Good Practice in Cross-Border Cooperation in the Upper Rhine Region

As one of the partners in the TEIN – Platform for Cross-Border Dialogue project (funded by the INTERREG  V-A Czech Republic – Poland within the Micro-Project Fund of Cieszyn Silesia Euroregion),

CCBS Director Ruth Taillon was in Kehl, Germany 7-8 November to participate in the second of three international study visits. The study visit included a seminar on “Good Practice in Cross-Border Cooperation in the Upper Rhine Region” that heard presentations of the historical perspective on cooperation in the region; the transferability of reconciliation and structured cooperation based on Franco-German relations; and presentations on a projects addressing conflict legacy issues, Le  Mémorial Alsace-Moselle and the Interreg funded project, “ Inter-religio” a partnership of higher education theological institutions. The seminar was followed by a site visit to the Albert Schweitzer International Meeting Center, adjacent to a WWII German military cemetery that is on the French side of the border. The Centre is open to any association or school group and welcomes about 4000 people, 75% of them young people and mainly school children. Day 2 of the project was a meeting of the project partners focused on developing recommendations and a joint action plan on how members of the Transfrontier Euro Institute Networ5k (TEIN) partners can cooperate and prepare for the future programmes. The third and final study visit will take place in March at the Polish-Czech-Slovak border.