Governance of regional development: How can regions unlock their potential?

Abstract

Regional development is a mainstay of Swiss domestic policy, as evidenced by the federal government's New Regional Policy, regional nature parks, and more. But how do regional development processes really work? And how could they be more effectively supported? This factsheet analyses existing models and provides recommendations for action.

Individual agency and socio‐spatial change in regional development: Conceptualizing governance entrepreneurship

“…Second, in terms of interaction modes, it could be observed that entrepreneurial individuals primarily tend towards cooperative interaction, the expansion of networks, or situational governing coalitions. This observation is also in line with Willi, Pütz, and Mayer (, p. 11) and their characterisation of the enabling governance entrepreneurs, which they describe “as highly networked, persistent in negotiations and able to operate across governmental levels and economic sectors.” By using strategies such as networking to strive for policy or institutional change, entrepreneurial individuals can also cause more permanent changes in interaction modes, for instance, from hierarchical governance to a more networked mode of governance. This can furthermore continue in flatter organizational structures and a more lateral governance regime (Frisch‐Aviram et al, ) with greater openness towards participation.…”

“…Recently, some authors suggested introducing the term governance entrepreneurship in order to reflect upon on the increasing range of actors involved in policymaking (Boasson & Huitema, ; Pattberg, ; Willi, Pütz, & Mayer, ). Pattberg (), for example, uses governance entrepreneurship for explaining the relevance of organizations in the transnational institutionalization process in the field of climate change.…”

“…In his study, he defines governance entrepreneurs similarly to (informal) institutional entrepreneurs as “those individuals, groups of individuals and organizations that […] aim at altering or diffusing norms and cognitive frameworks, worldviews or institutional logics” (Pattberg, , p. 1439). The working paper of Willi, Pütz, and Mayer () is also important to note, as it reveals the need for further conceptualization of entrepreneurship in regional development processes. It conceptualizes the term governance entrepreneurship as a subcategory of policy entrepreneurship.…”