Summary of the activities of the Hungarian Regional Science Association

September 2015 – September 2016

August 15, 2016

Membership

Currently the HRSA has 102 active members from Hungary and 109 registered members from neighbouring countries (at the end of 2015 the number of active members from Hungary were 197!). HRSA operates 13 regional sections: in all the 7 regions of Hungary and in 6 regions abroad where Hungarian speaking regional specialists are working (new section established in 2016 in Partium, Oradea, Romania). The half of sections operates on a regular basis.

Past events

The HRSA organized the 20^th jubilee semester of the Free University on Local Development as a series of 3 events. In October 8-9, 2015, the Hungarian regionalist celebrated the jubilee of Free University with a conference. The keynote speaker was Prof. Andreas Faludy (University of Groningen). In 2016, the HRSA with the Faculty of Economics of the University of West Hungary launched a new series entitled Glokál Seminar. In the first semester were 4 events.

On November 19-20, 2015 the 13^th annual conference of the HRSA was held in Eger with the focus on the Regional Processes of Central and Eastern Europe. 190 participants attended the conference, among others 14 experts from abroad and 50 PhD students. The keynote speaker was Prof. Jouke van Dijk, President of the European Regional Science Association. On the first day two plenary sessions were organized: one in Hungarian and one in English, with international speakers: Prof. Daniela L. Constantin (Romanian Regional Science Association), Prof. Tomasz Komornicki (Mary Curie-Skłodowska University)  and Prof. James W. Scott (University of Eastern Finland). The second day of the conference was focusing on the different aspects of the Central and Eastern European transition. 12 parallel sessions (one in English) hosted approximately 100 presentations with the participation of several invited speakers. The traditional 'Young Regional Scientist' prize was delivered.

Upcoming events

The HRSA is going to hold its 14^th annual conference in September 15-16, 2016 in Oradea (Romania), with the focus on small and medium sized cities. The international keynote speakers will be Manfred Kühn (Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space) and Nataša Pichler-Milanović (University of Ljubljana). On the second day of the conference parallel sessions will be organized, one session in English (The Role of Small and Medium Sized Cities in Regional Development). Presentations of 20 minutes are welcomed. Registration is free of charge for the speakers from Central and Eastern Europe.

Following previous activities, HRSA continues to organize the Regional Science Evenings (every second month), and the Glokál Seminar (3-4 events per semesters).

Contact

Attila Varga, professor, ERSAC representative vargaa@ktk.pte.hu

Szilárd Rácz, secretary szracz@rkk.hu