The scope of the edited book
The edited book will offer a thorough account of the contemporary socio-economic challenges that European rural and peripheral areas face and will provide discussions on how Collaborative Workspaces (CWS) may contribute to tackling them in multiple ways. Collaborative workspaces such as coworking spaces, fab labs, creative hubs etc. are increasingly becoming a subject of local and regional economic development policies as they are considered important intermediaries that help deliver entrepreneurial growth and local innovation agendas.
Recently, we observed the gradual spread of CWS in less densely populated cities in rural and even peripheral regions across the EU that face particular challenges such as brain drain, low investments level, little entrepreneurship, low social capital etc. These rural CWS may differ in terms of scopes, functions and impacts compared to those found in urban centres and metropolitan areas. The contributed chapters will unpack the development processes of CWS in rural and peripheral areas, their wider social, cultural and economic impacts at the local and regional level, as well as at the level of the individual worker and the enterprise.
The contributions may come from different scientific disciplines that could range from social and economic geography, innovation studies, economics, business studies and planning to gender studies, media and cultural industries, and the field of management studies. We encourage multi-disciplinary contributions, and both qualitative and quantitative approaches that look through a critical perspective one of the three thematic areas below:
Three thematic areas
1. CWS and transformation processes in rural areas (challenges and new conceptualizations of rurality/peripherality and the role of CWS within such contexts, CWS geography and functions, CWS and digital nomadism, etc.)
2. The impacts of collaborative workspaces on rural businesses, workers and local communities (augmented business ecosystems, urban-rural networks, CWS’ links with traditional industries, CWS and regional innovation networks, gender dynamics, issues of well-being, community and identity formation, social innovation, CWS and skills development, CWS and labour precariousness, etc.)
3. Impact-oriented policies with and for CWS in rural areas (local/ regional development strategies and CWS, actors and networks, EU and national policy responses, CWS and youth employment strategies, etc.)
Submit your abstract at info@coral-itn.eu [Subject: Contribution for the edited book_(your surname)], until 12 November 2023. The abstract should be 800-1000 words (including references) and it should include the aims and objectives of your contribution, description of case studies/datasets and how your ideas fit within the scope of the edited book and the particular thematic area. Chapters are expected to be about 5.000 words each.
Important dates
– Submission of abstracts, until 12 November 2023
– Accepted contributions informed by 15 December 2023
– Submission of book chapters, 14 April 2024
– Resubmission of book chapters after a blind review process, 8 September 2024
The edited book will be published in a major publishing house and it will be open access, funded by the MSCA CORAL-ITN and edited by Vasilis Avdikos, Suntje Schmidt, Ilaria Mariotti and Ignasi Capdevila.
