Trilateral Summer Institute on Innovation, Competitiveness and Sustainability in the North American Region

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INT-9416308 ANDERSON Although "innovation," "competitiveness," and "sustainability" have all emerged as essential themes in analyses of social and economic development, until recently little attention had been paid to the underlying synergies and inherent tensions among them. Harmonizing the three themes in a multinational context is an even more daunting proposition, in view of differences in national political, economic and legal systems, for example. Yet the coherent, mutually-beneficial development of the North American region envisioned by the NAFTA agreement will depend critically upon such harmonization. This project, which is being supported jointly by the National Science Foundation, the Canadian Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), and the Mexican National Science and Technology Council (CONACyT), will bring together for 10 days in August 1994, scholars and policy makers from the United States, Canada, and Mexico for a critical examination of the issues that need to be addressed in understanding and harmonizing the relationships among the problems of innovation, competitiveness, and sustainability in a North American regional context. The principal objective will be to develop a long-term agenda that will provide scholars throughout North America with guidance toward further, detailed exploration of these three critical themes and their relationships. An immediate outcome will be a network of scholars with interest and expertise in various aspects of the problem, and a plan to expand and sustain that network. A published proceedings will also result from the institute. Planning and follow-up for the project are under the direction of a trinational steering group chaired by the Canadian Principal Investigator, with U.S. and Mexican representatives being distinguished social scientists nominated, respectively, by NSF and CONACyT. ***