1_Lecture_Introduction to regional geography and the focal study region

University of Kiel, Germany

Regional Geography of Southern Europe, B.Sc. Geography

1. Lecture 1 -Introduction: economic geography and its recent paradigms
Regional
Geography
of Southern
Europe
WS 2021-2022
Lecture 1
03/11/2021

2. Today’s lecture
•Module structure and
background
•Teaching strategy
•Course goals
•Learning objectives
•Structure
•Key references
•Details on the assessment
•Regional Geography
•Defining it
•Pioneers
•Current strands of
reasoning
•Future perspectives

3. Eduardo Oliveira
[email protected]
(office hours = send me an email)
Economic Geography Working Group
•11 lectures
•Examination (23/02/2022)
Google Scholar profile
OLAT Group

5. Housekeeping
•II Parts of 40 minutes (this will vary)
•10 minutes break
•This is a co-created and interactive territory
•Everyone’s cooperation, mutual support
•Throw in some challenging questions
•Continue the debate beyond the lecture
(email// Forum at OLAT Group)

6. Teaching approach
Real-life problems
involving the
economic landscape
and sustainability
Teaching as
a learning-
experience
Student-centred,
co-creative
and interdisciplinary
problem-based learning
Piaget's theory of constructivism
The Pedagogy of John Dewey
Bear in mind: social constructivism of the learning

7. Lecturer
Focused
Student
Focused

9. My teaching
approach or
Pedagogy in
practice means:
A relaxing
atmosphere is
the best way to
learn
Share your
thoughts
>constructive
debates
Informative
slides, including
several (useful)
hyperlinks
Think critically
and
independently
Literaturesharedvia OpenOlat
(I willsuggestKEY literature)

10. Practice /
policy-oriented
perspectives
•Governance
•Cross-border
•Social dimension
•Planning systems
•R & D
•Sustainability

11. Oliveira (2015); Oliveira (2016)
Regional geography expertise
regional attractiveness / competitiveness
Economic Geography
Northern Portugal-Galicia
Left-behind region, or
Low-income region (EU, 2017)
Regional identity & Regional distinctiveness

12. Overall
Goal
Understandingthespatial(regionaldifferenceand
uniqueness)andtemporal(regionalchangeand
development)aspectsofSouthernEuropewithspecial
referencestoPortugal,Spain,ItalyandGreece.

13. @ OLAT

14. •Advancing the understanding
of the sociocultural
construction of regions in
Southern Europe and the
power relations embedded in
region-building processes;
•Understanding better the
importance of Southern
Europe for political
governance and for
managing economic
development and planning of
the EU.
•Investigating the specificities
of Southern Europe (R&D;
Energy transitions), the
present conditions, and
anticipating its role in the
long-term future of Europe.
Course goals

15. You will learn
•The history of regional geography and its pioneers
(von Humboldt (1769–1859) and Ritter (1779–1859));
•The governance and economic prospects of
Southern Europe;
•The role of Southern Europe in the EU;
•Regionalism and the distinctiveness of cross-border
relationsin Southern Europe;
•Planning regional futures in Europe and beyond;
•Improvingyourwritingskills,capacitytonarrowdown.

16. 1)03/11/21: Introduction to regional geography and the focal study region
2)10/11/21: Regional geography of Southern Europe: differences & uniqueness (all about maps)
3)17/11/21: The territorial governance of Southern Europe
4)24/11/21: Planning and Planning systems of Southern Europe
5)01/12/21: The economic geography of Southern Europe
6)08/12/21: Southern Europe, EU integration and funding mechanisms for development
7)15/12/21: Southern Europe, low-income EU regions and EU Cohesion Policy
8)12/01/22: Research and development in Southern Europe: where and what for
9)19/01/22: The social dimension of cross-border relations across Southern Europe
10)26/01/22: Southern Europe and sustainability transition efforts
11)02/02/22: Conclusion: Regional futures across Southern Europe
Lectures, November 2021 –February 2022
:::Wednesdays 12:15 -13:45 via Zoom:::
Structure of
the course

