Methodologies and concepts for diagnosis, planning and implementation

In this part of the toolkit you can have a look at a number of concepts for local and regional development. What are they about:

• Systemic Competitiveness is an analytical framework to understand the determinants of successful industrial development. It has initially been developed with a look at national systems, but it has proved highly useful for the analysis of local and regional economies.

• Participatory Appraisal of Competitive Advantage is a rapid appraisal methodology which can be employed to initiate or assess LED initiatives.

• Cluster Development is a specific issue within the larger framework of local and regional economic development. It addresses highly specialized agglomerations of firms with a relatively strong level of interaction and a strong set of supporting institutions. It has received a lot of attention for some time since it seems to permit SMEs a good opportunity to increase competitiveness and access global markets.

• Value Chains  address the entire production process from the final customer back to the first inputs. They exist at the regional, national or international level. It is a complement to cluster perspectives, in particular as is addresses the integration of local clusters into larger economic systems.

• Regionalized Structural Policy is a concept which has been utilized in Germany to stimulate decentralized economic promotion initiatives, i.e. to stimulate local / regional stakeholders to formulate development concepts rather than waiting for higher-level government to become active.

• Perspectivic Incrementalism was the underlying concept of the IBA Emscher Park, a regional restructuring initiative which was executed in the northern Ruhr Valley between 1989 and 1999. It builds on the recent evolution of regional planning thinking.

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