EPRC economic development seminar to welcome new visiting scholars, Adrian Colwell and Charlie Woods

http://www.eprc.strath.ac.uk/news/seminar1.jpg <img src="http://www.eprc.strath.ac.uk/news/seminar1sm.jpg" width="184" height="103" border="0" align="left On 1 November, EPRC hosted a seminar on the future of economic development in small countries and regions, in order to welcome publicly two visiting scholars to the Centre. Adrian Colwell is Visiting Senior Research Fellow in EPRC. He is a former Special Adviser to the First Minister and before that Chief Executive at the Centre for Local Economic Strategies and head of policy at CoSLA. Charlie Woods is Visiting Professor in EPRC. He was until recently Senior Director Strategy and Chief Economist at Scottish Enterprise, having spent over 25 years with the agency and its predecessor, the Scottish Development Agency, in various roles. Both Adrian and Charlie will be working with EPRC colleagues on a new programme of research on the challenges and opportunities facing economic development policymakers in small countries and regions across Europe. <p> http://www.eprc.strath.ac.uk/news/seminar3.jpg <img src="http://www.eprc.strath.ac.uk/news/seminar3sm.jpg" width="184" height="103" border="0" align="right At the seminar, Charlie Woods spoke first on 'Competition and cohesion - developing a sustainable innovation economy'. He outlined the contextual challenges and possible scenarios facing smaller countries and regions, Scotland's performance from a UK and international perspective (particularly with respect to measures of innovation), and the strategic development issues facing Scotland in the future, emphasising the importance of innovation. A copy of his presentation is available http://www.eprc.strath.ac.uk/news/CW_EPRC_Seminar_Nov07.ppt . <p> http://www.eprc.strath.ac.uk/news/seminar2.jpg <img src="http://www.eprc.strath.ac.uk/news/seminar2sm.jpg" width="184" height="103" border="0" align="left Adrian Colwell then spoke on the theme of 'Old nations in a new Europe : facing the new economic challenges'. His paper began by discussing the changed political context for economic development following the May 2007 elections, and then reviewed the evolving European agendas which have a territorial dimension, highlighting the implications for economic development and territorial governance in Scotland. A copy of his presentation is available http://www.eprc.strath.ac.uk/news/AC_EPRC_Seminar_Nov07.ppt