European Week of Regions and Cities

The Centre for Cross Border Studies, ITEM and Euro-Institut organised a workshop on “Preventing instead of breaking barriers – How to minimise the risk of emerging obstacles to cross-border cooperation” during the 21st edition of the European Week of Regions and Cities in Brussels. All three organisations are members of Transfrontier Euro-Institut Network (TEIN).

Anthony Soares, from the Centre for Cross Border Studies, spoke on the Cross-Border enACTing (CBenACT) project which aims to integrate a cross-border cooperation approach into organisational cultures and to develop the intercultural/cross-border competences of different target groups. The project’s objective is to make cross-border cooperation a priority and not an exception.

Anne Thevenet, Deputy Director of the Euro-Institut, presented the Euro-Institut’s strand of training: cross-border mediation as a cross-cutting component of its activities – from moderating Franco-German meetings, Franco-German coaching to specialised training and support for cross-border projects. Cross-border mediation is a lever for action that facilitates and supports the processes and dynamics of communication and cooperation across borders.

Pim Mertens, of the Institute for Transnational and Euregional cross border cooperation and Mobility/ITEM, outlined ITEM’s impact analysis method which offers new perspectives on the effects of European and national legislation and policy initiatives on border regions. The impact analysis focuses on three main themes for which the effects on border regions are analysed: European integration, socio-economic/sustainable development and Euregional cohesion.

The presentations and the questions and answers session with the participants examined the advantages and challenges of cross-border cooperation and its implementation. They looked at the tools, projects and initiatives that exist to prevent potential risks and difficulties to cross-border cooperation in border regions, and how cross-border cooperation can be supported in order to facilitate it effectively.