Changing regional systems of innovation in Greece: the impact of regional innovation strategy initiatives in peripheral areas of Europe

In the context of convergence and cohesion between the European regions, the promotion of innovation in regions that are in different phases of development has been a central objective of European regional policy. For this purpose, the European Commission has launched many innovation schemes and many European regions have conducted initiatives of this kind. In this article, based on the implementation of successive European regional innovation projects in three Objective 1 regions in Greece, namely Central Macedonia, Western Macedonia and Thessaly, the trajectory and the changes that have occurred in their system of innovation are examined. At the outset, considering the outcomes of the first phase of the RTP/RIS exercise, the obstacles in forming these regions' dynamic innovation systems are identified. Thereafter, upon the outcomes of the follow-up exercise of RIS+projects, an imminent change in these regions is observed, highlighting the marking of an innovation-oriented policy addressed to create a supporting institutional framework and shaping the regional innovation environment. Based on these observations, it is argued that European regional policy, via these innovation schemes, has significantly contributed to the reinforcement of innovation systems of participating regions.     

Freedom of Establishment Versus Retail Planning: The European Case

Studies on retail planning in European Union (EU) Member States tend to be nationally oriented and, at best, compare national retail planning systems. They also appear to be based on an implicit assumption that retail planning should not be designed to fit the Single European Market (SEM). This paper analyses a series of judgments by the European Court of Justice and activities undertaken by the European Commission and concludes that this assumption is misguided and incorrect. The bottom line is that retail planning can interfere with freedom of establishment—one of the fundamental EU freedoms laid down in the Treaty of Rome—by limiting the realization of new shopping outlets and by redirecting retail to preselected locations. Such restrictions may be allowable if the Member State in question is able to demonstrate that they are non-discriminatory, appropriate and proportional on the basis of the interpretations of these fundamental principles in European Law. There is a European Retail Action Plan which aims to organize national retail planning systems in such a way that they are compatible with the principles of the SEM.     

The breakdown of the educational system of the G.D.R. in 1989—Problems of restructuring public education

The disappearance of an apparently well-established European state within one year—sudden, unexpected, and self-imposed—probably presents an event without parallels in European history. In educational history, too, there may be few examples of bringing together the structures of two very different educational systems after four decades of separate development.     

European plans for the smart city: from theories and rules to logistics test case

City evolution is connected to social, economic and technological evolutions. New technologies induce further changes, which are highly innovative, which again affect the urban and territorial systems. The city once again adjusts to new opportunities in relation to information and communications technologies, energy and mobility. In this paper, smart city, configured as a set of interacting systems with people, is focused as a possible model to follow for pursuing sustainability in real cities of the twenty-first century. Three processes are recalled: city development, city planning theories and city rules. Smart city seems to be the convergent point for all processes evolving in European urban areas. Theoretical definitions of smart city are recalled. At the same time, the European Commission is promoting smart city rules for implementation. Moreover, in the last years some local decision-makers implemented specific measures that today can be considered in the class of smart city measures. The objective of the paper is to analyse the European perspectives for smart city, trying to separate the three processes that are strongly integrated, but without formal links. To verify the European smart city approach, a study case concerning city logistics is considered.     

Their Body is Different,Our Body is Different: European and Tahitian Navigators in the 18th Century

This paper examines exchanges of navigational knowledge between Tahitian navigators and European explorers in the mid‐18th century. Although Tahitian and European sailors accomplished way‐finding at sea in ways based on very divergent assumptions about the ocean, the cosmos and persons, Tahitian navigators were able to board European ships, and pilot them safely through the islands. At first each side drew upon their own familiar practices to make sense of the other; using ostension or pointing, linguistic exchange and experience of each other’s vessels as bridgeheads to produce a kind of rough intelligibility. Much was lost, however, in these partial and approximate exchanges. Here, exchanges between European and Tahitian sailors and their very different knowledge systems are used to explore the intricacies of cross‐cultural encounters.     

Transition and Trade Perspectives on Eastern European Agriculture

In the economic and political restructuring of Eastern Europe, a new agricultural structure is taking shape, based upon private ownership, genuine cooperatives, and a market economy. Agricultural trade policy in six Eastern European nations will be characterized by the aim of self-sufficiency, but privatized and centered around market methods, improvement in agricultural systems will occur slowly, and over the long term may achieve self-sufficiency and greater exports. Meanwhile, Eastern European agriculture will provide investment and market opportunities for countries of the developed world.     

Economic Regionalism and Social Stabilisation: the International Labour Organization and Western Europe in the Early Post-War Years

The International Labour Organization (ILO) played a concrete role in shaping the mechanisms of international economic co-operation created in Western Europe in the early post-war years. Its tripartite composition and orientation towards social dialogue were perfectly in tune with the productivist principles sponsored by the United States after the Second World War, which largely permeated European economic integration. Thanks to its solid know-how in the field, the ILO made a key contribution in promoting labour mobility, by helping the organisation and co-ordination of national employment services and vocational training systems and, most of all, by assisting institutions such as the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) and the European Communities in implementing freedom of circulation between their member countries. At the same time, in the mid-1950s it offered theoretical support to the economic liberalism on which the European common market was being modelled, arguing against claims for social harmonisation as a precondition to economic integration, and thus contributing to giving European co-operation the shape which still characterises it today.     