17. Download the slides at OLAT Download the recordings at Google Drive
Resources

18. The quality of the material you are reading
https://scholar.google.com/http://www.webofknowledge.com/https://www.semanticscholar.org/
The Circular Economy in Cities
and Regions
EU Science Hub
EU Commission

19. “regionalgeography”AND “Europe”

20. Few
important
references
to keep in
mind
•João Ferrão, University of Lisbon
•Valeria Lingua, Universitàdi Firenze
•Lúcio Cunha,University ofPorto
•José CadimaRibeiro, University ofMinho,Braga
•John Harrison, Loughborough University
•AnssiPaasi, University of Oulu
•Jamie Peck, Western Sydney University
•Julia Affolderbach, University of Trier
•Heike Mayer, University of Bern
•Bernhard Truffer, Eawag
•TeisHansen, Lund University
•Boris Braun, University of Cologne
•Ron Boschma, Utrecht University
•David Gibbs, University of Hull
•James Murphy, Clark University
•CanfeiHe, Peking University
•Dimitris Ballas, University of Groningen
•Alexander Murphy, University of Oregon
•Martin Jones, Staffordshire University
•Bjorn TerjeAsheim, University of Stavanger

21. Few
important
sources to
keep in
mind
Academic Journals:
•Regional Studies, IF 3.3
•Regional & Federal Studies, IF 2.3
•Regional Studies, Regional Science
•European Planning Studies, IF 2.2
•Research Policy, Impact Factor (IF): 5.3
•Environmental Innovation and Societal
Transitions, IF 8.4
•Global Environmental Change, IF 10.4
•Regional Environmental Change, IF 3.4
•Economic Geography; IF 8.2
•Journal of Economic Geography, IF 3,2
•Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and
Society, IF 4.4
•Australasian Journal of Regional Studies
•Ecology & Society
•Revista Portuguesa de Estudos Regionais
•REVISTA EURORREGIONAL

22. Examination 23/02/2022 -online
•3+1 questions
•3 questions as classic exam (EN / DE) (60%)
•12:00 –14:00 -120 minutes (3 questions)
•1 take home question/request i.e., you are
asked to write a maximum of 1000 words
essay on a topic of your choice related to
regional geography in general (first two
lectures) or Southern Europe.
•This is like a mini-essay (EN / DE) (40%)
•To bedelivered togetherwith 3 Q
23/02/2022

23. Questions about the Assessment?

24. Take the time to think
beyond the mainstream

25. Effective contribution for science and society
•Grand societal challenges
•Thinking regionally and how regional-based
solutions help to address global challenges

26. Regional
Geography
•Defining regional geography (RG)
•The history and pioneers
•Current strands of reasoning in RG
•Case study area i.e., Southern Europe but
focused on PT, ES, IT, GR

27. •Defining“regionalgeography”hasbeena
contestedquestioninthehistoryofthefield.
•RobertE.Dickinson(1905-1981)defineditin
the1970sasthetreatmentofavarietyof
spatiallydistributedphenomena ina
particulararea,whetheritisalocalarea,a
country,oracontinentthusimplyingthat
regionalgeographersshouldoperateatall
spatialscales.
Defining
Regional
Geography

28. The challenge for
the regional
geographer
•Istodiscoverintegratingprocesses
thatgivesomemeasureofidentity
anduniquenesstoanareaora
certainspatialscale
•Toassumearegionalconsciousness
andidentity(regionalfeeling)
Theseissueshavebecomeevermoresignificantalsoinpoliticalpracticeand
Europeanstrategicplanningsincetheturnofthemillennium,partlybecause
theEUCommissionledbyRomanoProdi(1999to2004)recognizedregional
identityasoneofthecornerstonesforregionalandeconomicdevelopment

