Special Session Themes
For submissions to Special Session Type. Epainos Candidates can also choose a Special Session type.
Please note: Parallel sessions will be organised either with all online presentations or all onsite presentations. There will be no hybrid parallel sessions organised. Online sessions will be organised from 26 to 27 August 2024. Onsite sessions will be organised from 28 to 30 August 2024. For each Special Session theme, see below the session format envisaged by the conveners (**).
List of Special Sessions - update 29/04/2024
Please click on the title of the theme to view its description
S01 Building Sustainable Cities ** Onsite only (Terceira)
Miquel-Àngel Garcia-López, Rosella Nicolini, José Luis Roig, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
S02 Culture Based Development: Cultural Narratives for Polarization versus Peace
** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Annie Tubadji, Swansea University, United Kingdom
S03 Digital Geographies: Spacelessness, or New Mode of Space-Making and Space Relations ** Onsite only (Terceira)
Abdul Shaban, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India
S04 The Spatial, Regional and Urban Dimensions of Circular Economy
** Online /Onsite (Terceira)
Sébastien Bourdin - Normandy Business School, France; André Torre, Professor, INRAE, University Paris-Saclay, France
S05 Machine Learning in Regional Science: Perspectives, Methods, and Applications
** Onsite only (Terceira)
Kevin Credit, National Centre for Geocomputation, Maynooth, Ireland; Katarzyna Kopczewska, Maria Kubara, University of Warsaw, Poland
S06 RSPP Special Issue: A New Toolbox for Novel Research in Regional, Urban and Spatial Studies ** Onsite only (Terceira)
Katarzyna Kopczewska, University of Warsaw, Poland
S07 Navigating the Storm: Exploring the Socio-Economic and Behavioural Impacts of Natural Disasters on Communities ** Onsite only (Terceira)
Daria Denti, Alessandra Faggian, Marco Modica, GSSI, Italy; Ilan Noy, Victoria University of Wellington and GSSI, New Zealand, Italy
S08 University Impacts on the Local and Regional Economy ** Onsite only (Terceira)
Bianca Biagi, University of Sassari, GSSI, CRENoS, Italy; Laura Ciucci, University of Artois, France and CRENoS, Italy; Claudio Detotto, University of Corsica, France and CRENoS, Italy
S09 ‘What’s the Impact?’: the State of Social and Economic Impact Modeling, and its Role in a Transitioning World ** Onsite only (Terceira)
Marcello Graziano, Ruralis, Norway; Roberta Capello, Politecnico di Milano, Italy; Silvana Secinaro University of Turin, Italy
S10 Regional Development Through Gastronomy: Creating a unique Tourism experience
** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Makhabbat Ramazanova, University Portucalense, Portugal; Isabel Freitas, University Portucalense, Portugal; Sanjukta SattarUniversity of Mumbai, India
S11 Left Behind Areas: Past, Present and Future ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Ana Viñuela, REGIOlab, University of Oviedo, Spain
S12 Looking to Tourism Industry as a Potential Contributor to the Development of Protected Areas: Approaching it from the Demand and the Supply Sides ** Onsite only (Terceira)
José Cadima Ribeiro, NIPE and School of Economics and Management, University of Minho, Portugal; Luís Filipe Silva, NIPE, University of Minho, Portugal
S13 Regional Development and Sustainable Peace ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Tomaz Dentinho, University of Azores, Editor of RSPP; Gabriela Carmen Pascariu, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania
S14 Coastal Tourism Development. Opportunity or Threat? ** Online only
Despina Dimelli, Technical University of Crete, Greece
S15 Flood Risk and Natural Hazard in the Built Environment - From Economic Impact to Regional Resilience ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Jonas Hahn, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany; Gabriela Carmen Pascariu, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania
S16 Sustainable Retail: Myth or Possibility? ** Onsite only (Terceira)
Krystian Heffner, University of Economics in Katowice, Poland; Małgorzata Twardzik, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Poland
S17 Tackling Territorial Inequality: Challenges, Research, and Policies
** Onsite only (Terceira)
Alessandra Michelangeli, University of Milan-Bicocca, Italy; Umut Türk, Abdullah Gül University, Turkey
