Sustainable Regional Futures: The transition towards a green economy and deals

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Editorial Issue 12

By Eduardo Oliveira, Robert Bowen, Stefania Fiorentino

The overarching theme for the three issues of Regions in 2022 is Sustainable Regional Futures.

We concluded 2021 with the publication of Issue 11 on Regions in Transition III: Recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. This third and last issue of 2021 (see also Issue 9 and Issue 10), concludes the theme of Regions in Transition by discussing the future of cities and regions in the recovery from COVID-19. For 2022, this Editorial Team, together with the Regional Studies Association, has decided and proposed to the regional studies community the overarching theme of Sustainable Regional Futures with the following topics:

Issue 12: The transition towards a green economy and deals (online)

Issue 13: Pathways to a regional circular economy

Issue 14: Smart regions, sustainability-driven regional policies, and the use of technology

Within the Sustainable Regional Futures theme for the 2022 issues of Regions, the topic for Issue 12 is “the transition towards a green economy and deals”. The UN Environment Programme defines the green economy as low carbon, resource-efficient, and socially inclusive. In such a green-oriented economy, growth and income are driven by public and private investment that ideally support reduced carbon emissions and pollution, enhanced energy and resource efficiency, and prevention of the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Green deals, such as the European Green Deal, set the blueprint for this transformational change. It specifically aims to turn the EU into the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 by reducing emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

Following on from COP26 and the increasing recognition of the climate emergency, the issue aims to discuss thought-provoking articles considering the transition to a green economy through a variety of lenses: entrepreneurship, innovation, regional development, planning, or other regional perspectives.

Issue 12 contents

In Spotlight, this Issue 12 features a timely perspective by Calvin Jones: From Despair to Where? Can the Future Generations Act create a sustainable Wales?

This Issue contains seven Regional Insights articles:

Geographical Indications: a local opportunity for the development of rural areas by Riccardo Crescenzi, Fabrizio De Filippis, Mara Giua and Cristina Vaquero-Piñeiro

The role of financial institutions in climate change mitigation in rural areas with evidence from Tajikistan by Takhmina Akhmedova

Low-Cost, High Impact Sustainable Transition Strategies for Small Cities and Towns by Jeremy Chapman

Sustainability transitions in Southeast Asia: Challenges and opportunities with references to the Philippines and Singapore by Raissa Joplo

The Psychological Component of Justice in the Energy Transition by Elena Pugach

Agroecology and Circular Economy in the Institutionalization Context by Yusuke Otake

Implementation of climate change adaptation measures with a focus on Portugal by Henry Watt

This Issue includes a special section reporting on the Festival “Regions in Recovery Second Edition 2022: Re-imagining Regions”:

Report by Andreea-Loreta Cercleux

Report by Yifan Zhang

Report by Patrycja Grzyś

Report by Armelina Lila

Report by Evans Korang Adjei

Report by Aliyu Kawu

Report by Dimitri Corpakis

Report by Ninetta Chaniotou

Report by Holly Randell-Moon

Report by Attila Korompai

Report by Teodora Dogaru

This Issue includes three book reviews featured in the section RSA Highlights:

Review of the book Border cities and territorial development by Eduardo Medeiros

Review of the book Smart Development for Rural Areas by André Torre, Stefano Corsi, Michael Steiner, Frédéric Wallet, Hans Westlund

Review of Regional Studies Policy Impact Books by Regions ezine Editorial Team

As a final note on metrics (data gathered by Alex Holmes, RSA), for the period between March 2021 and January 2022, Regions ezine has received approximately 19,000 views of which approximately 7200 are unique users. The main referral sources are 1) direct link clicks with 3455 users, 2) Google with 1256 users, and 3) Twitter with 994 users. The top countries are 1) UK with 1485 users, the USA with 1018 and Germany with 420 users.

If you are interested in writing a contribution to Regions ezine, please email your idea (i.e., tentative title) and desired section (see below) to office@regionalstudies.org

Editorial team

Eduardo Oliveira | Stefania Fiorentino | Robert Bowen

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