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This paper reviews changes over the last 10 years in the governance arrangements and processes involved in sub-national economic development and cross-boundary collaboration. It begins with a summary of the institutional changes in the main countries of the UK, in the dual context of fiscal retrenchment and neo-liberal deregulation. The picture that emerges is one of a confused patchwork in England; incremental modifications in Scotland; and embryonic developments in Wales. This is then contrasted with a range of experiences in other countries, involving wholesale recentralisation and a sidelining of local and regional institutions at one end of the spectrum, to resistance to restructuring through repurposing, increased mutual collaboration and improved management at the other. However, enhanced economic links and benefits do not automatically flow from any particular form of rescaled governance arrangements. As our original article found, the key ingredients are robust and inclusive political and decision-making processes, a suite of appropriate policy instruments and deployment of sufficient resources to ensure that they have an effect. The paper also concludes that a more comprehensive theoretical framework is needed to advance understanding of what lies behind different forms of state governance rescaling, and what makes a given instance more (or less) effective than another.

This paper examines attempts to integrate environmental sustainability goals into the design and implementation of projects funded by the EU Structural Funds programmes in the U.K. between 2000 and 2006. It does so by comparing how the two "horizontal priorities" (environmental sustainability and gender equality) fared in terms of understanding and acceptance by project applicants. It places this material within the wider context of literature on environmental policy integration and inter-agency cooperation. A "policy coordination" framework is used as a heuristic device to construct an account of the ways in which the two themes were handled through the interplay of the myriad of actors and organisations involved in the process. A key part in this involved the deployment of "policy champions" to work with external organisations bidding for funding to support projects that formed the core of programme implementation. The paper also examines the variable reactions on the part of project designers to the requirement to incorporate environmental and gender goals and the greater inter-professional networking that these implied. The comparison between the two priorities clearly demonstrates the difficulties inherent in the breadth and complexity of environmental issues and the need in the first instance to link them to relatively simple actions directly associated with economic development activity. The study concludes that this is essentially the first step in a more protracted "policy learning" process.

This paper examines attempts to integrate environmental sustainability goals into the design and implementation of projects funded by the EU Structural Funds programmes in the U.K. between 2000 and 2006. It does so by comparing how the two "horizontal priorities" (environmental sustainability and gender equality) fared in terms of understanding and acceptance by project applicants. It places this material within the wider context of literature on environmental policy integration and inter-agency cooperation. A "policy coordination" framework is used as a heuristic device to construct an account of the ways in which the two themes were handled through the interplay of the myriad of actors and organisations involved in the process. A key part in this involved the deployment of "policy champions" to work with external organisations bidding for funding to support projects that formed the core of programme implementation. The paper also examines the variable reactions on the part of project designers to the requirement to incorporate environmental and gender goals and the greater inter-professional networking that these implied. The comparison between the two priorities clearly demonstrates the difficulties inherent in the breadth and complexity of environmental issues and the need in the first instance to link them to relatively simple actions directly associated with economic development activity. The study concludes that this is essentially the first step in a more protracted "policy learning" process.

For years, labour market policy in the UK has been dominated by activation measures that seek to increase employment levels among the unemployed. This supply-side focus emphasises individual characteristics and responsibilities in isolation from wider labour market factors. However, there is widening acceptance that policies for employability can provide a link between the supply and demand sides of the labour market. This implies the involvement of employers in the design of skills training and work experience programmes, and for these to be related to employment sustainability and career progression. Several projects in the UK under the New Deal Innovation Fund are currently testing the merits of what is termed a 'demand-led approach'. This paper examines this in terms of increasing job procurement and retention, and critically assesses the way in which it has been applied in the UK to date. It investigates the role played by labour market intermediaries in engaging both job seekers and employers, and considers the difficulties of successfully implementing the approach in different circumstances. It concludes that in most cases demand-led schemes in the UK have been less about improving employability than meeting employers' short-term labour needs.

The demise of the coalmining industry has entailed an increased geographical separation of individuals from workplaces, highlighting the importance of understanding the spatial dimension of job search for those living in the coalfields. There has been an increasing interest among labour market researchers on the role of place and social networks in influencing labour market behaviour. A growing body of literature focuses on the importance of social networks in shaping people's attitudes, behaviour, and decision making—in particular, the links between people's social sphere and the nature and extent of their participation in the labour market. We aim to examine the area effects of social networks and how these affect labour market position. We will draw on material gathered from a Joseph Rowntree Foundation funded project on the economic, social, and governance links between coalfields and their neighbouring cities. Part of this research was composed of eighty-five interviews carried out with unemployed job seekers across three contrasting coalfields (Lothian, South Yorkshire, and the central Wales valleys). We will focus in particular on the issues of accessing of South Wales jobs, knowledge and experience of the spatial labour market, and the role of social networks in influencing job search and job knowledge.

There has been little work exploring the impact of transport investment on economic regeneration at the urban scale. This lack of attention is in part related to theoretical inadequacies and methodological difficulties, not least the separating out and attribution of effects. Such issues were addressed by a major empirical study conducted in Sheffield during the early 1990s. This paper outlines the research methods adopted, which involved breaking down impacts into five thematic areas (image; property; land use; business location and operations; and labour market), and exploring the different mechanisms whereby effects might have become apparent in each. The findings from each of the themes are briefly summarised, the overall conclusion being that, in current circumstances, the impact of transport investment on regeneration is not particularly strong. In a broader policy context, however, the study also pointed to the improbability of securing regeneration benefits from transport infrastructure, given the lack of co-ordination and integration between the two policy areas, and the increasingly fragmented nature of urban governance in general.