Innovative and Sustainable Regions: Key themes

Course goals

Content

In the first track course you have gained knowledge on the different neo-classical, institutional and evolutionary theories that explain why some cities and regions thrive, whereas others struggle. These approaches also translate into specific ways of looking at contemporary regional thematic debates that relate to innovation and sustainability. Recall that in this track we adopt a broad  perspective on sustainability. It captures the ability of regions to innovate and renew themselves and respond to major shocks (economically sustainable), to be socially inclusive (socially sustainable), and to green their economies (environmentally sustainable).Many contemporary debates concern the regional impact of innovations, both within regions and between regions: think for instance about the effect of digital innovation and working from home on the opportunities for high-skilled vs low-skilled workers, but also how digital innovation impacts development of peripheral regions. These matters are also great concern for regional and national policymakers alike.

This course will focus on selected themes connected to regional innovation and sustainability. The choice of themes varies from year to year, but they have one thing in common: they are highly relevant in contemporary societal debates, as well as at the forefront of scientific enquiry, meaning that SGPL staff is currently researching these themes, which allows sharing the latest insights.  The focus in this course will be on analyzing positions in thematic debates in relation to three inter-related dimensions: first, the underlying theoretical perspective and key questions; second, the preferred methods and data for generating empirical evidence; third, the policies that are suggested. Theories, methods and policy tend to align with each other and allow to characterize positions in thematic debates.

Three themes will be studied in more detail up till the Christmas break. We dive into these themes through a combination of educational forms (lectures, tutorials with active student participation, self-study) and educational material (literature, knowledge clips, podcasts).  In these first weeks students will also work in groups at formative assignments, where tasks are directly related to linking thematic positions to specific theories, methods and policies. The assignments are also a preparation for the writing of a research proposal in the last weeks of the course.

After the Christmas break, students will choose one of the themes and develop a research proposal on that theme, as a final group assignment. This requires implementing the first steps of the research cycle. By combining knowledge gained in first 6 weeks and additional literature, students develop a research proposal to fill a gap in our understanding of one of the themes related to innovative and sustainable regional development. Next to formulating an original and relevant research question, students learn to develop a series of hypotheses as well as a methodological approach to answer their question and test the theory-driven hypotheses. This will culminate into a research plan, including a discussion of the policy relevance and expected policy implications.
     
Next to being a core course in the track Inclusive and Sustainable Regions, this course is part of the learning trajectories ‘Methods and Techniques’ (by linking thematic positions to specific methods and data, and by developing a coherent research proposal) and Writing and Argumentation (by developing arguments to link positions in thematic debates in the individual assessment and by writing a research plan).

This course is part of the learning trajectory   

• methods and techniques learning trajectory
• writing and argumentation learning trajectory