Serbian Spatial Planning among Styles of Spatial Planning in Europe

The classification of spatial planning styles in Europe has been successively reviewed a few times. Most recently, it has been done in the framework of the European Spatial Planning Observatories Network (ESPON) 2.3.2 project dealing with the territorial governance. Based on national overviews for 29 European countries, this project uses the classification of spatial planning systems in four styles: comprehensive-integrated, regional-economic, land-use and urbanism. This study did not take into account the spatial planning system in Serbia since it is neither in the European Union nor a member of the ESPON similar to Norway and Switzerland. This article uses the form of national overviews elaborated for the ESPON project and puts Serbia in a comparative spatial planning perspective, classifying it between the comprehensive-integrated and land-use planning styles.     

The role of zoning in the strategic planning of protected areas: lessons learnt from EU countries and Serbia

This paper aims to highlight the problems and possibilities for improving the nature protection zoning of protected areas (PA) in spatial planning. It analyses and compares the systems of spatial planning and the legal basis for protecting nature in PAs in selected EU countries and Serbia. It investigates and compares the role of nature protection zoning and the practice of spatial planning for selected European countries. The case study of a national park in each of the selected countries is used to analyse the nature protection zoning and its role in the coordination of spatial planning for PAs and their surroundings. The initial hypothesis is tested and confirmed that, regardless of differences in the planning systems of the selected European countries, the models of nature protection zoning established for PAs are defining for the coordination of planning instruments in achieving the protection and sustainable development of PAs. The lessons learnt concern the identification of similarities and differences in approaches to nature protection zoning, and their relationship with the spatial planning for PAs in six European countries. Based on these lessons and existing research, recommendations are given for improving the legal basis for the nature protection zoning and spatial planning of PAs in Serbia.     

London in the European financial services industry: locational advantage and product complementarities

If its prospects were doubted in the early 1990s, London isnow the pre-eminent international financial centre. It dominatesits European rivals and is joined with New York and Tokyo ina non-stop reciprocal global embrace. Whereas some analystsapproach this topic concentrating on the nature and qualityof market relationships in London, others emphasise the rolethat government regulation has played in promoting the growthof the City of London with respect to its European rivals. Here,I elaborate the logic whereby financial products and servicesare produced at a particular point in space even if financialtrading is an increasingly ubiquitous virtual activity. I emphasisethe competitive dynamics of the financial services industry,the complementary qualities of financial products, and the placeof London in corporate global transactions systems. I mean toshow that the production of financial products has been broughtto ground (so to speak) in London for a variety of (perhapsnon-replicable) reasons. In this regard, my argument is clearlyat odds with those analysts of information and communicationtechnology who proclaim the end of geography. However, my argumentsits uncomfortably with those who insist upon the persistenceand co-existence of different national financial systems. Implicationsare drawn for the role of London in the evolving integratedEuropean market for financial services, and for the future ofcontinental European financial centres.     

AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL TOTEMIC SYSTEMS: STRUCTURES OF POWER

Aboriginal totemic systems - sections, subsections and to some extent moieties are not only intricate systems of ordering the universe, but also magical devices designed to harness cosmic power, as similar systems in other cultures were evidently meant to do. Comparisons with East Asia and European magico-philosophical systems (especially the hermetic traditions, alchemy etc.) reveal striking similarities in the manner in which the universe is ordered by such systems. A major code of ordering is provided by the doctrine of affinities (sympathies and correspondences to which are attached notions of causality. Such similarities in structure and form allow the inference that totemic systems, too, are informed by universal maxims of ‘power through order’ and ‘like affects like‘.     

The Rise,Fall, and Transformation of Native American Cultures in the Southeastern United States

The culture area of Southeast United States saw the rise of the most complex societies in Native America north of Mexico before European contact. Many of these societies developed with matrilineal kinship systems. Some built impressive mounds. The “Southeast” volume of the Handbook of North American Indians presents numerous chapters that reconstruct the prehistory, history, and cultures found in this region and chronicle the European exploration and colonization that impacted the region's cultures. The differences between the prehistoric and postcolonial cultures are so great that they appear as different cultural traditions.     

Questions of Symmetry: Programme Experiences Featuring Northern Borderland Development

In the North European border region between the Nordic countries and northwestern Russia, much of cross–border development continues to be steered by public authorities and channelled through programmes which are dominated by public actors–even though the participation of private partners such as businesses and various non–governmental organisations is strongly encouraged. This article examines one case of Northern European peripheral cross–border development by focusing attention on institutionalised co–operation programmes. This chosen approach brings to the fore some of the persistent obstacles and challenges of these development initiatives. Particular attention is paid to institutional conditions of and for collaboration, including administrative and legislative systems or economic and governance mechanisms, social structures, institutional systems and general living conditions across national boundaries. Symmetry between the participating countries' institutional environments is perceived as a necessity for the construction of balanced interdependence as well as the increasing involvement of a variety of actors (e.g. private partners) in the creation of a functional borderland.     

