Demographic Transition, Labour Markets and Regional Resilience

This book discusses the question of how a regional economy can develop under the influence of an ageing and declining population, and how regional development policies can help make labor markets more resilient and more inclusive. As the greatest impacts of demographic change and policy and fiscal challenges can be observed at the local level, examples from European, North American and Asian regions are combined to present a comprehensive, global range of strategic solutions from different policy contexts. The book shows how institutions, organizations and communities can enhance their pathways for sustainable development through the intelligent management of their demographic transition, and offers a synthesis of valuable lessons and strategies.

Dr. Cristina Martinez-Fernandez is a Senior Advisor on skills development, adult learning through knowledge intensive activities, and TVET strategies for inclusive growth. She specialises in employment development from new sources of growth and innovation in the green economy (greening jobs and skills towards low-carbon activities and decarbonization), and from the emerging markets linked with demographic change (older workers, older customers, health services for the elderly). Cristina holds an Adjunct Position at the University of Western Sydney. She is currently working as an Education Specialist (skills and employment) at the Asian Development Bank. From 2008 to 2015 she held several positions at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). She was appointed Advisor of the Knowledge Sharing Alliance at the Secretary General Office in January 2014 where she was responsible for implementing the OECD’s knowledge sharing agenda with non-member countries through leveraging the OECD’s multi-disciplinary expertise, engaging in mutual learning processes with emerging and developing economies, and increasing impacts by working closely with multi- and bilateral organisations having a field presence. Previously Cristina was the Chair of the ‘Shrinking Cities International Research Network’ (SCiRN) and founder of the SCiRN PhD Academy. Contact: c.martinez@westernsydney.edu.au

Dr. Tamara Weyman works as a contracted expert for the ADB, ILO and OECD, on various projects involving employment and skills, SMEs development, South-East Asia, territorial development policy, and demographic change and sustainability. Recently Tamara has been involved in publications such as The Knowledge Economy at Work: Skills and Innovation in Knowledge Intensive Services Activities, “The territorial dimension of the European Social Fund: A local approach for local jobs”, Skills Development and Training in SMEs, “Demographic change and local development: Shrinkage, regeneration and social dynamics”; and a chapter in a forthcoming book entitled “From ‘up north’ to ‘down under’: Dynamics of shrinkage in mining communities in Canada and Australia” in Stories of Tough Times: International Perspectives and Policy Implication in Shrinking Cities. Tamara worked as a Research Associate at the Urban Research Centre, University of Western Sydney (UWS) and completed her PhD on Spatial Information Sharing for Better Regional Decision Making in 2007 at UWS. Since 2009, Tamara has been involved in the COST Action TU 0803 “Cities Regrowing Smaller”.

Dr. Jouke van Dijk is Professor of Regional Labour Market Analysis and Chair of the Department of Economic Geography at the Faculty of Spatial Sciences of the University of Groningen. He is also Director of the Board of the Waddenacademy and President of the European Regional Science Association. His research has a strong focus on labour market issues like unemployment, employment, the dynamics of regional labour markets and migration. He has worked on and been successful in obtaining substantial funding for several major multi-disciplinary research projects on labour market issues. He is supervisor of 15 PhD projects, 9 of which have been completed successfully. Jouke van Dijk is Editor of the Springer Regional Science Series Advances in Spatial Science and Overseeing Editor of the Journal of Economic and Social Geography. He is advisor and consultant for the European Union, various ministries, provinces and municipalities, private firms and research institutes, the public employment service, educational institutes, unions and other organisations dealing with labour market issues and regional development.