OPEN DAYS 2013 University Sessions and Master Class:

RSA is the exclusive partner.

Please see the our website

The Regional Studies Association has been selected as the exclusive partner to DG Regio and the Committee of the Regions for the OPEN DAYS 2013. The RSA will be continuing to work with DG Regio and the Committee of the Regions in the design and content of the OPEN DAYS University Programme. Learn about the OPEN DAYS University Sessions in the Information Pack .

OPEN DAYS 2013 UNIVERSITY MASTER CLASS

The Directorate-General for Regional & Urban Policy, European Commission, and the Regional Studies Association would like to invite postgraduates and early career researchers interested in European Cohesion Policy to apply for the Open Days Master Class.

The 11^th OPEN DAYS – European Week of Regions and Cities will be held in Brussels, 7^th-10^th October 2013. Together with the EU institutions, more than 200 regions and cites will contribute to a programme of 100 seminars, workshops, debates, exhibitions and networking opportunities for around 6,000 participants. For the first time, the Open Days University will include a Master Class for postgraduate students and early career researchers to learn more about Cohesion Policy and meet senior policymakers and academics. The application process is competitive; at least two places will be reserved for applicants from each of the 27 Member States and Croatia. A small number of non-EU participants (up to 15) could also participate. The successful applicants will have their return travel to Brussels and accommodation for up to two nights provided.

Deadline for submissions: 15th April 2013.

Applications received after this date will not be accepted.

Aim of the OPEN DAYS University Master Class 2013

The aim of the ODU-MC is to improve understanding of EU Cohesion Policy and its research potential among European postgraduate students and early career researchers. Specifically, the objectives are:

· To present the latest developments in research on European regional and urban development and EU Cohesion Policy;

· To enable postgraduates and early career researchers (ECR) to exchange views with EU politicians, officials and senior academics in the field of European regional and urban development and policy;

· To help create networking links among postgraduates/ECR from different countries and with the wider EU policy and academic communities; and

· To raise awareness and understanding of the research potential in the field of EU Cohesion Policy.

POSTER COMPETITION 2013

Deadline for submissions: 31^st May 2013.

Applications received after this date will not be accepted.

The 11^th OPEN DAYS – European Week of Regions and Cities will be held in Brussels. Together with the EU institutions, more than 200 regions and cites will contribute to a programme of 100 seminars, workshops, debates, exhibitions and networking opportunities for around 6,000 participants.

The Poster Competition is in its fourth year and will take place on the 8^th October 2013 where 6 shortlisted finalists will be invited to attend OPEN DAYS to showcase research via a poster. Accommodation for up to 2 nights and a return flight/train to Brussels will be provided.

Prize: €750 for the overall winner and €250 for the first runner-up.

Regional Studies Association North America Project Office The Lewis Center, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, 3350 Public Affairs Building Room 6263, Los Angeles, CA 90095 Tel + 1 310 291 3708 usa@regionalstudies.org	Regional Studies Association 25 Clinton Place, Seaford, BN25 1NP United Kingdom Tel: + 44 (0)1323 899 698 Fax: + 44 (0)1323 899 798 office@regionalstudies.org Reg. Charity No. 1084165, Reg. in England and Wales No. 4116288



www.regionalstudies.org

Prototype for Global Coding of Political Geographies Library and Data Management – Wikipedia Example

The system is based on a geocode scheme set up for earth that focuses on established political boundaries as a basis for regional grouping of nations, states and localities. It is decimal system based to take advantage of the sort criteria for numbers in computers. It utilized the Sector Group and Region codes of the United Nations and ISO. Geographic information system technology does not solve the problem, but its tools can be used with the geocodes.

The geocode system effectively organizes Wikipedia entries as a library management and the geocodes can be used for data aggregation. This has been developed under a Creative Commons license and would benefit from a global network implementation where local users cooperatively related subnational geographic regions and component political geography.

