The role of proximity in stakeholder networks for Smart Specialisation: a Sparsely Populated Area case study

The European Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) with its underlying aim to support regional growth, cohesion, and innovation has by now been widely applied to European Sparsely Populated Areas (SPAs). Previous works have identified that intra-regional stakeholder networks are important for a successful S3 implementation, and that their establishment is related to the level of proximity between stakeholders; however, the nature of such networks in the context of developing S3 in SPAs deserves further investigation. This paper explores how different dimensions of proximity are associated with intra-regional networks aimed at implementing S3 in a Northern European SPA (Lapland, Finland). The results suggest that geographical and cognitive proximity are positively associated with both formal and informal networking, while institutional proximity is negatively related with informal networking, suggesting that effective policy interventions require multiple relationships to be activated through supporting greater diversity between SPAs stakeholders.