S18 Tourism, a Source of Wealth and Employment Creation. The Long-term Sustainability of an Extrategic Sector for the Global Economy ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Javier Sánchez-Rivas, García Jesús de Sancha Navarro, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain
S19 Gender and Diversity in Cities ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Marina Della Giusta, University of Turin, Italy; Daria Denti, Alessandra Faggian, Gran Sasso Science Institute, Italy
S20 Central and East European Regions on the Common Path - 20 Years of Integration With European Union ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Tomasz Herodowicz, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland; Artur Ochojski, University of Economics in Katowice; Justyna Trippner-Hrabi, University of Lodz, Poland
S21 Economic, Social and Spatial Inequalities in Europe in the Era of Global Mega-Trends
** Onsite only (Terceira)
Dimitris Kallioras, Spyros Niavis, University of Thessaly, Greece; Raffaele Paci, University of Cagliari, Italy
S22 Googling Out the Hate from Our Places: Big Data Application for Cultural Narratives
** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Annie Tubadji, Swansea University, UK; Talita Greyling, University of Johannesburg, South Africa; Stephanie Rossouw, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand; Frederic Boy, Swansea University, UK
S23 Tropical Deforestation – Measurement, Economic Drivers, and Human Consequences
** Onsite only (Terceira)
Lukas Vashold, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria
S24 Computational Notebooks for Spatial Data Analysis ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Francisco Rowe, University of Liverpool, UK; Gunther Maier, Modul University, Vienna, Austria
S25 Counterfactual Methods for Regional Policy Evaluation ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Marco Mariani, IRPET, Italy; Elena Ragazzi, IRCRES, Italy; Lisa Sella, IRCRES, Italy
S26 Social Innovation for Sustainable and Inclusive Regions, Communities and Neighborhoods ** Onsite only (Terceira)
Marcela Chreneková, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Slovakia, Katarina Melichova, Slovakia, Vera Majerova, Czech Republic, Daniel Magwegwe, The Netherlands
S27 Nature-based Solutions on Small and Medium Islands ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Shiri Zemah-Shamir, Reichman University, Israel
S28 The Geography of Public Health ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Peter Nijkamp, Open University of the Netherlands, Heerlen, the Netherlands; Konstantinos Eleftheriou, University of Piraeus, Piraeus, Greece, Konstantinos Christopoulos, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
S29 Savoring Sustainability: The Intersection of Wine Tourism, Heritage, and Eco-Friendly Growth in Wine Regions ** Onsite only (Terceira)
Javier Martínez-Falcó, Eduardo Sánchez-García, Bartolomé Marco-Lajara, University of Alicante, Spain
S30 Small (Island) Economies – Approaches and Perspectives ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Elmar Kulke, Humboldt-University, Germany; Lech Suwala, Technical University, Germany
S31 Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development: Uncovering the Sources and Effects of Innovative Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Value Creation ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Eduardo Sánchez-García, Javier Martínez-Falcó, Bartolomé Marco-Lajara, University of Alicante, Spain
S32 On the Dynamics and Consequences of Short-term Rentals ** Onsite only (Terceira)
Angela Stefania Bergantino, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Italy; Miquel-Àngel Garcia-López, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
S33 Drivers and Impacts of Migration: New Insights on the Role of Labour Markets, Demographic Change, Human Capital, and Networks **Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Maria Abreu, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Bianca Biagi, University of Sassari CRENoS, GSSI, Italy; Stephan Brunow, University of Applied Labour Studies, Germany; Viktor Venhorst, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
S34 Opportunities, Risks and Challenges of the Digital Transformation in Tourism ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Matteo Beghelli, Unioncamere Emilia-Romagna, Italy; Nicola Camatti, Università Ca’ Foscari, Venezia, Italy
S35 The Impact of Festivals on Local and Regional Development ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Rafael Garduño Rivera, Universidad de Navarra, Spain; Neil Reid, University of Toledo, USA, Haoying Wang, New Mexico Tech, USA.
