Institutionalizing regional science

Abstract

Regional Science is alive and well. If we wish to maintain our position we need to explore ways to expand our numbers and the constituencies that we serve. Expanding undergraduate and graduate teaching programs, fostering more discussion of client-driven work at our meetings and in our journals, and actively encouraging participation by non-university based researchers and even regional development practitioners are all ways to promote multiple-constituency regional science. If one of these options is to be emphasized in the short term, I would suggest encouraging participation by non-university based researchers and more discussion of clientdriven research. These strategies are often at least partially in place now, they benefit from the rigorous scientific work that is our core business, and they will help assure the institutionalization of "full service" regional science.

Regional science: Directions for the future

“…Regional science needs to heighten its profile both within universities and outside universities. 4 Managing regional science Gibson (1998) suggests that the business of all sciences is business, that is, our scientific organisations need to rethink the ways they conduct business and embrace new cohorts, including those in the private research sector. Ultimately, regional science needs to increase in size if it expects to have clout.…”

“…This means that we must have a clearly articulated vision of the relationship between basic research and applied research including the potential for relatively routine operations such as data collection and data bank maintenance and the delivery of training programmes to support and subsidise methodological improvements. As producers of research, we should envisage creating laboratories and networks of research institutes as revenue centres supporting both research and instructional programmes while at the same time moving us closer to "the business of translating theoretical processes into public policy and corporate action" (Gibson 1998). In this process we will likely find ourselves rethinking our definition of regional science and broadening the scope of our inquiries along lines suggested, over the years, by a variety of thoughtful students of regional science.…”

Consistency and crossbreeding in French speaking regional science: An epistemological investigation

“…Regional science can potentially suffer from being interpreted as merely "a toolbox for practical analysis" (Fujita et al 1999). Conversely, it can also be undermined by researchers' rejection of concrete issues and a preoccupation with abstract modeling (Jensen 1991;Funck 1991;Bailly and Coffey 1994;Isserman 1995;Derycke 1995;Gibson 1998;Polèse 1999;Rees 1999;Quigley 2001).…”

“…This dilemma is interpreted as one of the roots of "the presumed crisis in regional science" (Quigley 2001), which may be overridden by the commitment to a "fullservice regional science" and the need for "strengthening the flows and linkages that ultimately tie blue-sky research to the downstream outcomes of policy and practice" (Gibson 1998).…”