Book presentation and conference in Moscow in the framework of the Russian programme of the Hungarian EU-presidency
The Centre for Regional Studies of Hungarian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Institutes of Geography and Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, held a conference organised by the Hungarian Embassy in Moscow about perspectives of European regional cohesion policy and development directions of Russian regional policy on the 12th of May, 2011. The conference was opened by Ambassador István Íjgyártó and Academic Vladimir Kotljakov. Amongst others, the two scientific communities were represented by Sergej Artobolevskiy, Leonid Smirjagin, Olga Kuznetzova, Györgyi Barta, Gyula Horváth and Zoltán Hajdú who presented their views about certain scientific issues. Senior Advisor Wolfgang Streitenberger held a presentation about cohesion policy directions of the European Commission.
Results of the “NETINNOV” research
The conference titled „Innovation and cooperation – The impact of social networks on innovation” was organised at the Main Building of HAS in Budapest on the 14th of April, 2011. The organisers were the Regional Scientific Committee of the HAS and the West Hungarian Institute of the CRS of the HAS. The conference also served as the closing event of the research titled „The impact of social networks on innovation, territorial and sectoral disparities of economic cooperation in the domestic SME sector”. Besides the presentations related to the research topic held in the plenary session, the other objective of this event was the discussion of the major results of the two-year research and the presentation of a book with the same title summarising the results.
Book on “Regional Transformation Processes in the Western Balkan Countries” published
The collapse of Yugoslavia added a new dimension to the problem of regional inequalities. Becoming former regions to independent states resulted in territorial changes. The disparities between smaller areas within the new countries became more apparent. Serious problems were posed by the new state organisation also. During the initial phases of the organisation of the new state formations, spatial aspects were obviously neglected. The book analyses the spatial structure of the countries of the Western Balkans as well as the factors contributing to this. It gives an overview of the more typical features of different periods in the transformation of the area, undertakes an evaluation of the effects of regional disparities and outlines the development perspectives for the region. The book is a result of the joint cooperation of the OECD LEED (Centre for Local Development) Trento and the Centre for Regional Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The recently published book was edited by Gyula Horváth and Zoltán Hajdú.
The Central Transdanubia volume of the series “Regions of the Carpathian Basin” published
Central Transdanubia is the smallest NUTS2 region of Hungary with a population of 1.1 million. Even though the region’s population is declining in line with national trends, its rate is considerably lower. The destiny, history, current situation and future of Fejér, Veszprém and Komárom-Esztergom counties are all embedded in the process which led to the creation of Hungarian regional development and planning regions. Industry has an overwhelming weight in the economic structure of the region, with the highest number of employees. Among the main factors of successful transformation are the impacts of global economy and foreign direct investments, as well as dynamic industrial development. Foreign capital arriving in the region has undoubtedly contributed to modernisation of the economic structure, gaining access to foreign markets, and the international integration of the region. The eleventh volume of the series was edited by Viktória Szirmai.