30. Regional consciousness and identity
To do regional geography, to research, to delivery regional
policies there is no need for a physical boundary

31. Defining Regional Geography
Intheearly1960s,EdmundWilliamGilbertdefined
regionalgeographyastheartofrecognizing,describing,
andinterpretingthe“personalities”ofregionsand
notedhowthe“characters”ofregionsconstantly
changeanddevelop>evolutionaryperspective
ForJ.F.Hart,writingintheearly1980s,
thetaskofregionalgeographywasto
producevividdescriptionsthat
facilitateanunderstandingand
appreciationofregions,places,and
areas.Regionswereforhimsubjective
artistictoolsthatmustbedesignedto
fitthehandsoftheusers.
(Harrison, 2015; Paasi2020)

32. Defining Regional Geography
TermssuchasWhole,synthesis,uniqueness,total
composition,orcomplexity,holism,individual,totality,
organism,orpersonality,orGermanterms
ZusammenhangandGanzheit,forexample,
havebeenusedovertimetoconvincegeographers,and
perhapsalsoothers,ofthepoweroftheregionasa
unityoranorganizingprinciplethatbringsnatureand
culturetogether.
(Harrison,
2015; Paasi
2020)

33. Defining Regional Geography
SidneyWilliamWooldridgetheaimofregional
geographyistobringtogetherthedifferentstrandsof
thesystematicstudies,the“geographicalaspects”of
otherdisciplines(thewhereofthethings).
Theaimistocreateacoherentandfocusedunity,that
is,toseenatureandnurture,physiqueandpersonality,
asintimatelyrelatedandinterdependentfeaturesin
specificregions.
Formanyscholars,theregionseeminglycarriesacertain
“primordialism,”henceremindingoftheterm
“community”insociologythathasattractedsimilar
massiveattention.
(Harrison, 2015; Paasi2020)

34. The Historical Roots
(Harrison, 2015; Paasi2020)
StraboGreekgeographer (63/64
BCE–c. CE 24)
Asancestorsofchorographicthinking.
Chorographytermcomesfromkhŏros,
“place,”andgraphein,“writing,”thus
meaningliterally
“writing about place.”
Geographica

36. The Iberian Peninsula (Spain & Portugal), by Henricus Hondius. 1641

38. The Historical Roots
(Harrison, 2015; Paasi2020)
AlexandervonHumboldt(1769–1859)andCarlRitter(1779–1859)developed
comparativemethodsforgeography.WhereasHumboldtdevelopedhis
approachinthetraditionofnaturalsciencesbycollectingdataandby
generalizing,Ritter,followingahistoricalapproach,triedtoidentifydistinct
regionsandtofindaunityindiversity.
Humboldt’s
Kosmosand
Ritter’s Erdkunde
are often
recognized as the
founding works of
modern regional
geography.

39. The Historical Roots

40. The Historical Roots

41. The Historical Roots

42. PaulVidaldelaBlache(1845–
1918),widelyseenasthefounder
ofmodernFrenchgeography,
developedthenotionofgenresde
vie(orlocallifestyles),which
celebratedtheuniquenessofrural
landscapesinFrenchpays.
NotingthevariationsacrossFrance
inthefaceofacommonclimate,
hemaintainedthatculture—not
nature—wasprimarilyresponsible,
usingthisthemetostick
environmentaldeterminismand
introducepossibilism(cultural
environment sets certain
constraintsorlimitations).
The Historical Roots

43. Learn more
She specialized
inMarxist
geography,feminist
geography, andcultural
geography, as well as
other topics
Cartographies of power

44. The Historical Roots

45. The cover of The Geographia
Generalisby Bernhard
Varenius(1650).
The division between general
(systematic) and specific
(regional) geography was
introduced in this book
The emergence of geography

46. Anincreasingvarietyofschoolsofthoughthaveemergedovertimeinthedisciplineof
geography.Source:Peet,Richard,1998.ModernGeographicalThought.Blackwell,Oxford;
p.10.
Schools of modern and postmodern human
geographical thought
Regional geography

47. The
Historical
Roots
Regionalgeographyturnedout
tobeimportantsoonafter
geographybecameanacademic
subjectattheendofthe19
th
Century.

