Many communities and regions are being left behind in the new economic order. The book starts with the premise that, in today’s knowledge-based economy, innovation is key, but that only seems to happen in larger urban centres. It seems that smaller centres and peripheral regions can only look forward to decline and eventual irrelevance, but this need not be the case.

Wherever there are people, there is the potential to innovate. This book demonstrates that innovators are not limited to inventors and entrepreneurs. Each innovation starts with an idea that is nurtured by its creator and incubated by the larger community. The book identifies different categories of creators such that many readers will recognize themselves as being, in fact, creators. And it identifies different ways of coming up with ideas, which may validate how creators spend their time. It identifies ways to judge whether ideas should be pursued or not and looks at the steps required to turn an idea into an innovation. Many declining communities and regions around the world have resuscitated themselves by being creative and innovative — sometimes in startling ways. This book will provide some ideas to help any region reinvent itself. But having a few individuals with good ideas is not sufficient to revive a region. This book also shows how effective leaders are needed to help stimulate more creative activity and, just as importantly, to coordinate the necessary resources to turn creative ideas into innovations.

The book will appeal to students, scholars and researchers of economic, regional, social and sustainable development, innovation, public policy and economic geography, as well as practitioners and policymakers concerned with regional development and regional innovation policies.