This paper examines the role that the management of green knowledge and the use of environmental intellectual capital play in the implementation process of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices in Greek manufacturing companies. Greece is one of the economies with low perceptions of environmental friendliness within the business community. One of the crucial criteria for a company to commit itself seriously to green supply chain management practices is the question of how such an approach affects performance and how much added value can be created through such commitment. Based on a literature review the data for this research were collected through multiple in-depth case studies. The results illustrate that while good management of green knowledge can lead to added value, the definition and implementation of relevant measure items and targets seem indispensable for the improvement of green knowledge quality and as an important driver for implementation of GSCM practices.

The creative class thesis of economic development has had a major impact on the understanding of knowledge and creative workers and on the analysis of the mobility of human capital. Using quantitative and qualitative material, our paper examines the influence of quality of place and career opportunities on the mobility of students in science and technology fields as a proxy for the professional category of ‘the knowledge workers’. Our results show that the criteria linked to quality of place has a greater impact on the attraction and retention of students from abroad than for the domestic-born groups. These results could partly confirm some of the assumptions of the creative class about the attraction of knowledge workers. However, we remain sceptical about urban policies that create incentives-based solely on this thesis of economic development to attract talents or knowledge workers

This paper describes a project, funded by the European Union, which is focused on research and development of wearable computing in seven different work environments. One scenario that was chosen for a more detailed description was the production scenario, in which blue collar workers were empowered by advanced technology proved to be a good example for the potential of knowledge-based development even on the production floor. Another aspect that is highlighted here is the fact that this large project was conducted with a full engagement of the end-users - a methodology named: 'user centred design' (UCD) or a 'living laboratory'. Another important aspect for knowledge-based development is the notion that change can happen only if all stakeholders are involved.

Knowledge exchange and innovation have a strong local dimension and require face-to-face relationships and collaborations between universities, industries and governments. Cities are turning to the knowledge base to enhance their own socio-economic development in the face of global competition and continuing gaps in prosperity. This paper examines the contexts, challenges and consequences of these shifts. First, the paper considers theoretical and policy rationales which create the conditions for the emergence of knowledge-based urban development (KBUD). Second, it highlights three dichotomies that produce tensions in the practice of knowledge exchange at an urban level. Finally, the paper considers the capacities and capabilities of different urban areas to respond to contemporary challenges through processes of active intermediation. In conclusion, this paper provides an agenda-setting provocation for the co-production of sustainable knowledge-based urban futures between academia, policy and practice.

This paper explores the dynamic relationship between urban form and information and communication technologies (ICT) in an intrametropolitan context of the Washington, DC region. We ask if knowledge-based developments coupled with ICT lead to new settlement forms and urban patterns. The findings of the regression analyses provide evidence of the interdependence between ICT and urban form. Contrary to the expectation that ICT would trigger centrifugal (i.e., decentralisation) forces in shaping the urban form, these findings suggest that ICT evoke centripetal (i.e., centralisation) forces around the ICT cluster. The outcome seems to be driven by the uneven distribution of ICT through the metropolitan region; a more even distribution promised by wireless technologies would probably lead to different patterns. Ultimately, we learn that geographic location still matters for ICT and related activities, despite the 'death of geography' premise.

Throughout the last decade the ‘creative class’ thesis has received significant attention within academic and policymaking circles. This paper analyses the role of the ‘creative class’ thesis within recent urban and economic policy formation in Dublin. In methodological terms, the study uses in-depth analysis of recent policy documents which is supplemented by interviews with key stakeholders involved in the formulation and implementation of policy at various scales. The paper argues that weaknesses in the structure of local government and current fiscal rectitude in Ireland combined with the flexible nature of Florida’s ‘creative class’ ideas have ensured its easy adaptability as ‘fast policy’. Here we focus on two particular areas of policy formation: ‘place-making’ and the formation of new networks of power. We contend that the shortcomings of this approach are based on the lack of causal evidence linking the promotion of a ‘vibrant place’ with economic prosperity and the lack of democratic accountability within the formation of networks of elite actors.