48. FormanygeographersworkinginBritish,
French,German,orNorthAmerican
universities,regionalgeographywas
thenforalongtimethe“crown”ofthe
discipline,asyntheticapproachthat
intendedtobringtogetherseparate
subareasofgeography,suchas
geomorphology, climatology,
biogeography,urbangeography,
economicgeography,andsocial
geography.
Aftertheinstitutionalizationof
geography,regionalgeography
dominatedoversystematicapproaches
untilthe1940s–1950s.Sincethen
systematicapproacheshavebecome
graduallymoresignificant.

49. Chorologyor the study of the causal relations between
geographical phenomena occurring within a particular region

50. Forchorologists,regionalgeographywasawaytoenact
thegeographicalmethod:
thatis,tostudythenaturalandhumanworldsaccordingto
theirarealdifferentiation,stressingthe“areal”differences
betweenregions,andtomapout,describe,andexplain
thecausalrelationshipsobtainingwithinthedistinctive
assemblagesofphenomenawithin(andineffect
constituting)differentregions.
The Historical Roots
Disciplinary identity
Theregionwasregardedas
acentralelementforthe
identityofthediscipline

51. Take home
message
•In regional geography all the
knowledge of the interrelations
of all features at given places -
obtained in part from the
different systems of systematic
geography -is integrated, in
terms of the interrelations which
these features have to each
other, to provide the total
geography of those places.
(Hartshorne 1939: 463-5)

52. Inmuchofthepopularconceptionofgeography,the
disciplineisconcernedwiththestudyofregions.
Geographershaveexaminedregionsatavarietyof
spatialscalesandfromadiversityofconceptual
perspectives.

53. Regional geography
evolved through time,
by the thinking of
many pioneers and the
essence of it is the
study of different
features of a specific
space

54. The Rise of “New Regional Geography” and
Current strands of reasoning
New regional geography that has emerged since the 1980s
Here,theregioniscastasbothan
absolutespaceandanabstractfieldof
experiencewherethingsandprocesses
exist.
Fornewregionalgeographers,boththe
questionsandanswersregardingthe
existenceandmanifestationofregions
areinevitablybasedonsocialpractice.

55. The Rise of “New Regional Geography” and
Current strands of reasoning
New regional geography
Hencenewregionalgeographershavebeeninterestedinthepower
relations,practices,anddiscoursesthroughwhichpeople,
communities,andsocialclassesproduceandreproduce“regions”
andlocalitiesintheirdailylifethroughvariousinstitutionalsettings.
Politics,
governance,
economy,
education, media,
or communication

56. The Rise of “New Regional Geography” and
Current strands of reasoning
Atypicalfeaturehasbeenthatgeographersdonotpreferany
specificspatialscale:theunderstandingofregionsrequires
recognizingandanalyzingtheprocessesthattakeplacein,
between,andacrossdifferentspatialscales.
New regional geography

57. Thisisusefulforunderstandingboththecomplexitiesof
contemporaryspatialityandtheinherentrelationsofpower.
Theproblematizationofallassumptionsconcerningsociety,
humanbeings,socialchange,andterritorialtransformation.
The Rise of “New Regional Geography” and
Current strands of reasoning
New regional geography

58. Newregionalgeographershavedemonstratedthat
thereisnoreasontodistinguishbetweenhistoricaland
othergeographies:
•Regionsandtheirconstructionareconstantly
ongoing,never-completedprocesses(evolutionary)
The Rise of “New Regional Geography” and
Current strands of reasoning
New regional geography

59. The Rise of “New Regional Geography” and
Current strands of reasoning
New regional geography Challenges for policy and research
Findmethodologicalapproachesforstudyingbroadersocial
andspatialtransformationstakingplaceinaworld
characterizedbytheincreasingdynamicsoftheglobalizing
capitalism

60. Current strands of reasoning

61. Current strands
of reasoning
•Regional geography now pay
attention not only to how regions
and region-building processes are
materially embedded and
constituted, as well as to the
“stretching” of regions across
supposed regional borders, but
they also closely examine the
regionalities and regionalizations
of social and everyday life.

