The North American PASCAL Center – located at Northern Illinois University – co-sponsored the 4th TRE Networks Roundtable meeting held in Washington, DC, December 5 – 7, 2011.  The theme of this year’s TRE Roundtable was “Accelerating Regional Solutions: Finding Unique Pathways to American Prosperity.”  PASCAL Associate, Josef Konvitz -- recently retired Head of Division, Regulatory Policy, at the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) -- delivered a well-received keynote on “The European Experience: Governance, Place and Higher Education.”

A key thematic dynamic displayed throughout the conference concerned the relationship between social equity and economic efficiency.  Creating just and prosperous societies depends on drawing diverse human capabilities into regional systems that promote inclusion, learning and innovation.  While the particular manifestations of these challenges are unique, the family resemblence between the issues -- world-wide -- are undeniable.  Much like PASCAL, the TRE Network is animated by a desire to create strong collaborative linkages among higher education, regional government, the private sector, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).  TRE uses the metaphor of the “Quad Helix” to describe a mutually beneficial intersection of interests.

Many important conversations were engaged or launched by PASCAL participants, which included Professor Mike Osborne and Dr. Konvitz (University of Glasgow) as well as Rena Cotsones, Norman Walzer and Paul Crawford from Northern Illinois University.  Future discussions concerning mutually beneficial collaboration between PASCAL and TRE are now under way.

For details on TRE Networks and the Roundtable please visit: http://www.trenetworks.org/events/2011roundtable/index.php.  We hope to post Dr. Konvit'z keynote address in the very near future.

Please contact me if you wish future details or are seeking opportunities for fruitful collaborations opportunities in the United States. 

Paul T. Crawford