Foundations for a more human(e) government: Reflections at a transitional moment In an era of growing hostility towards government in many parts of the world, how might we chart a more positive future direction? This article sets out foundations for a new approach to public admi.....

Rising hostility/alienation toward government and public service (although a long-standing trope) calls for a more human(e) public administration, that prioritises empathy, humility, care & complexity, charting a positive future for governance beyond turbulence. Thoughtful stuff #Governance #Regions

City use patterns post COVID-19 – reflections of resilience or adaptation The rapid acceleration of digitisation during COVID-19, coupled with the persistence of remote work practices, has reshaped how people interact in urban environments. These shifts, driven by techno...

COVID-19 reshaped the patterns of urban life (hybrid work, accelerated digitisation): pedestrian data shows weekdays quieter but weekends busier than pre-pandemic. Cities adapting as resilient, leisure-focused hubs. #Regions #UrbanPlanning #Futures www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

How Do Natural Disasters Affect Regional Innovation? This study examines the effect of natural disasters on regional innovation in the United States between 1994 and 2018. Using a comprehensive dataset of patents and natural disasters at the county lev...

Strong evidence here that natural disasters disrupt regional innovation systems, divert resources, and impede technological progress, with clear implications of a feedback loop for climate adaptation #regions #futures #RegionalFutures #climate

The Long‐term Socioeconomic Impacts of Renewable Energy Deployment: Lessons From Case Studies in European Rural Regions The new environmental and geopolitical situation has led to the need for a change in the current energy model. The infrastructures associated with renewable energies may represent an opportunity for ....

The Long-term Socioeconomic Impacts of Renewable Energy Deployment: Lessons From Case Studies in European Rural Regions: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

The Will to Decarbonize: Problematizing European Just Transition Governance In December 2019, the European Commission launched the European Green Deal (EGD) and hereby ramped up the climate ambitions of the European Union. Responding to a mounting sense of climate urgency, t...

EU’s Just Transition Platform frames three main “problems” as: coal-based industries, coal communities and disillusioned youth. Platform deploys techniques like the Just Transition Fund, reskilling, peer learning, and youth engagement to foster locally driven, self-regulating change. #Regions

Policymaking for circular urban food systems: a systematic literature review of policy instruments and governance arrangements Urban food systems impact environmental, economic, and social aspects of city life. However, the current organization of the food system is recognized…

Our urban food systems are unsustainable and precarious. Circular food systems are required, and this review of #localgovernment policies finds waste predominates, social aims (food security/sovereignty) are emerging, but clear definitions & stronger governance tools still missing. #Regions

NEW: Incredible scenes in Sydney, Australia today as tens of thousands march for Gaza, demanding an end to the genocide.

#MarchForHumanity

(🎥 Ema Franklin)

A bit perplexed at the headlines about today’s #marchforhumanity saying “perilous” and “police feared the worst”. Surely the story is that, in spite of police fears, the march was peaceful, demonstrators full of goodwill and happily cooperated with police instructions to manage the huge turnout.

It is massive. Thanks to Peter Deppeler on Twitter for the footage. #GazaGenocide #MarchForHumanity

Shadows and Donuts: The Work‐From‐Home Revolution and The Performance of Cities In this article, we set out the relationships between the behavioral and spatial responses to working from home. The analytical framework centres explicitly on the choice of commuting frequency as th...

The shift to working from home is reshaping where we live and how often we commute: people in big cities benefit most from reduced commuting, fueling suburban growth (“donut effect”) and widening the productivity gap with smaller cities (“shadow effect”). #regions #RegionalFutures

Urban sustainability in Germany: which factors can explain the variety of commitment? German cities differ substantially in their use of multidimensional, integrated sustainability instruments. However, they have few legal obligations or incentives to deal with sustainability at all...

Sustainability commitment is more associated with political culture, administrative structure, and civic engagement than with financial resources or geography. Also sustainability and climate policy are distinct domains of municipal gov. with different political drivers #regions #RegionalFutures

💡NEW: Beyond #Innovation Hotspots by Matthias Kiese, Rasmus C. Beck, Dirk Fornahl & Christian Ketels

FREE content: doi.org/10.4337/9781...

More info: www.e-elgar.com/shop/isbn/97...

#InnovationPolicy #RegionalDevelopment

The Data Economy Tools from macroeconomics and finance to incorporate the central role that data plays in the economy

The Data Economy by Baley & Veldkamp reveals how data is transforming firms, competition, and growth. A core asset and input, on par with capital and labour, in modern economic systems. Essential reading for navigating digital-analytic space #RegionalFutures #regions #RegionalDevelopment

Inside the digital publishing industry, which I try to monitor closely, this is the big news. By Julia Alexander at Puck.

The proposed key “concept-metaphors” that could serve to unify scholars across fields and drive true #interdisciplinary futures research: #complexity, #difference, #possibility, #anticipation, #visions (including imaginaries, narratives), #speculation, #trust, #ethics and #hope.

Interdisciplinary futures: a conceptual approach In this article we argue that to adequately investigate futures across disciplines a genuinely interdisciplinary agenda is required, through which fut…

#Futures research is fragmented by discipline. A call for a truly interdisciplinary approach, using fit-for-purpose conceptual frameworks (not just shared theories) as loci for collaboration. The goal: collective sense-making in an age of polycrisis. #RegionalFutures #Regions

A chunky wallet-folder, packed with one-page games, lies open to show two games by Grant Howitt – 'Kenku Bin Wizards' and 'Big Goat Little Goat'.

