The course focusses on interrelated development processes on various spatial levels (local, regional, national, European, global). We will deal with uneven development at these various levels, theoretical concepts for understanding this development, the role and behaviour of key actors as well as with multilevel governance approaches targeting this development.

The course is structured into the following four areas of research and policy:
1. Contextualization
2. Uneven development
3. Multilevel strategies of Firms
4. Multilevel Governance and Regulation

The course aims at providing a scale-sensitive understanding of global economic and political strategies and institutions, including multi-level policy and governance.
The course should capacitate students to mobilise multiple perspectives (theories, methods, paradigms) to understand socio-ecological real world problem and to shape socio-ecological policies.
The course should allow students to get an inter- and transdisciplinary understanding of the following four areas of research and policy:
1. Contextualization
2. Uneven development
3. Multilevel strategies of Firms
4. Multilevel Governance and Regulation

• Four progress reports (one on each course topic) (80%)• Participation (20%)

Progress Report A:

Experiment with the following instruments/models (to be presented March 5), document your steps relate your findings to thecourse literature and draw conclusions (due march 12).

Progress Report B:

Analyse multi-level uneven development in the Centrope-region (due April 16).

Progress Report C:

Analyse global shifts of production for the textiles/garments industry or the automotive industry; discuss the role of technology, transnational firms and regional embedding (due May 7).

Progress Report D (chose one of the following questions):

(due June 11)

What are current multi-level governance issues in economic/social policy/regional environmental policy making in the EU? 

·The progress reports apply the course literature to a specific problem of multi-level policy. The reports test the capacity to link theory and reality. They foster the understanding of theories as concept-driven perspectives (“glasses”) to grasp socio-economic phenomena and multi-level policies. The quality of a progress report cannot be evaluated objectively, but depends on

* adequate empirical focus (which part of reality to deal with?)

* adequate choice of concepts (which aspects of which theories are used?)

* adequate link between concepts and phenomenon.

* adequate focus, so that the report can be used for policy making (which aspects are relevant for policy making?).

Due to careful reading, they permit the optimal preparation for the course (late delivery is possible, but leads to discounting)

The progress report has to use the reading list, but can include additional reading (esp. empirical, statistical and media sources and reading from other SEEP-courses). It must not exceed 2000 words (bibliography included).

Grade/Value/Label:

1/85/sehr gut

2/72/gut

3/60/befriedigend

4/51/genügend

5/0/nicht genügend

Normally successful completion of semester 1 of MSc SEEP

franz.toedtling(at)wu.ac.at , 4781; UZA4 (4B); Mon 10:00-12:00

andreas.novy(at)wu.ac.at, tel.nr. 4778; UZA4 (4B) Thursday 11.00-12.30

gunther.maier(at)wu.ac.at, tel.nr. 4780, UZA4 (4B), Tuesday 10.00 – 12.00

Unit	Date	Contents
1	2013-03-05	Contextualization: Theories of urban and regional development
2	2013-03-12	Contextualization: Place matters
3	2013-04-09	Contextualization: Theories of space, knowledge and power
4	2013-04-16	Uneven development: Uneven socio-ecological development: An overview
5	2013-04-23	Uneven development:Polarization theories and New Economic Geography
6	2013-04-30	Uneven development:Regulation approaches
7	2013-05-07	Multi-levelstrategies of firms:
8	2013-05-28	Multi-levelstrategies of firms:
9	2013-06-04	Multi-levelstrategies of firms:
10	2013-06-11	Multilevel governance: Overview
11	2013-06-18	Multilevel governance: Multi-level dynamics of globalization
12	2013-06-25	Multilevel governance: Synthesis