62. Current
strands of
reasoning
•Some geographers are interested in the
sense of belonging, structures of feeling,
loyalties, or the mobilization of memory in
regional contexts. Regions and regionality
thus start to appear as constructed in the
dialectics of materiality, individual and
social imagination, and the formation of
subjectivities.

63. Current strands
of reasoning

64. Current
strands of
reasoning
Spaceandspatialpatternsarenot
independentofsocial,cultural,and
naturalorecologicalprocesses.Spaceis
notseenasacausalpowerthatwouldas
suchdeterminesocialprocesses.Rather
social(andcultural)andspatialare
understoodasconstituentsand
outcomesofeachother.
(Paasi, Harrison & Jones, 2018)

65. Regions,theirborders,
symbols,andinstitutionsare
expressionsofaperpetual
struggleoverpowerand
over the meanings
associatedwithspace,
representation,democracy,
andwelfare.

66. Regions,asasetofculturaland
emotionalrelationsbetweena
specifichumangroupanda
particularplace;itisapeoplebound
category,conceivedlesswithregard
toindividualsbutrathermorewith
socialgroupingsorcommunities
(Paasi, Harrison & Jones, 2018)

67. Conclusions: regional geography
✓Regionalgeographyhasbeenanimportantsubareaofacademic
geography,bothasaconcreteresearchfieldandasanobjectof
theorization;
✓Newregionalgeographybroughtbothregionalgeographyandthe
regionbackontotheoreticaldebatessincethe1980s;
✓Newregionalgeographershavetheorizedboththeideasofthe
regionandtheroleofregionalknowledgeintheframeworks
inspiredbysocialandculturaltheory,takingseriouslyhistorically
contingentsocietalconditions(context-specific);
✓Itoccursmosteffectivelywhenscholarsbecomeinterestedinthe
powerrelationsassociatedwithregion-buildingprocesses,
regionalidentitynarratives,orregionaldevelopment.
(Paasi, Harrison & Jones, 2018)

68. •Regionsaretodayunderstoodascomplex
institutionalstructures,“institutionalfacts,”
sincetheyaredependentonbothhuman
agreementandtheoperationanddecisions
madeinthecontextofsuchsocial
institutionsaspoliticalorganization,
governance,economy,media,oreducation
systems;
•Theseinstitutionsoperateacrossscales,
whichconteststraditionalconceptsof
regionsasisolated,boundedunits
(boundedness);
Conclusions: regions
(Paasi, Harrison & Jones, 2018)

69. Conclusions: regions
(Paasi, Harrison & Jones, 2018)
•Makingregionsalwaysincludes
normativecomponents because
institutionalstructures are
sedimentationsofrules,power,andtrust,
inwhichborders,symbols,and
institutionsmergethroughmaterialand
discursivepractice.
•Oncecreated,theyarealsosocialfactsin
thesensethattheycangenerateandare
generatedbyactionifpeoplebelievein
theirexistenceandtheyhavealegitimate
roleinthespacesof“publicity”(e.g.,in
themedia)oringovernance.Thisaction
maybesimultaneouslyreproductive,
resistant,ortransformative.

70. Lecture 1 -Introduction: economic geography and its recent paradigms

71. Lecture 1 -Introduction: economic geography and its recent paradigms
Regional geography of Southern
Europe: differences and uniqueness