The only issue with backing @gshowitt.bsky.social's Patreon at the level where you get copies of his one-page games in the post comes when – after 8 years or so of stashing them in a crumbling paper folder – you buy a chunky binder with a slipcase & 100 pockets only to find it's barely large enough.

Exploring futures through science fiction: A scenario-based PESTLE analysis of award-winning SF novels This article extends the exploration of potential futures as envisioned in science fiction (SF) literature by analyzing how emerging trends are portra…

Cool stuff - provides an overview of emerging trends and tendencies within imagined #futures as depicted in acclaimed SF #literature. Scenarios identified are: Solar System Expansion, Cyber High-Tech Future, Post-Contraction Society, and Dystopian Future. #RegionalFutures

Live: Care Squeeze: Australia's 'sandwich generation' cares for both children and parents Aged care changes due to come in on November 1 will see self-funded retirees and some pensioners expected to pay more, as future residential care and in-home care residents face a new regime.

Aged care changes due to come in on November 1 will see self-funded retirees and some pensioners expected to pay more, as future residential care and in-home care residents face a new regime.

What Next for Actor Network Theory? Inventing around Latour on a planet in distress - Anders Blok, Casper Bruun Jensen, 2025 This is a reflection piece on the theme ‘what will happen to actor-network theory (ANT) after Latour?’ We distinguish three scenarios but focus on the one we se...

What Next for Actor Network Theory? Inventing around Latour on a planet in distress. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Understanding games as a site of utopian resonance The games sector is acknowledged as a major actor in the current media landscape. Games have been studied as a medium that can inspire new futures. Bu…

So-called 'serious' #game design misses focus on 'experiential resonance' in the same way that utopian entertainment games do - which impacts on potential societal impact. Valuable to break down the divide between ‘commercial’ & ‘serious games’ to improve design, #affect, orientation and action.

Nuremberg revisited. David McBride's final chance for justice - Michael West Afghanistan war crimes whistleblower David McBride appeals his conviction to the High Court, claiming a core tenet of human rights law.

“Obeying orders” is no defence for war crimes. It wasn’t in Nuremberg and it shouldn’t be in Canberra. My piece on David McBride’s High Court special leave application
‪@michaelwestbiz.bsky.social‬ #auspol
michaelwest.com.au/nuremberg-re...

Unveiling the Plurality of Visions for the Ecological Transition in Europe This paper provides diverse perspectives on ecological transition in five European countries, emphasising how differing values, economic interests, cu…

Futures studies exploring range of visions & strategies for ecological transition. Generally confirms change is a dynamic process shaped by both big structural shifts & personal choices. Transition needs flexible policies, respect for diverse voices; maybe rethinking what “the good life” means.

Hunter Insight Dashboard - July 2025

Our #RegionalFutures dashboard update for the #HunterValley and #region. Growth below long-term averages. House and rental prices continue to climb, straining affordability. Manufacturing jobs decline, services and construction show resilience. Building approvals lag population and housing demand.

Do urban redevelopment projects attract jobs? Evidence from the Dutch National Restoration Fund We study the local labor market effects of a place-based policy aimed at the preservation and economic re-use of urban built heritage in the Netherlan…

Heritage building reuse is not a reliable renewal pathway; adaptive reuse attracts new jobs & businesses to site itself (services & creative fields), but don’t stop overall job losses in the neighborhood. Redevelopment helps, but won't alter trends. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #Regions

TOWARDS A DEGROWTH CRITIQUE OF AEROMOBILITIES: An Urban Political Ecology Perspective on the Airport Expansion Resistance in Barcelona Aeromobilities—socio-technical systems that lock in dependence on fossil fuel-based mobilities—contribute substantially to climate change and uneven geographies. They represent paradigmatic capitalis....

Interesting #degrowth analysis to reframe airport resistance as critique of #fossil-fuel “metabolism.” Stay Grounded activists connect material flows, territorial identities, and degrowth ideals to challenge the deeper logic of aeromobility: socio-technical systems that lock in fossil fuel.

Success Factors for Scaling Urban Circular Businesses in the Food Sector This article investigates success factors for niche circular food businesses to scale up. We first translate Circular Economy thinking to a food syste…

For small #circular food businesses to grow, strong partnerships, stable investment, and support from big players are critical. But support for the broader social or environmental goals of circularity still subservient to profit goals - need a fulsome definition of success #CircularEconomy #Regions

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." 

-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953

Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown Iran S04 E06 Dailymotion video by L3arnTV

If you’re an American should watch the Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown ep on Iran. A deeply humanizing look at a country full of people just like you and me. I watched it after Anthony died and it moved in ways that are hard to relay. I also immediately ran out to try kabob koobideh and tahdig.

The changing role of functional urban areas in regional policy: Identifying Inner Peripheries in the New Development Paradigm The place-based approach in regional policy emphasizes the need for interventions tailored to local contexts and functional linkages. FUAs serve as es…

Extend left-behind #regions to include 'inner peripheries': places near economically dynamic regions marginalised due to weak socio-economic or infrastructural connections despite proximity to urban growth. New methods spot hidden pockets of disadvantage for smarter regional policy #RegionalFutures