Deadline for abstract submission: 8th January 2027

Call for papers:

Imagining Regional Futures: Economies, societies and places in transition

Regions across the Nordic countries and beyond are being reshaped by multiple transformations. The climate crisis, green and digital transitions, demographic change, shifting patterns of production and work, spatial inequalities, and new geopolitical realities are combining to create both opportunities and profound challenges for regions and the people who live in them. At the same time, capacities for innovation and adaptation remain highly uneven across places. This raises fundamental questions about how regional futures are imagined, governed and realised, and why some regions are able to actively shape new development pathways while others struggle to do so.

The Nordic Regional Studies Association Conference 2027 provides an international forum for examining regional transformation, bringing together theoretical, empirical and policy perspectives. We welcome paper presentations from researchers, students, and those working in policy and practice. 

Conference themes

• Regional transformation, path development and agency
• Green, digital and just transitions
• Regional inequalities, left-behind places and spatial justice
• Innovation, entrepreneurship and regional competitiveness
• Regional resilience, adaptation and development traps
• Peripheries, rural regions and alternative development pathways
• Interregional networks, cross-border regions and global connections
• Institutions, leadership and territorial governance
• Cities, spatial planning and urban–regional relations
• People, skills, migration, wellbeing and inclusive regional development 
• Culture, tourism, creative economies and place development

These themes are indicative rather than exhaustive, and we welcome contributions addressing other aspects of regional studies.