human activities impacting a region. This impact has to be within the region's ecological limits and consistent with the region's social and economic constraints in order to ensure adequate supporting functions for the population living in the region. This means that regions should learn as much as possible about the impact of tourism on their destinations in order to develop solid and adequate policies for regional and tourism development. This paper therefore introduces a novel methodology for assessing carrying capacity in tourism destinations, which (a) is specific enough to cater to destination-specific needs, as verified by pilot-testing on various representative case studies, and (b) is general enough to be applicable to any tourism destination throughout European regions. The results emphasize the importance of such a hands-on actionable methodology, while at the same time underlining the importance of dialogue between different stakeholder groups. The value added of the developed methodology is that it simultaneously addresses regional sustainability and tourism development, while acknowledging the fact that there is no single metric or value for carrying capacity. Finally, it is applicable to various types of destinations.
•Assessment of tourism carrying capacity in the context of regional sustainability.•Integrated approach with tourism exposure and territorial sensitivity indicators.•Process-oriented framework for analyzing the development of a tourism destination.•Stakeholder integration is a key factor for enhancing the applicability of results.
The paper focuses on the current debate of energy transition at the regional level and aims at filling an existing gap in literature about how to organize transition processes in energy regions. In ...an effort to do so, the researchers focus on a case study region where a collaborative process for developing an earmarked energy region has been initiated. The purpose of this paper is to identify and understand how collaborative governance needs to be organized in order to foster energy transition in the energy region under study. The research is designed as sequential case study analysis based on different data collection steps including desk and field research as well as participatory research and observation. The research team worked with regional stakeholders and in a first step a moderated stakeholder identification process informed the subsequent stakeholder and governance analysis. Our results show that a moderated stakeholder identification process helps to integrate the relevant stakeholders in a strong alliance building process which helps to avoid information asymmetries and to detect path-dependent structures and systemic lock-ins. External support also helps identifying relevant actors outside the group of ‘usual suspects’. One lesson learned is to establish supportive institutional structures allowing less committed stakeholders to change their mindset and to create mutual interest. The paper provides theoretical and empirical insights for both academics and practitioners.
•A moderated stakeholder identification process helps to integrate the relevant stakeholders in an alliance building process.•Co-evolution is limited because of stakeholders’ being locked-in their own networks.•Time is a crucial factor for establishing supportive institutional structures for transition processes.
The paper sheds light on the path-dependent development of the Viennese entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE). By taking into account temporal dynamics from the 1990s onwards as well as region-specificities ...we are able to demonstrate the evolution of the EE is not a linear process, but rather the various pillars of the EE may develop in distinct directions and find themselves in discrete development stages. Our in-depth analysis supports the understanding of how various pillars of the EE - especially the regulatory and finance/funding pillar - interrelate. Furthermore, the detected cause-effect interlinkages are not balanced, but are rather shaped by power-constellations and temporal imprinting as well as other regional specificities, which influence the overall success of the EE.
Regional identity: a key to overcome structural weaknesses in peripheral rural regions? Sedlacek, Sabine (MODUL University Vienna and Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien); Kurka, Bernhard (MODUL University Vienna and Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien); Maier, Gunther (MODUL University Vienna and Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien)
European Countryside,
01/2009, Letnik:
1, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Depopulation is a well-known phenomenon in peripheral rural regions. The most identified problems are based on structural weaknesses in terms of decreasing business activities and a lack of public ...infrastructure. In such regions population is mainly older causing major changes in social infrastructure. For instance many schools and kindergartens close down for lack of demand, which hinders young families to migrate to such regions. The result is typically a negative cumulative process of loss of population, loss of jobs, loss of infrastructure, further outmigration. It is an enormous challenge for such regions to overcome this vicious circle. Regional identity can be seen as an important factor to overcome such structural weaknesses. The paper will discuss the concept of regional identity in order to define the term and how it is embedded in regional development theory. The empirical analysis is presenting results focusing on regional identity coming out of a qualitative data analysis and a postal survey. We designed a regional identity index, which measures the intensity of personal and social relationships of both in-migrants and out-migrants.
