This Hot Topic analyses - through the lens of a case study from Victoria Australia – how the idea of community strengthening has been embedded into the institutional apparatus of a regional government. This is largely an insider’s account of the emergence of the community paradigm. The focus is on describing the key themes and the policy apparatus that has emerged to give public administrative form to the idea of stronger communities.

How can the capacity for creating and exploiting knowledge in the context of Regional Innovation Systems be developed as a means to constructing regional advantage? This Hot Topic addresses this question, in reviewing policies and developments in Japan and South Korea. As well as explaining approaches to regionalism and innovation in these two countries the paper also invites reflection on how these East Asian approaches compare, and what they mean in particular for the countries of Europe and North America.