Note from the Editors: Australasian Journal of Regional Studies - Volume 20, Number 3, 2014

Abstract

The six articles in this final issue of the Australasian Journal of Regional Studies for 2014 once again cover key themes in modern regional science. The first of these concerns regional economic development processes in non-metropolitan Australia. A difficult task at the best of times, the demand for local development stimulus across rural Australia remains undiminished despite poor track records over the last half century. But the two articles by Kotey and Sorensen and Mangoyana and Collits neatly come together to explain some key dimensions of the struggle for regional development in the encroaching second machine age. The first of these details many of the difficulties faced by rural small businesses as they grapple with the need to innovate to stay alive, while confronting numerous barriers often not of their own making in an uncertain world. Alas for them, it is now becoming clear that intensive networking is becoming a key element both in starting new businesses or modernising existing enterprises. This is, of course, difficult in small and widely scattered communities, a situation underscored by the second of the two articles, this one dealing with collaboration among businesses and agencies charged with promoting local development in Wide-Bay Burnett. Mangoyana and Collits witness silo cultures among both governments and businesses rather than widespread networking among all the local players, and advocate new networking models able to facilitate high level interaction among all relevant parties.