Building Science Regions in the European Research Area: Governance in the Territorial Agora

Project Leader: David Charles
Staff: Catherine Hodgson
Sponsors: ESRC Science in Society programme (£30k)
Partners: University of Salford

This project develops a comparative analysis of different approaches for building science regions in the European Research Area (ERA) in order to understand the dynamic interaction between forms of governance, economic development and scientific practices. There are four main objectives:

To understand the dynamics of the emerging multi-level system of science policy governance between European, national and regional actors.
To analyse comparative regional science policy processes and the underpinning debates, rationales and assumptions about 'science'.
To assess the implications of different approaches for building science regions for policy objectives relating to competitiveness and cohesion.
To understand the extent to which regional science policies herald changes in modes of knowledge production and scientific practices and transformations in the role and function of universities in society.