National Planning Systems Between Convergence and Incongruity: Implications for Cross-Border Cooperation from the German–Polish Perspective

Convergence of national planning systems in Europe has become an important issue in the context of transnational and cross-border planning, which in turn plays a key role in the policy of creating a cohesive European space. Converging trends concerning planning styles and structures may undoubtedly be detected and also include new European Union (EU) member countries. Yet, by a minute's inspection of the (long-established) German and of the (created in the run-up to EU membership) Polish planning system from a cross-border planning perspective, it becomes obvious that similar structures may not coincide with a similar idea of what spatial planning is about. As highlighted by two chosen examples—cross-border twin-city and metropolitan planning—this results in significant hindrances for planning cooperation in its own right. The article concludes that any convergence of planning systems—if it was to have a constructive impact on cross-border planning—needs to be based on the acceptance of joint planning standards, objectives and values.     

Local Production Systems and Organizational Change: Hierarchization and Competing Firm Networks in Marinha Grande,Portugal

European local production systems have evolved and restructured in recent decades. One path of change has been an internal reorganization towards more hierarchization among local firms and the emergence of formal firm networks and an economic reconcentration. This article supports these observations and provides evidence from the mould industry in Marinha Grande, Portugal. The formal firm networks are, however, heterogeneous and they constitute new competitive strategies, that challenge the historical organization and institutions of the industrial districts and local production systems in which small was beautiful.     

The Geography of the Anthropocene in New Zealand: Differential River Catchment Response to Human Impact

New Zealand provides a useful environment to test the notion that the Anthropocene is a new geological epoch. There are two well‐dated anthropogenic impact ‘events’: Polynesian settlement c. AD 1280, and European colonisation c. AD 1800. Little attention, however, has been given to regional catchment response to these, although it has been assumed that both Polynesian and European farming and land use management practices significantly increased erosion rates across most of New Zealand. This paper addresses the nature and timing of human impacts on river systems using meta‐analysis of a recently compiled nationwide database of radiocarbon‐dated fluvial deposits. This shows highly variable human impacts on erosion and sedimentation in river systems, which are often difficult to separate from naturally driven river activity. Catchment‐scale data with high resolution dating control record clearer evidence of human disturbance. In Northland, anthropogenic alluviation is recorded from c. AD 1300 linked to early Polynesian settlement, enhanced further in the late 19th and 20th centuries by European land clearance, when sedimentation rates exceeded 25 mm year^?1. This study demonstrates significant geographical variability in the timing of human impact on river dynamics in New Zealand, despite two synchronous phases of human settlement, and highlights the difficulty of formally designating a simple and single ‘Anthropocene Epoch/Age’.     

Myths,missions, and mistrust: The fate of Christianity in 16th and 17th century Japan

This article examines accepted opinion regarding the persecution and demise of Christian/Catholic missions in 16th and 17th century Japan. Many of the key issues associated with the encounter of European missionaries and Japanese feudal systems of authority and power resonate with contemporary interest in transculturalism, semantic slippage, personal agency, and the intimate interplay between religion, politics, and economics. Burdened with rigid standards of belief, heresy, and race from European inquisitions as well as Mesoamerican conquests, the Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries made numerous strategic blunders that contributed to their fates, both as recipients of expulsion orders and, finally, on the execution grounds.     

European Integration and Industrial Relations: A Case of Variable Geometry?

This contribution considers the implications for industrial relations of European economic integration, and possible trade union responses. We can understand industrial relations as institutions and processes of social regulation of work and employment, whether by law, collective bargaining or more diffuse norms and standards (often, a combination of all three). These systems of worker protection became consolidated at national level; their foundations are eroded by increasing economic internationalisation (to which the European single market was a response, but which it further reinforced). Through the dynamic of "regime competition", multinational capital can play off national governments and national trade unions against one another, while norms of worker protection are subverted by growing insistence on "shareholder value". Effective regulation of work and employment must be reconstructed transnationally; but most trade union energy has been devoted to a vain pursuit of European analogues of national legislation and collective agreements within a bureaucratic elite process of "social dialogue". What is needed is, first, effective articulation between European-level trade union action and the day-to-day realities of national and workplace trade unionism, and second, a struggle to create a European civil society within which the protection of workers' rights can win popular support and which can sustain effective collective mobilisation.     

Comment

Abstract

This article examines the attempt to modernize the Italian system of education which is being made by the present government. This policy should be seen in the framework of the general attempt to meet the requirements imposed by the European Union on its members (the Maastricht treaty), and more generally to meet the European need for homogeneity among systems of education, matching the Europe‐wide labour market already in place. In the past, the Italian system of education missed a number of opportunities to keep up with the changing experiments in other European countries (especially at post‐secondary and university levels); therefore the amount of change required is now substantial. The measures taken by the Minister of Education (who is also Minister of Universities and Scientific Research) attempt to decentralize the decision‐making process, give more autonomy to individual institutes, and leave the central public administration (the ministries) the roles of coordination and evaluation. This model has been followed by the majority of European countries. Its impact on the not so dynamic Italian system of education will produce interesting debates and confrontations.