The first Symposium, held at Portmeirion Hotel, Gwynedd in April 2015, considered economic development in peripheral regions, and was supported by Bangor University.

Convened by Gerry Holtham FLSW with organisational support from the Society, the Symposium examined the scope for regional economic development in a globalised economy.

International experts who participated included Professor Ricardo Hausmann, Director of the Center for International Development and a Professor of the Practice of Economic Development at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University,  Professor AnnaLee Saxenian of the School of Information, University of California, Berkeley, Professor Ron Boschma of Utrecht University, Bridget Rosewell of Volterra Partners, Professor Ken Mayhew  of the University of Oxford, Professor Ron Martin of the University of Cambridge, and Professor John Kay of the LSE.

On 10 May 2016, a special edition of Welsh Economic Review based on this symposium entitled ‘Economic Policy for Peripheral Economies’ was launched at Cardiff University. This special issue organised by the LSW, and edited by Professor Gerald Holtham FLSW, convener of the symposium was to provide authoritative and objective analysis of the Welsh economy, and regional economies in general, in a manner that promotes understanding and informs future decision-making. The featured articles included contributions from Ricardo Hausmann, John Kay, Ken Mayhew, Bridget Rosewell, Ron Boschma, Colin Mason, Graham Gudgin, Robert Huggins, and Jonathan Price, and an editorial by Gerald Holtham.

The Jane Hodge Foundation has subsequently provided a grant to Professor Gerry Holtham at Cardiff Metropolitan University to make further progress on some of the issues identified at this meeting.

.