Call for Papers and Tracks

The seventh edition of the international conference “Rethinking clusters, ecosystems, and places in sustainability transitions” will be in-person in Padova.

Conference themes include, but are not limited to:

  1. The sustainability of places: industrial districts, clusters, regions, and ecosystems
  2. The transformative power of artificial intelligence, big data, block-chain, and Industry 4.0
  3. Mission-oriented industrial strategies and innovation policies
  4. Novel socio-technical regimes and sustainable innovation to address the just transition
  5. Culture, creativity, and tourism and their effects on sustainable development of places
  6. Innovation ecosystems and networks: agents’ positions, structure and dynamics
  7. Smart cities, urban development, peripheries and marginal areas
  8. Inequality mitigation, social innovation, and wellbeing: organizations, individuals, and communities
  9. Meeting the objectives of carbon neutrality: circular economy, zero waste, renewable energy and composting communities
  10. Exploring the dark side of innovation: the unexpected outcomes of the socio-technological progress
  11. History, path dependency, resilience, and evolutionary trajectories of territories
  12. The rise of hostility: how do populism, nationalism, conflicts, and terrorism change economies and places
  13. Global value chain and sustainable local development
  14. Regional development traps and catch-ups
  15. The flows of people and goods and their impact on entrepreneurship and innovation in places
  16. Competitiveness and innovation in industrial districts, clusters, regions, and ecosystems

Special Sessions

SS1: The geography of the twin transition (PRIN2022 GeoTwin)

Organisers: Roberto Antonietti (University of Padua) and Sandro Montresor (Gran Sasso Science Institute).

SS2: The role of universities in regional innovation, regional development and sustainability transitions

Organisers: Maria Tsouri and Ridvan Cinar (Western Norway University of Applied Sciences).

PhD candidates and young scholars session:

On the day preceding the conference (May 8th), we have reserved a special program exclusively for PhD candidates and Young Scholars. This dedicated day offers a unique opportunity to participate in a specialized workshop on research methods. Attendees will engage in discussions about potential advancements in their ongoing projects, exploring cutting-edge methodologies such as experimental research design, social network analysis, natural language processing, and geographical information systems in an informal and interactive setting. Please note that registration for this session is mandatory, and the deadline for registration is April 21st. The conference registration fee includes access to this exclusive workshop session, providing valuable insights and fostering collaborative learning among emerging scholars.

Organizational matters

Interested contributors are invited to send an extended abstract or a full paper to the email address info@rethinkingclusters.org by: 18th March, 2024.

Extended abstracts should contain a minimum of 500 words and a maximum of 2500 words. Extended abstracts can contain figures, tables and/or images which are not included in the word count. Please use the Rethinking Clusters 2024 template and indicate the track or special session in which you would like to present the contribution.

Full papers (optional) should not exceed 10.000 words, inclusive of the abstract (maximum 150 words), tables, references, figure captions, endnotes. Full papers will be circulated among participants. Please use the Rethinking Clusters 2024 template and indicate the track or special session in which you would like to present the contribution.

Members of the community that are willing to organize a Special Session within the conference are kindly invited to send an email to info@rethinkingclusters.org before 29th February, 2024, including a description of the contents of the session and a list of the participants. The acceptance of the extended abstracts/full papers will be announced by March 29th, 2024.

Participation fees:

  • Participation fee: €180
  • Reduced fee for PhD students and young scholars (within 5 years from the PhD degree): €100

The participation fee covers the reception on the 8th, as well as coffee breaks and lunches on the 9th and 10th. Additionally, for those interested in attending the social dinner on the 9th, a contribution of €60 is kindly requested.

–>> DOWNLOAD HERE THE CALL FOR PAPERS <<–