Report on the RSA Russia Division Workshop 2017

The RSA Russia Division in collaboration with the Ural Federal University Graduate School of Economics and Management successfully conducted an international workshop associated with  the XII  annual conference “Russian Regions in the Focus of Changes” on 16-18 November 2017.

This annual conference is one of the biggest international discussion forums in Russia covering issues of regional development including development of regional policies, programmes and strategies, investment projects, issues of public administration and efficiency, evaluation of policies and institutional development reforms.

As a part of this conference, a one-day workshop “Global Challenges for Regions and Cities: Adaptation, Development, Governance” was organized by the RSA Russia Division on the 17th November.

The workshop’s discussions were divided into three thematic sessions: Spatial Strategic Planning and Regional Policy (Moderator – Evgeniya Kolomak), Urban Development and Local Self-Government (Moderator –Vladimir Klimanov, Irina Turgel), Regional Development, Investments and Regional Disparities (Moderator – Oleg Golubchikov).

The plenary session of the RSA workshop started with welcome speeches by Daniela Carl and Leonid Limonov, representing the RSA, and Irina Turgel, representing the Ural Federal University. This was followed by presentations from invited speakers, Alex Singleton (University of Liverpool) on urban analytics, using Big Data and GIS, and Oleg Golubchikov (Cardiff University) on urban challenges in post-Soviet space.

During the first session participants discussed evolution of regional policy, impact of the public financial institutions investment projects on territorial development and new challenges of regional strategic planning in Russia. The second session focused on the disaster response supply chain in a city, location decisions of firms and existence of entrepreneurial city in Ural region. Participants of the workshop also analyzed and compared agglomeration economy, city development and agglomeration development policy in Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. The third session discussed aspects of regional dynamics of labor productivity. Particular attention was given to instruments for regional development and evolution in old industrial regions using regional and city development management.

Plenary Speakers of the RSA Russia Workshop 2017:

  • Daniela Carl, Executive, Director of RSA
  • Prof Leonid Limonov, Director General, ANO ICSER «Leontief Centre»; Professor, HSE Campus in St. Petersburg;
  • Prof Alex Singleton, Professor of Geographic Information Science at the University of Liverpool;
  • Dr Oleg Golubchikov, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at Cardiff University.

Speakers and other sessions moderators:

  • Evgeniya Kolomak (Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering SB RAS);
  • Vladimir Klimanov (Institute for Public Finance Reform);
  • Irina Turgel (Ural Federal University);
  • Natalia Zubarevich (Lomonosov Moscow State University);
  • Larisa Melnikova (Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering SB RAS);
  • Kseniya Budaeva (Institute for Public Finance Reform);
  • Konstantin Gluschenko (Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering SB RAS);
  • Sergei Kruglikov (Ural Federal University);
  • Olga Suldina (Ural Federal University);
  • Irina Baskakova (Ural Federal University);
  • Natalia Vlasova (Ural State University of Economics);
  • Natalia Davidson (Ural Federal University);
  • Anna Bufetova (Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering SB RAS);
  • Andrey Luchnikov (Perm State National Research University);
  • Irina Semykina (Institute of Economics & Industrial Engineering, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences);
  • Hans Wiesmeth (Ural Federal University, Saxon Academy of Sciences);
  • Gabor Lux (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, CERS Institute for Regional Studies);
  • Anastasiya Vasilieva (Magnitogorsk State Technical University)