The issue investigates different dimensions and perspectives of ‘proximity' and learning in the global economy. What is the role of place in the development of social, organisational, cognitive proximities, and by what mechanisms can distance between innovating partners be bridged? By what mechanisms do proximate partners learn from each other and by what institutions can this learning be enhanced? Can proximity sometimes be seen as detrimental to learning, innovation and problem solving?

Editors: Arnould Lagendijk and Anne Lorentzen. Authors: Anne Lorentzen, Arnould Lagendijk, the Netherlands, Paivi Oinas, Finland, Andre Torre and Armelle Caron, France, Jerome Vicente, Yan Dalla Pria, Raphael Suire, France, Philip Cooke, UK, Wiebke Lang, Germany, Nadine Massard, Caroline Mehier, France.