In an age of network organization and the digital revolution, under conditions of intense international competition alongside a multifaceted economic downturn, a new form of economy is developing, shaped by the learning society and knowledge-based economy. Under exceptionally difficult conditions where, despite all intentions, economic growth remains the main concern, often without terms or criteria, and even at environmental, territorial and socio-economic cost, the issue: Development for whom, where and on what terms remains “open”. In Greece decades-long unquestioning adoption of developmental models in conjunction with a methodically organized diminishment of the territorial dimension has undermined acquis which had been promoted for years as a prerequisite for life, re-introducing to the discussion the issue of how to plan the various levels and categories of territory, protecting the history and physiognomy of place, ensuring local development in terms of social justice and sustainability in an intensely globalised environment. An answer is sought regarding how best to manage human resources and cultural heritage on the basis of territorial/sectoral and social collaborative networks that are supralocal and transnational focusing on the model of “endogenous development”. Based on research experience regarding the Mediterranean and the Aegean, the article aims to underline the absence of a comprehensive island policy in Greece and highlight crucial issues that need to be resolved at the level of developmental and planning choices in order to eliminate instances of downgrading/abandonment of vulnerable remote and insular border regions. The proposals which are formulated are intended to contribute to the debate about a more equal development for islands and insular areas at a critical juncture for Greece.
Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor may IntroductionAlthough the start of the debate on the contribution of universities to the local and regional development dates back to several decades ago, it is only in the past 25 years that it has been intensified and seen from a new angle of investigation and consideration. It is therefore imperative that the "higher education -development" relationship be reviewed and placed on different basis. The causes for this are the major change in the content of "development" and the concept of "university" [mainly in terms of its role in the society and economy], the new policies and socio-economic conditions globally, the contemporary weight attributed to new technologies and knowledge dissemination as a "development factor", as well as the large number of unsuccessful attempts to use the universities a "means" for development.In the international arena, knowledge [especially higher education level] has started being acknowledged as a key development for national and regional factor, and awareness on the issue "university and local / regional development" is constantly on the rise 1 . In Greece, the expansion of university education, despite all the efforts in recent years, is still treated in a unidimentional and fragmentary manner 2 . It is true though that, following the country's accession to the European Union, a new context of reflection has been shaped regarding the investigation of the relationship "university -regional / local development".Greece is a country the higher education system operated exclusively by the state. For more than four decades, governmental policies have been bringing out the decentralization of university education as a "means" to improve the quality of education nation-wide and 1 Conferences are organized; increasingly more articles are written; many governments promote projects for the encouragement of cooperation between universities -local communities and local productive sectors. On the other hand increasingly more universities have started recognizing their development role in the broader areas where they are located {Theodora, Y., 2004}. 2 Unidimensional, because it is not addressed in the framework of multiple roles and different levels of spatial reference, and fragmentary because it is not put into the perspective of broader policies on development and education [Cf. Section 4 below].1 resolve the "regional problem". At the same time, local societies have requesting, one after th...
Urban and regional development have not stopped engaging, troubling, and dividing the international scientific community and national and regional policy-making bodies. The wide range of consequences brought on by the current multifaceted downturn at all geographical scales requires the continuous investigation of practices and the designation of innovative mechanisms or tools to formulate new developmental axes for action, able to respond to contemporary needs and challenges. This holds true particularly in an age, such as the one we are currently experiencing, of network organization of infrastructures and functions dominated by the knowledge economy. Within this framework, we estimate that the response to an attempt to restructure production in Greece and increase support for its cities and regions could be sought by setting up collaboration networks with cultural heritageand support creative entrepreneurship as key developmental “elements”, focusing on strategies for recovery, modernization, and a return to historic cities and regional settlements. Specifically, using inputs from a collaboration project among historic cities in the Mediterranean, and an ongoing research in fragmented insular regions with many historic cities and settlements in the Aegean, we maintain that the goal of restoring local communities could be sought though initiatives or actions to preserve and diffuselocal traditions and know-how in the framework of an overall urban developmental policy capable of ensuring ongoing collaboration and networking at all geographical levels and categories of space. In this rationale, this article attempts to contribute to the debate by stating proposals in the framework of principles and guidelines that should govern the formulation of this urban policy, which is still missing in Greece.
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