Periphere ländliche Regionen sind vielfach durch eine stetige Abwanderung gekennzeichnet. Die häufigste Ursache wird in der wirtschaftlichen Strukturschwäche geortet, die vor allem die Funktion Arbeiten in erheblichem Ausmaß gefährdet. Die bedeutendsten Folgeprobleme der Abwanderung sind aus demographischer Sicht die Überalterung und aus versorgungstechnischer Sicht die Ausdünnung der Infrastruktur, insbesondere der sozialen Infrastruktur. Es entsteht ein negativer zirkulär-kumulativer Prozess, der zu weiteren Verlusten an Bevölkerung, Arbeitsplätzen, Versorgungseinrichtungen, Infrastruktur usw. führt und die Handlungsfähigkeit der Region maßgeblich einschränkt. Daher stellt das Durchbrechen dieses Teufelskreises eine der wichtigsten Herausforderungen für viele periphere ländliche Regionen dar. Die Rolle der regionale Identität zur Lösung derartiger struktureller Probleme ist noch zunehmend unterbelichtet. Der vorliegende Beitrag fokussiert auf das Konzept der regionalen Identität, wobei die Frage der Definition des Begriffes und dessen Einbettung in die Regionalwissenschaften näher beleuchtet wird. Die empirische Analyse präsentiert identitätsbezogene Ergebnisse einer umfangreicheren Studie im Rahmen derer eine Fragebogenerhebung, Tiefeninterviews und eine Makrodatenanalyse durchgeführt wurden. Für diesen Artikel haben wir einen Index der regionalen Identität entwickelt, der die Intensität der persönlichen und sozialen Beziehungen von Zu- und Abwanderern misst.
Green Building Councils (GBCs) have been established in many different countries in recent years. This paper discusses the role such organizations can play in the respective construction and real ...estate industry and under what circumstances a GBC can contribute positively to the development of a “greener” or “more sustainable” stock of buildings. The paper investigates the main informational problem of the industry by looking at the relation between a developer and an investor from an economic point of view. We argue that the investor's uncertainty about the true quality of a building and the corresponding incentive for the developer to cheat may lock them into a prisoners' dilemma trap. The corresponding barriers for a transition toward a “greener” buildings market are analyzed. GBCs are described as institutions of economic governance that can assist the economy in overcoming these problems. They can act as third party institutions in transactions between developers and investors. By certifying the quality of a building, they can reduce the risk for the investor to be cheated by the developer and also increase the incentive to develop good quality buildings for the developer. This task, however, raises some severe management challenges for the GBCs.
► We focus on Green Building Councils and their economic role. ► The paper investigates the informational problem of the sustainable building market. ► Developers and investors are locked in a prisoner's dilemma. ► Can the councils act as third party institutions to certify quality of buildings? ► Credibility and reliability are key features for third party certification.
Sustainable regional development as a politically requested concept challenges regions within the European Union since the Amsterdam Treaty 1997. A growing body of literature identifies cooperation ...between stakeholder groups as one of the limiting factors for implementing sustainable regional strategies. This leads to the question, how cooperation within a region could be organised. How can institutions support the implementation process of sustainable development on the regional level? Regional institutions are both supporters of cooperation between regional stakeholders and key players in regional development processes. Their connections strengthen the importance of networks in the sustainable regional development process.
► Presentation of an Austrian case study on how transdisciplinarity works in practice. ► Discussion on benefits and limitations of transdisciplinary research in regional foresight processes. ► ...Reflection on how transdisciplinary research contributed to initiating a long-term process for building sustainable networks and structures in the region studied.
The paper presents a transdisciplinary case study which aimed to encourage a vital regional process for building more sustainable structures and regional networks in the future. The case study looks at the industrial city of Steyr which is located in a highly dynamic region in Upper Austria and has to compete with other regional industrial centres and on the global market with internationally acting companies in the automotive sector. For finding local strategies to cope with globally induced pressures and changes several foresight techniques and transdisciplinary approaches have been applied such as interviews, photo elicitation, workshops and scenario building. The transdisciplinary case study is reflected by exploring three major research questions: first, how does transdisciplinarity work in practice, second, what are the benefits and limitations of transdisciplinary research in regional foresight processes and third, how can transdisciplinary research contribute to initiating a long-term process for building sustainable networks and structures in the region. Some answers can be given from the empirical example of Steyr. The case study shows that particularly in regions with a long industrial history and tradition and where existing paradigms cannot easily be overcome, a transdisciplinary procedure provides clear advantages over sole expert solutions. Transdisciplinarity can be the key to get through to the local actors, to develop perfectly fitting strategies for the region and to initiate joint learning and in an ideal situation a long-term change process. New ideas, structures and networks are established which are essential for improving the long-term development of a region.
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