S36 Entrepreneurship and Public Policy ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Rudra Pradhan, Vinod Gupta School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology, India
S37 Moving Toward Sustainability: Stakeholders Shaping Tourism Transport ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
João Romão, Yasuda Women’s University, Japan; Janika Raun, Unviversity of Tartu, Estonia; Luca Zamparini, University of Salento, Italy; Peter Nijkamp, Open University, The Netherlands
S38 The conflict between tourism expansion and sustainability: The case of Less Developed Countries **Online only
Flora Maria Díaz Pérez, University of La Laguna, Spain
S39 From Neglect to Nuance: Exploring the Diversity of Second-Tier Cities ** Onsite only (Terceira)
Evert J Meijers, Utrecht University*; Tongjing Wang, Utrecht University*; Rodrigo V Cardoso, Delft University of Technology*; Lukas Holler, Delft University of Technology*; Yizhao Du, Delft University of Technology*; Ben Derudder, KU Leuven, Belgium; Wander Demuynck, KU Leuven, Belgium: *The Netherlands
S40 Fostering Sustainable Regional Development: The Central Role of Entrepreneurship and Policy ** Onsite only (Terceira)
Marcus Dejardin, University of Namur & UCLouvain, Belgium; Michael Fritsch, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany; Maria Greve, Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands; Korneliusz Pylak, Lublin University of Technology, Poland.
S41 Assessing the economic impacts of tourism ** Onsite only (Terceira)
Filipe Batista e Silva, European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, Italy; Riccardo Curtale, European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, Italy; Jane Stacey, OECD, France; Julie Reimann, OECD, France
S42 Local Mission Approach as a Challenge Based Multi-Level Building Block for Sustainable Development ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Ramojus Reimeris, Dimitrios Pontikakis, European Commission Joint Research Centre, Spain
S43 Skills on Local Labour Markets ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Rikard Eriksson, Umeå University, Sweden, Martin Henning, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
S44 Networks: An Empirical and Conceptual Toolset to Understand and Model Cities, Regions and Their Interactions ** Onsite only (Terceira)
Emmanouil Tranos, Levi Wolf, Emerald Dilworth, Lenka Hasova, University of Bristol, UK
S45 AI and Other Digital Technologies: Old Wine in New Bottles or Transformative Tools for Urban and Regional Economies? ** Onsite only (Terceira)
Emmanouil Tranos,University of Bristol, UK; Camilla Lenzi, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
S46 Building Just Futures for Regions in Green Industrial Transitions ** Online only
Maximilian Benner, Sebastian Fastenrath, University of Vienna, Austria
S47 Leave No One Behind! The Role of The EU Cohesion Policy in a Changing World ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Daniela-Luminita Constantin, Erika Marin, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania; Cristina Serbanica - “Constantin Brancoveanu” University of Pitesti, Romania
S48 Tourism in Times of Crises: Current and Future Challenges ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Oliver Fritz, Austrian Institute of Economic Research, Austria; Mauro Ferrante, University of Palermo, Italy; Özge Öner, University of Cambridge, UK
S49 Networks in Resilience and Vulnerability ** Onsite only (Terceira)
Roberto Patuelli, Aura Reggiani, University of Bologna, Italy; Terry Friesz, The Pennsylvania State University, US
S50 Territorial Disparities and the Achievement of the SDGs? ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Vincenzo Provenzano, Maria Rosaria Seminara, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Italy
S51 Social Dimensions of Sustainability in Developed and Developing Economies ** Online only
Kechagia Polyxeni, Theodore Metaxas, University of Thessaly, Greece
S52 Sustainability Challenges in GVC-Dependent FDI Development Path: Assessing Regional Development within Global Production Networks ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Zoltán Gál, University of Pécs, Centre for Economic & Regional Studies, HUngary; Magdolna Sass, Centre for Economic & Regional Studies, HUngary
S54 Territorial Intelligence, a Key for a Sustainable Future? New Challenges and New Prospects for Regional Development and Growth: Data, Methods and Solutions ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Simona Cafieri, ISTAT (Italian National Institute of Statistics), Italy
S55 Advanced Contributions to Regional Input-Output Modelling ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Ana Sargento, Centre of Applied Research in Management and Economics, School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic University of Leiria, Portugal
