The Standing Group on Local Government and Politics (ECPR) and the European Urban Research Association (EURA) are happy to once again endorse this year’s Summer School, organized by the Institute of Local Government and Law at the Autonomous University of Madrid. This Summer School is one of the many long-lasting series of summer courses for PhD-students interested in issues related to local government and politics. It provides an opportunity to develop a further understanding of comparative local government studies and to discuss PhD-related research with an experienced international faculty that specialize in an array of disciplines. The Summer School is also an excellent opportunity to establish, deepen or widen networks with scholars working on similar topics in the field.

This Summer School looks to attract PhD students from different subfields and methodological approaches in local studies and provide them with the opportunity to discuss their projects with peers and scholars participating in the course. The academic program includes: 1) Lectures from prominent scholars to discuss their work on issues related to this year’s topic: “Rural and Urban in Local Government”, 2) Methodological sessions and 3) Sessions where the PhD-candidates will have the opportunity to present and discuss their own work in progress and get feedback from peers and senior scholars.

The 2022 edition will be held in Madrid under the topic of Rural and Urban in Local Government and Politics. The global phenomena of urbanisation, on the one hand, and of depopulation of rural areas on the other, bring along a wide variety of challenges to local governments regarding not only the local responsibilities and public services that big and small municipalities can decide on and implement, but also key issues, such as financial arrangements, political structures, intergovernmental relations, policy agendas or citizens’ participation in local decision-making.

Prof. Pawel Swianievicz. Wroclaw University

• Do rural and urban local governments differ? The case of territorial restructuring

Prof. Mariona Tomàs. University of Barcelona

• Governance Trends in Metropolitan Areas

Prof. Filipe Teles. University of Aveiro

• Local State – Society Networks in Europe

Prof. Carmen Navarro. University Autonoma of Madrid

• Rural and urban in local government

Prof. Nikolaos Hlepas. Kapodistrian University of Athens

• Innovating in rural and urban municipalities 

Prof. Marta Fraile. CSIC, Madrid

• Evaluating Research Design Strategies

Prof. Kristof Steyvers. University Ghent.

• Doing Comparative Research on Local Politics: Between Inertia and Innovation

Prof. Esther Pano. Fundació Pi i Sunyer of regional and local studies

• Institutional analysis: Research design and strategies for the analysis of local institutions

Prof. Andreas Ladner, Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration (IDHEAP)

• Patterns of Local Autonomy around the world: The Local Autonomy Index 2.0 Project

Prof. Hubert Heinelt, Darmstadt University

• Interest Intermediation in Local and Rural