Research director to address Brussels conference

The head of the Fraser Coast’s Economic Development and Enterprise Collaboration (EDEC) will address a conference in Brussels in October.

Associate Professor Paul Collits, from the University of Southern Queensland Fraser Coast, will speak about regional development approaches in Australia compared with European initiatives.

He was invited to be part of an Australian team to address the European Commission Open Days annual conference, which is part of the European Week of Cities and Regions.

It is expected to be attended by about 6000 participants from 35 countries.

‘The essence of my message is that Europe takes regional development more seriously than we do in Australia,’ Associate Professor Collits said.

‘Their governments provide larger financial incentives and contributions, and there is better interaction between research, policy and practice.

‘They have a detailed and sophisticated approach with clear objectives to reduce inequality between regions.

‘The results are mixed, and yes, they do spend a lot of taxpayers’ money on regions. But the important thing is that they take regional development seriously.’

Associate Professor Collits will also meet with other researchers at the London School of Economics which runs an organisation similar to EDEC, called SERC (Spatial Economics Research Centre).

‘It is a model for what we hope EDEC will become,’ he said.

He will also meet researchers at Cambridge University in London and present a seminar on economic development to students.

‘I’ll talk about regional development in Australia and tell them all about the Fraser Coast,’ Associate Professor Collits said.