Regional development in the European Union

A postgradual course in Development of Regions, Towns and Villages was launched in 1989, a gradual course in Regional Policy and Economics was launched in 1994, and a Ph.D. course in Regional Policy and Economics was started in 1996 at Janus Pannonius University in close co-operation with the Centre for Regional Research of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. These three dates are of great significance in the history of education as they represent the beginning of regional studies in Hungarian higher education. Pécs provides very favourable conditions for regional studies because there is a university with six faculties for the basics of the science, furthermore the Centre for Regional Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) and one of its institutes the Transdanubian Scientific Institute of MTA are located here too. In addition to that, and as with all innovative initiatives, it was necessary for both parties to regard it important to launch training in this field. As a result of this joint will and the co-operation of the two institutes, the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Economics was created with the aim of teaching regional studies. The Tempus program called "Training Managers in Regional Development and European Co-operations" was of great help in creating the teaching environment and in the further training of lecturers and students. The Universities of Leeds, Las Palmas, Paris 8 also took part in the program together with several Hungarian institutes, such as Pannon Agricultural University, University of Veszprém and Széchenyi István College. Several conferences were held within the framework of the program both in Hungary (Pécs, Győr, Kaposvár, Veszprém, Szászvár) and abroad (Nancy, Leeds, Las Palmas). The lectures held at these conferences were of such a high standard in the given field that it was considered necessary to make it available for a greater professional circle and the students as well. For this purpose this book of selected lectures of the foreign lecturers has been compiled both in the original language and in Hungarian translated by Ph.D. students. It is hoped that another one will follow in the future.