Royal Geographical Society with Institute of British Geographers (RGS-IBG) Conference 2010, 1-3 September 2010, London
CALL FOR PAPERS Resilient Firms, Resilient Regions - Adapting to the Global Economic Crisis and Climate Change Organisers: John Bryson (University of Birmingham) and Tim Vorley (University of Cambridge) The origins of the current global economic crisis are located in the financial system and specifically in the banking system. Sub-prime loans reduced the ability of the mainstream financial system to lend to support investment in economic activity. Economic crises are nothing new, however, the economies in which they occur are in a continual state of evolution. Although compared to the Great Depression in terms of its impacts, the recent 'Global Financial Crisis' is set against a paradigmatically different socio- economic and institutional backdrop, which is global in scope and highly interconnected in nature. An important difference is that firms have to compete in the context of a developing global economy. The global economic crisis represents an important challenge for the survival of many firms. This crisis, however, is complicated by other pressures that are affecting the competitiveness of many firms. Central to these pressures are adaptation and mitigation to climate change, sustainability combined with the impacts of the global economic downturn. These pressures raise a series of important unaddressed questions that need to be addressed by geographers and the policy-making community. Central to these questions is firm- and regional-based resilience. While much attention has been given to the adverse impacts of economic downturn and government policy, little attention has been given to the strategy and opportunity of existing firms and prospective entrepreneurs. The notion of resilience, including the ability of enterprises to cope and survive, represents an important theme to understand the nature of the crisis itself. The impact of the crisis also brings with it challenges associated with new agendas of sustainability and enhanced competition. In addition, there is also the question of opportunities that emerge during the economic downturn that are lost amidst the tales of doom, which commonly overlooks the notion of 'necessity-driven' entrepreneurship. The session invites papers relating to the themes of resilience and opportunity related to the recent 'Global Financial Crisis' in the context of the enterprise/entrepreneurial economy. Paper relating but not restricted to may include: ô Rethinking, redefining and re-conceptualising regional economies in the light of the global economic crisis. ô Theoretical conceptualisations of resilient regions or resilient enterprises. ô Survival strategies used by firms during the economic downturn. ô The impact of the crisis of manufacturing or service firms. ô Firm adaptation and mitigation in response to sustainability and client change agendas ô Resilient regions. ô Resilient firms. Anyone interested in participating in the session should send a 250 word abstract by 12th February 2010 to Professsor John Bryson, University of Birmingham, UK ([email protected]) and Dr Tim Vorley, University of Cambridge ([email protected]).
