The international working group „Small towns and metropolitan cores: towards cooperation?“ met again
Our international working group „Small towns and metropolitan cores: towards cooperation?“ met again! A hybrid meeting of the group took place at the end of September (21-23.09) at the ARL Headquarters in Hanover, Germany. Eight group members were physically present, whereas the other four attended online, which enabled fruitful discussions and contributed to obtaining precise intermediary outcomes. These are the exchange-based understanding and clarification of the internal research papers resulting from the group’s activities, as well as a concious preparation for the publication of a special issue.
Additionally, contrary to previous meetings, this time, the usual meeting of the group members was accompanied by a webinar „Small Towns and Metropolitan Cores: Functional Relations, Spatial Imaginaries and Cooperation Arrangements“. The purpose of this event was to offer the possibility for external researchers to publish their latest research efforts in the above-mentioned special issue. Researchers from various European countries, like Denmark, Germany and Italy, participated in the webinar and presented their research outcomes. Every presentation was concluded with a discussion in which every participant - external and internal - was involved.
Except the organisation of the webinar and intense hours of special issue related work, a recording session with ARL International, that resulted in a Science Clip on Small Towns and Metropolitan Cores in different European Countries, was a highlight.
Lastly, upcoming organisational and research steps were identified, which resulted in a fairly unanimous agreement on the final deliverables of the international working group.
Each member of the subgroups presented their findings and highlighted potential research priorities for the future activities of the working group at the same time.
The next update will be available in the late spring/early summer of 2023.