S56 Regional Transitions: Adaptation and Transformations in the Tourism Sector **Online only
Emmanuel Salim, University Toulouse Jean Jaurès, France, Issahaku Adam, Cape coast University, Ghana, Leïla Kebir, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
S57 Government of Anthropization Processes: Domain of the Territories and Cities, Climate Changes ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Daniela Parisi, Stefano Aragona, INBAR National Institute of Bioarchitecture – Rome Section, Italy
S58 Bridging the Gap Between Academia and Policy Making: TheRole of Productivity Boards, Research Centres and Think Tanks ** Onsite only
Rudiger Ahrend, Carlo Menon, OECD, France
S59 Telework in Post COVID Times: Trends and Challenges for the Future ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Paulo Morgado, Nuno Marques da Costa, IGOT-ULisboa - Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, University of Lisbon, Portugal
S60 Towards Local Development Through a Sustainable Valorization of Cultural Heritage: the Role of Tourism **Onsite only
Silvia Cerisola, Politecnico di Milano, Italy; Silvia Emili, Università di Bologna, Italy
S61 Transport and Rural Development: Keeping Rural Areas Accessible **Onsite only
Felix Pot, Taede Tillema, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
S62 Urban and Territorial Resilience: From Measuring to Building Planning Solutions ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Libera Amenta, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II; Silvio Cristiano, Università degli studi di Firenze; Ilaria Cazzola, Politecnico di Torino; Benedetta Giudice, Politecnico di Torino; Isabella Trabucco, Università degli studi di Firenze; Federica Vingelli, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy.
S63 The European Outermost Regions: Remote Territories... Forgotten Territories? ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Sebastien Bourdin, EM Normandie; Francois Hermet, Philippe Jean-Pièrre, The University of La Reunion.
S64 The Role of EU- and Regional-Policy in Sustainable Land Use Management ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Tamas Krisztin, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria
S65 Contribution of Peace and Cultural Diversity to Sustainable Economic Growth in the Era of Climate Change ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Oumhani Eddelani, USMBA; Abdellatif Khattabi, ENFI, Morocco
S66 Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Social Business Venturing **Onsite only
Wiebke Heinze, Martin Carree, Abel Diaz Gonzalez, School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University,The Netherlands
S67 A World of Shocks: Multi-Layers Multi-Shocks Resilience **Onsite only
Marco Modica, GSSI, L’Aquila; Davide Piacentino, UniPa, Pietro Pizzuto, UniPa, Italy
S68 Entrepreneurship and the Learning Region
** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
João Leitão, University of Beira Interior, NECE; CEG-IST and ICS,
University of Lisbon, Portugal & IME, Instituto Multidisciplinar de
Empresa, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain; Marcus Dejardin, DeFiPP-CERPE,
Université de Namur & LIDAM-CIRTES, UCLouvain, Belgium; Rui Baptista,
Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal
S69 The Promise of Transition Via Innovation for Sustainable Regional Development ** Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Salma Hichri,University of Sfax, US, Tunisia; Paolo Sospiro, Università Politecnica delle marche, Italy
S70 The role of young people in building up sustainable development practices for inner and rural areas ** Online only
Maria Antonella Ferri, Alessandra Micozzi, Maria Palazzo, Giusy Sica, Universitas Mercatorum, Italy
S71 Sustainability in Tourist Destinations: A Multidimensional Approach **Onsite only
Laurentina Vareiro, UNIAG, Lab2PT and
Polytechnic University of Cávado and Ave (IPCA),Barcelos, Portugal; Paula Remoaldo, Lab2PT and Institute of
Social Sciences, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal; José Cadima Ribeiro, NIPE and Lab2PT, University
of Minho, Braga, Portugal
S72 Consequences of Place-Based Policies: Perspectives and Challenges **Online only
Lionel Védrine, INRAe, France
S73 Global Value Chains Restructuring, Regional Dynamics and Inequalities **Onsite only
Roberta Capello, Roberto Dellisanti, Giovanni Perucca, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
S74 Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Regional Development: Dynamics, Evolution, and Implications **Online/Onsite (Terceira)
João Almeida, Ana Daniel, DEGEIT, GOVCOPP, University of Aveiro, Portugal
