Dear colleagues of the Spanish Association of Regional Science (AECR), dear friends of Regional Science,

 

Allow me to welcome you to the website of our Association. For more than half a century of history, the Spanish Regional Science Association (AECR) has been a valuable instrument for creating community between academics, researchers and professionals dedicated to the study of the territory in our country. The diversity of disciplines, thematic approaches or perspectives make the knowledge that this association treasures rich and valuable. Its structure, with regional sections endowed with operational autonomy but integrated into a national network coordinated by a national executive, makes the AECR have an extraordinary capacity to integrate the different teams that work in spatial analysis throughout the Spanish geography. The AECR is linked internationally with the ERSA (European Regional Science Association) and the RSAI (Regional Science Association International) forming within them one of the most relevant national communities both in number of partners and in scientific production capacity.

 

In a globalized environment where accessing any type of national or international publication is a matter of seconds and where scientific forums tend to a logical and necessary internationalization, it could seem that national associations, like ours, lose value. But the reality is not like that, we know that the networks of contacts that we build, the position as a national scientific community that we have or the influence that we can exert with our work depend enormously on our ability to be organized. A strong AECR, that integrates us internally, creating community, that connects us internationally, giving weight to our country, that gives resonance to our work and conclusions, makes, not only regional science but also those of us who are dedicated to this field, stronger.

 

The AECR carries out three main activities: our annual Regional Studies Meeting, our scientific journal Investigaciones Regionales – Journal of Regional Research and our blog La riqueza de las regiones.

 

The Regional Studies Meeting, which we have held every year for more than 45 years, is our meeting point, where we achieve the interaction of most of the regional science researchers and from where we build our community. On it among 250-300 national and international researchers meet every year and thanks to it, special numbers in scientific journals are generated, meetings of national and international projects are organized, specific courses are given, the work of young researchers is evaluated and multiple new ideas emerge that revitalize the research in our field. Every year prizes are awarded such as the award for an outstanding career in the field of regional science or the award for the most outstanding young researcher.

 

Investigationes Regionales – Journal of Regional Research is, according to its position in more relevant rankings, one of the best social science journals in Spain. AECR is proud to be the association that supports a scientific product that has earned so much national and international respect. The journal is indexed in most of the relevant indexes, including the SJR-Scopus where it has repeatedly been located in the second quartile. In the recent publication of February 11, 2020 of the FECYT Visibility and Impact Ranking of Spanish Scientific Journals of Humanities and Social Sciences, the journal Investigationes Regionales – Journal of Regional Research is located in the first quartile. 

 

The blog La riqueza de las regiones has been making its own place among the main activities of the AECR. It helps to give social visibility to the research of the partners and relevance to the association itself. The blog has also served to get to know each other better. With the edition of the blog’s five-year commemorative book published by Thomson an important step has been taken in promoting an AECR transfer strategy, developing a more permanent scientific dissemination product.

 

Furthermore, through its territorial offices or directly from the national directive, the AECR carries out many other training activities, promotes meetings of various kinds, such as the Seminar for New Academic Researchers (SNAR), and collaborates with other national and international institutions or organizations.

 

I invite you to get to know us better and to count on us to support you and promote your work.

Barcelona, 1 July 2020
Fernando Rubiera Morollón
President of the AECR.