Examples are at the links which follow:

1. Global Geocode Library Use Organizes Wikipedia Pages Geographically

2. Global Geocode Library Use Organizes U.S. State Wikipedia Pages Geographically

3. Global Geocode Library Organizes U.S. Sub-state and Multi-state Region Wikipedia Pages Geographically

4. Why focus on COGs/Regional Councils in the U.S.? "the substate district is essentially an administrative tool of states"

Contact: Tom Christoffel

Community Motive – Three Thoughts by Tom Christoffel, FeRSA, 3/16/09-revised 9/29/09; 9/26/11

Based on my experience as a regional planner and agency director, 1973 -2008, and in recognition of emerging "regional communities," I developed three thoughts about community that relate to the challenge of working across-boundaries as greater or regional communities. The thoughts/theses apply for communities at the scale of bonding or bridging social capital as defined by Robert D. Putnam, which is alternately local or regional. (link below)

As of 2011, considering the global financial crisis brought about by pursuit of the "profit motive," it struck me that this has come to dominate modern life. This is a relatively new invention of civilization and wasn't a concern for most of the time that homo sapiens has been on the planet.

The three thoughts below that had emerged in my experience of working on regional cooperation now represent what I now posit as the "community motive." Concern about "profit" can emerge within an established community over time, but, to my mind the "profit motive" does not exist in the wild.

1) Community precedes cooperation.
2) Community is how life solves all problems.
3) Security is the primary purpose of community.

These three thoughts, theses if you will, are the basis of the "community motive." Following is some exposition about each one.

As I see it, security has always been the priority for humans since the plains of Africa. That's why communities first seek to establish defensible boundaries. After the basics are in place, security focus shifts to the social and economic. Boundaries work like the membrane in the osmosis experiment most of us have seen in a science class. The membrane is a filter that lets the good things pass through, but keeps unwanted things out. (Osmosis -YouTube - 45 sec.)

The evolved political boundaries of today have consequence. The rules change when you cross them. Though marked on the ground and fortified in some instances, they are conceptual, as pictured above, with Universe Man. The boundary divides the space between local, that within, and regional, everything outside, as labeled in the second panel. The third panel repeats the image within, to show, without graphic elegance, that the land on which Universe Man sits is regional at another scale, as determined by other boundaries, and another area that's local. A territory is both local and regional, depending upon the perspective.

Communities of communities, “regional communities” are greater communities organized to solve a problem, be it managing a watershed, strengthening an economic cluster or ensuring peer competition for school sports. Regional boundaries can be imposed for administrative purposes within states, but for these to be a basis for effective cooperation, a greater community sense is needed for that geography among the people. This is true for multi-state and multi-national regional communities as well. The leaders with such a vision can build a regional community by finding that which is already in place.

This is not to suggest that community is easy to build in order to solve problems. In a crisis, humans of any culture, belief or politics can quickly come together and self-organize to save themselves and others. It was the on-the- ground response to the 9/11 attacks that demonstrated to me the deep responsiveness of human community, as well as the fundamental importance of security. Community is how humans have always survived. This, I think, extends to all life forms.

The "community motive" comes into play when there is a problem to be solved. In a monetized civilization, the "profit motive" may be an incentive for some action, but most of the problems of life don't have a check at the end for their solution. They are things that must be done. Because this is the case, humanity has been able to perpetuate. ©

For more on Regional Community and Scale, see the Slideshare box below.

To learn about bridging and bonding social capital, read Chapter 1 of Bowling Alone: the collapse and revival of American community By Robert D. Putnam

Community Motive 🌎🌍🌏Think Local Planet, Act Regionally!

Regional Studies Association and Open Days 2013 University Master Class

OPEN DAYS 2013 University Sessions and Master Class:

RSA is the exclusive partner.

Please see the our website

www.regionalstudies.org

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"Community Motive" - What is it?

Prototype for Global Coding of Political Geographies Library and Data Management – Wikipedia Example

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Earth ( we know its a spherical whole)

Universe Man at the Boundary

Local Planet - Regional Space

Our Local Planet has systems of Political Geographies which combine as Regional/Greater Communities

Community Motive – Three Thoughts by Tom Christoffel, FeRSA, 3/16/09-revised 9/29/09; 9/26/11

Regional Community News

Financial Crisis - New Necessity for Cooperation

Slideshare - PowerPoints and PDFs

Regional "Communites of Practice"

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