This book provides theories, experiences, reflections and future directions for social scientists who wish to engage with policy-oriented research in, and for, cities and regions. The '?policy learning?' perspective is comprehensively discussed, focusing on actors promoting '?policy knowledge?' and interaction among different stakeholders. Theoretical frameworks and practical experiences of policy-orientated research for European regions and cities are comprehensively explored in this timely book. The authors review current theories and present novel case studies of policy-orientated research. By combining policy analysis with urban and regional studies, the book highlights how researchers can be agents of policy learning, helping policymakers to learn how to learn. This book will provide unique, real world insights for researchers, practitioners and stakeholders interested in research-based approaches to cities and regions. Contributors include: I. Bakker, S. Bandera, P. Benneworth, M.C. Cattaneo, P. Coletti, A. Colombino, A. Colombo, J.L. De las Rivas Sanz, N. Francesco Dotti, F. Eckardt, A. Gerritsen, S. Giest, D. Greenwood, A. Healy, T. Herrschel, T. Metze-Burghouts, S. Moyson, M. Paris, S. Pazos-Vidal, D. Pojani, P. Scholten, D. Stead, M. Stuiver, C. Termeer, G. Urso, J. Vaesen, W.-J. Velderman, B. Wayens

Contents: Introduction PART I Theoretical Framework: Learning Knowledge for Policymaking 1. The research-policy nexus: boundaries, bonding and ten golden rules Alessandro Colombo 2. Theories on policy learning: Existing approaches and future challenges Stephane Moyson and Peter Scholten 3. Methodological challenges for policy learning Paola Coletti and Giulia Urso 4. Learning across cities and regions: The limits to transferring "best practice" Dominic Stead and Dorina Pojani PART II Experiences of Policy-Oriented Research in Cities and Regions 5. Spatial knowledge for regional governance: toward an alternative map of Castilla y Leon Mario Paris and Juan Luis de las Rivas Sanz 6. Eupolis Lombardia: Practising Research-Policy Dialogue for a Regional Government Sabrina Bandera and Maria Chiara Cattaneo 7. Knowledge Serving the City? Brokerage, Production and Sharing in Brussels Joost Vaesen and Benjamin Wayens 8. Scotland: a thriving environment for policy entrepreneurship? Serafin Pazos-Vidal 9. Dutch experiences of policy mobility in urban planning Dominic Stead and Dorina Pojani 10. Knowledge governance in sustainable development: a comparative case study Alwin Gerritsen, Marian Stuiver and Catrien Termeer PART III In-Formation: Experiences and Reflections from an Incoming Revolution 11. Policy learning in times of big data analytics: The challenges of skill-based outsourcing Sarah Giest 12. Visual framing for policy learning: Internet as the 'eye of the public' Tamara Metze 13. Knowledge, Urban policy-making and citizen participation: a democratic challenge Franziska Eckardt, Willem-Jan Velderman and Paul Benneworth 14. Beyond big data, the open data revolution for research Paul Benneworth, Inge Bakker and Willem-Jan Velderman 15. Smart cities, towards smart governance? Tassilo Herrschel PART IV Towards New Theoretical Models: Open Challenges 16. Evaluating coordination and learning within governance: open epistemological issues Dan Greenwood 17. What role for policy studies in a post-truth politics? Adrian Healy 18. Knowledge Governance: Theoretical and Empirical Reflections on territorial innovation policy Alwin Gerritsen and Nicola Francesco Dotti 19. Knowledge for policymaking: an evolutionary perspective to achieve policy resilience Nicola Francesco Dotti and Annalisa Colombino PART V Lessons Learnt 20. Conclusions on Research-Policy Dialogues Nicola Francesco Dotti and Alessandro Colombo Index