Charting the outlying regions of the knowledge economy. (News and Views).

The Quebec Institut de la recherche scientifique (INRS), in collaboration with the Canadian institute for Research on Regional Development in Moncton, has published conclusions of a major research project on the spatial dynamics of the Canadian economy and the future of the peripheral regions of Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces.

Made possible with the financial support of Economic Development Canada and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the study is part of an extensive review of new methods of promoting regional economic development. This initiative is intended to contribute to the debate on regional adaptation to globalization and the arrival of new information technologies, often concentrated in metropolitan areas.

After two years of work, researchers presented their results, which were contributed to by experts from Quebec, the Atlantic Provinces and Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. Although the study covers major trends throughout Canada, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces are its main focus. It is one of the largest studies of regional development in Quebec in recent decades.

Eleven peripheral regions were more thoroughly studied through both statistical analysis and field work that included consultations with some 200 entrepreneurs and stakeholders in the region. In Quebec, researchers visited Abitibi-Temiscamingue, Lower St. Lawrence, the North Shore, the Gaspe Peninsula and Saguenay - Lac-Saint-Jean. At the end of the study, researchers concluded that the major restructuring trends of the economy, including the introduction of new information technology, will continue to encourage the concentration of economic activity in larger urban centres.

Although the portrait at first seemed pessimistic, researchers insisted that the peripheral regions will not disappear. The decline in population will not cause their demise or the end of their development. What is important, however, is that improving collective well-being is not incompatible with the decrease in population. The demographic decline, which seems inevitable in most regions, should cause us to rethink regional development policy priorities.

The problem of regional adaptation to the knowledge-based economy is a major issue. In this context, the INRS and the Canadian Institute for Research on Regional Development (CIRRD) plan to continue collaborating on studies of the structural and economic challenges that will continue to arise, particularly in regions far from Quebec's urban centres, and the Atlantic Provinces.

The results of their work are available at www.inrsucs.uquebec.ca under the "Publications and Documents" heading in the "On line Publications" section, entitled "Regions in the Knowledge Economy."