Objectives

Through its established international research network the Commission is concerned with structures and processes of government and administration at the local and regional levels, and with related issues of democratization and globalization. The links between geography and public policy are well established and widely recognized. Suffice to say geographers bring to bear spatial and environmental perspectives that are understated and often neglected by the policy sciences. As a result geographers can contribute to the various stages of the public policy process (from problem analysis to policy impact analysis) and there is a rich diversity of geographical research that has a policy orientation. Our work has often touched on policy issues on relation to such matters as local government finance, local and regional government reorganization, and privatization of government services. We especially encourage policy-oriented geographical research and we facilitate collaboration and academic discourse between geographers and scholars in other policy sciences. Furthermore we strengthen links between academic geographers and public sector decision makers The Commission has about 250 corresponding members all over the world and a steering committee of distinguished scholars from Europe, USA, Korea, Australia, South Africa, Israel and China. The Commission publishes twice a year a newsletter and holds at least one workshop or conference per year. The members publish widely and are involved in many different ways in academic research and public policy activities.