Drop the #Christmas socks. The real crisis isn't your gift list; it's the #DevelopmentTrap. Balland & @ronboschma.bsky.social show in @regionalstudies.bsky.social how regions lacking #complexity become haunted by their own history. Hard work won't save them—innovation will. doi.org/10.1080/0034...

Saana Mountain in the Northwestern part of Finland.

Karasjok, Norway !

www.khrono.no/norce-skal-f...: Research organizations must be managed well. A 30 % cut in staff is a bit too much, and it is hard to rebuild research organizations easily, unlike other commercial organizations.

#Europe’s prosperity hinges less on shiny sectors than on building on its #skills & potential base. As Tessarin, @ronboschma.bsky.social, @lideyu.bsky.social & Petralia show in @cjres.bsky.social, #regions thrive when dense, high-skill ecosystems reinforce themselves. doi.org/10.1093/cjre...

www.khrono.no/fripro-sokna....

#Entrepreneurship flourishes not in chaos, but in places where the rules are clear and agencies predictable. Han Wang & I find in our new @cjres.bsky.social article that better #business environments seed #innovation. Good #institutions are the best industrial policy. doi.org/10.1093/cjre...

#Europe’s problem isn’t a lack of genius, but a failure to use it. A continent can’t compete when half its regions are treading water. #Europe’s future lies in mobilising all its latent talent, not just focusing on the prosperous few. doi.org/10.1080/0034...

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...: New paper on green and just industrial path development with Professor Björn Asheim, Will Eadson, Huiwen Gong, Maximilian Benner, Giuseppe Calignano, and Trond Nilsen.

#Green transitions are billed as fair and forward-looking. But as @suyashjolly.bsky.social, Asheim, @maximilianbenner.bsky.social, @giuseppecalignano.bsky.social, Eadson, Gong & @trondnilsen1976.bsky.social warn, #transitions stripped of justice breed resistance, not renewal. doi.org/10.1016/j.pe...

Very good point !

Euroscepticism sells freedom & prosperity but delivers stagnation. My new working paper with Dijkstra & Dorati shows that #EU regions courting #Euroscepticism suffer lower #growth and weaker #productivity & #job creation. Protest is a costly habit. publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/h...

The High Tatra mountains in Slovakia !

Competitiveness thrives on cohesion, not concentration. My brand new article in @regionalstudies.bsky.social makes the case for unlocking #Europe’s full potential, wherever it can be found, as #cohesion is the foundation of #competitivenes, not its antithesis. doi.org/10.1080/0034...

#Cohesion policy is #Europe’s glue, binding regions and citizens to an idea. To fold it into national plans is less reform than nationalisation in disguise. It is like pouring solvent on fragile trust My @feps-europe.eu Progressive Post article: feps-europe.eu/cohesion-nee... doi.org/10.1080/0013...

Honoured to receive the Sir Peter Hall Award from the RSA (@regstud.bsky.social). To be named alongside scholars who have shaped my field is humbling. More lasting still are the life-long friendships and debates that make research a community, not a solitude. www.regionalstudies.org/news/2025-rs...

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...: A very relevant paper highlighting regional inequalities in public research funding !

I will do my best to continue to strengthen EIST, in collaboration with the brilliant colleagues on the editorial board. EIST is first of all a central part of the infrastructure of the sustainability transitions research community.

Yesterday I delivered my first desk decision report to the Associate Editors of Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions. It is a great honour to take over the role as Editor-in-Chief from Bernhard Truffer who has done a tremendous job in developing the journal.

Europe’s #green & #digital ambitions map unequally across the continent, shaped less by policy than by inherited economic and institutional strengths. Check the new Barbero, Collado, Rodríguez-Crespo & Santos paper in European Planning Studies: doi.org/10.1080/0965...

academic.oup.com/joeg/advance...: Great work by @tbroekel.bsky.social

What is the point of the tenure system and permanent academic positions if universities do not adhere to them? In the future, many academics may not commit to working at one university. www.dukechronicle.com/article/2025...

#AI is the crop that only few fields can grow. @markmuro1.bsky.social & ‪@shriyared.bsky.social find that two Bay cities bag 13% of #US AI hiring. They divide America into superstars and also-rans, revealing big adoption gaps. Investment beyond the coasts is needed. www.brookings.edu/articles/map...

The places deemed ‘left behind’ are neither uniform nor easily defined. Behind the easy narratives of #rural decay & #urban success lies a subtler, more fractured reality. Martínez de Vega, Díaz-Dapena & Vinuela lay it bare in Regional Science Policy and Practice: doi.org/10.1016/j.rs...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx1c...: Very limited interest among policymakers to tackle problems citizens face on a day-to-day basis!

What an honor to be listed among the top 100 Economic Geographers by #reprec in terms of an aggregate of citations and publication metrics. While the list should not be over-interpreted (lots of missing persons), it is nevertheless something I will celebrate. ideas.repec.org/top/top.geo.... 💡

Celebrating @ronboschma.bsky.social: Vautrin Lud laureate and now now reigning atop the #IDEAS #RePEc economists' ranking as the world's top economic geographer. Excellence & resilience in life arise from close, creative alliances, leading to both long-lasting friendships & academic triumphs.

Europe’s #Cohesion Policy must move beyond bean-counting & measure what money builds— #institutions and real impact. To judge regional #policy by speed of spending is to mistake the clock for the compass, as argued by @fmolica.bsky.social & Santos in @rsa-rsrs.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1080/2168...

The narrative of #Cohesion Policy’s decline wilts under deeper scrutiny; behind headlines of disillusion, evidence points to growth, resilience and real gains. As Filippetti & Spallone show in their new EPS article, hope persists beneath the surface. doi.org/10.1080/0965...

Very good initiative !

To see Economic Geography reach an 8.9 impact factor, with “The Regional Development Trap in Europe” (doi.org/10.1080/0013...) leading citations, is both an editorial & intellectual vindication. It is also a fantastic way to bow out after 16 great years as editor. www.tandfonline.com/journals/rec...

The #GreenTransition is a marathon, but many regions are running it barefoot. In today’s @elmundo.es.web.brid.gy interview, I call for a clear analysis of the opportunities and costs to ensure net-zero doesn't turn into a new political divide. www.elmundo.es/opinion/luce... doi.org/10.1093/cjre...

Why do some regions climb the global value chain while others stumble? It’s less what you have, more who you link with, say @eduherro.bsky.social, @ronboschma.bsky.social @andrea-morrison.bsky.social & Ye. Complementarity—not proximity—is the magic dust. Knowing who matters. doi.org/10.1080/1366...

Great analysis !