S75 Collective Action and Territorial Transitions **Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Leila Kebir, University of Lausanne, Switzerland; Artur Ochojski, Adam Polko, University of Katowice, Poland; Frederic Wallet, INRAE Occitanie-Toulouse, France
S76 Places for Sustainable Food: What’s Behind and Beyond the Relocation of Food Systems? **Online only
Amélie Gonçalves, Yuna Chiffoleau, Frédéric Wallet, Isabelle Duvernoy, INRAE UMR AGIR, France
S77 Collective Smartness to Foster Sustainability Transitions of Places: Smart Cities, Regions, and Energy Communities **Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Annalisa Caloffi, University of Florence, Italy; Amir Maghssudipour, University of Padova, Italy; Silvia Rita Sedita, University of Padova, Italy
S78 Urban Sustainability by Responsible Innovation and the New European Bauhaus ** Online only
Tamas Gyulai, Széchenyi Istvan University, Hungary
S79 Enhancing Responsible Higher Education for Regional Sustainable Development **Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Ana Moura Arroz, University of the Azores & cE3c/GBA, Portugal; Maria Figueiredo, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, Portugal; Rosalina Gabriel, University of the Azores & cE3c/GBA, Portugal
S80 New Work Horizons: Geographical, Social, and Economic Dimensions of Collaborative Working Spaces **Onsite only
Oliver Rafaj, University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia; Carles Méndez-Ortega, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain; Elisabete Tomaz, ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Portugal; Eva Belvoncikova, University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia
S81 Spatial Effects of the Green Deal **Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Alexandru Bănică, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania; Lívia Madureira, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal; Teresa Pinto Correia, University of Évora, Portugal
S82 The Technological Turmoil of the XXI Century: Spatial Dynamics and the “No Person and No Place Behind” Approaches **Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Gabriela Carmen Pascariu, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania; Patrícia Melo, REM/UECE - Research
in Economics and Mathematics & ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management,
Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal; Ramona Țigănașu, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania; João Carlos Correia Leitão, University of Beira Interior, NECE; CEG-IST and ICS, University of Lisbon, Portugal & IME, Instituto Multidisciplinar de Empresa, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain
S83 Sustainable Competitiveness Index: A Catalyst for Regional Peace and Development **Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Lívia Madureira, Zeeshan Fareed, Centre for Transdisciplinary Development Studies (CETRAD), University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD),Quinta de Prados, Vila Real, Portugal.
S84 Navigating Climate Transitions: Main Challenges to Communities Towards Sustainability **Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Hélder Silva Lopes, Lab2PT, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal, IdRA, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain/ Composing Worlds Network, Fernando Pessoa Fundation, Porto, Portugal; Paula C. Remoaldo, Lab2PT, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal; Vítor P. Ribeiro, Lab2PT, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal, ESE de Paula Frassinetti, Porto, Portugal; José Cadima Ribeiro, NIPE, Lab2PT, School of Economics and Management, Braga, Portugal; Javier Martín-Vide, IdRA, University of Barcelona, Spain; Lígia Torres Silva, Centre for Territory, Environment and Construction (CTAC), School of
Engineering, University of Minho, Guimarães and Lab2PT, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal
S85 Sustainable Cultural Tourism in Rural Areas **Online/Onsite (Terceira)
Francesca Silvia Rota, Maria Giuseppina Lucia, Università di Torino, Italy
S86 Crime, Institutions, and Local Economic Policies **Onsite only
Daria Denti, GSSI, Italy; Marco Di Cataldo, Ca’ Foscari University, Italy
S87 Environmental Justice: the Need for Community-based Strategies for Resilience and Access **Onsite only
Sumana Bandyopadhyay, University of Calcutta, India; Lakshmi Sivaramakrishnan, Jadavpur University, India; Saptarshi Mitra, Associate Professor, Tripura University, India
S88 Global South Eco-Journeys: Towards a Sustainable Future in Tourism**Online only
Lakshmi Sivaramakrishnan, Ranita Karmakar, Jadavpur University, India
To view General Themes, please click here.