Regional governance stimulus for regional sustainable development : [The Summer Academy in Wuppertal held from August 25th 28th 2002 ; two workshops on central issues of Regional Governance at the International Conference Governance and Sustainability New challenges for the state business and civil society in Berlin held in September 30th and October 1st 2002 organised by the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IOEW) Berlin Wuppertal] Dynamic changes in the economy environment and society radically alter the conditions competences and capacities for the political control of spatial development. Combined with the concept of sustainable development these changes take place in a political and spatial multi level system. Controlling instruments are modified and arranged in new ways especially at the regional level. Therefore the knowledge of the current developments within the political economic socio cultural and ecological systems at the regional level is of vital importance. Within the context of these developments new forms of regulation have increasingly been linked with the notion of governance in the socio political debate. These new forms of regulation include serious challenges for nation states enterprises and civil society and their interconnections. This book gives a comprehensive survey of the current discussions about governance at the regional level both from a very practical and a methodological point of view. The contributions range from problems of resolving regional conflicts and long term regional planning to the interaction of regional development and the economic sector. It also offers an interesting methodological report on state of the art multi level governance.