Evaluating New Regional Policies

Regional development theories and policies have now moved into new arenas. Today, the competitive advantages of regions put a premium on social capital, hence, the significant role played by localized learning and the construction of knowledge networks and institutional capacity. These are necessary and complementary assets to factors traditionally thought to influence regional development. The evaluation of these new regional policies is an important challenge, but classical evaluation models do not adapt well to the specific characteristics of these policies. As a consequence, it is necessary to seek new evaluation approaches to assess the regional impact of these new policies, understand how they work and why, generate knowledge and, also, mobilize regional communities to act, empowering local agents and enhancing learning capacity.