WP-1a A review of transnational and interregional place branding in Europe Erasmus University Rotterdam RHV Dr. Erik Braun Dr. Sebastian Zenker Jan-Jelle Witte MSc ` © 2013 by Erasmus University Rotterdam, Department for Urban, Port and Transport Economics/EURICUR. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of RHV b.v., including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast. Department for Urban, Port and Transport Economics/EURICUR Room H16-01 Burgemeester Oudlaan 50 3062 PA Rotterdam The Netherlands www.eur.nl/rhv Table of Contents 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Transnational branding initiatives ................................................................................................... 2 BioValley ........................................................................................................................................ 3 Eurometropolis ............................................................................................................................. 5 Øresund ......................................................................................................................................... 6 Region Sonderjylland-Schleswig ................................................................................................... 8 Baranya Region ............................................................................................................................. 9 Centrope Region ......................................................................................................................... 10 Euro-regio Galicia-Northern Portugal ......................................................................................... 12 Bothnian Arc ................................................................................................................................ 13 Baltic Sea Region ......................................................................................................................... 14 Meuse-Rhine Euroregio (MRE) .................................................................................................... 15 EUREGIO Enschede-Gronau ........................................................................................................ 17 Inner Scandinavia ........................................................................................................................ 18 Bohemian-Saxon Switzerland ..................................................................................................... 19 Insubrica Euregion: Lakes and Alps ............................................................................................. 21 Euregio Silva Nortica ................................................................................................................... 21 Rhodopes and Aegean Sea .......................................................................................................... 23 Helsinki-Tallinn ............................................................................................................................ 24 The Channel Tunnel .................................................................................................................... 25 3. Interregional branding initiatives .................................................................................................. 25 Brainport Region ......................................................................................................................... 26 Solent Region .............................................................................................................................. 28 Skaraborg .................................................................................................................................... 29 Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar .................................................................................................... 30 Vogtland ...................................................................................................................................... 31 Western France ........................................................................................................................... 32 Eastern Poland ............................................................................................................................ 33 4. Selection of cases for further study .............................................................................................. 35 1. Introduction The connection between Denmark and Germany gets a new dimension with the construction of the Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link that should open in 2021. This tunnel is expected to strengthen the link between Copenhagen and Hamburg. It will also drastically improve the link between the German and Danish areas close to the new tunnel: the region Sjaelland in Denmark, the city of Lübeck and the Counties of Ostholstein and Plön in Germany. This new transnational region has been labeled the Fehmarnbelt region. However, “calling it a region is an expression of a vision for the area - not the reality”1. Compared to other areas in the Baltic Sea Region, the area of the Fehmarnbelt Region has “a low visibility”2 among potential investors and talents. The objective of work package 1a is to present a comprehensive overview of examples of transnational and interregional applications of place branding that could be interesting for the partners in the Fehmarnbelt region. Also, the report suggests 6 potential case studies from which three cases are analyzed in work package 1b. Across Europe there are numerous examples of interregional place branding as well as transnational branding indicatives. Just listing all of them would not be very helpful to the partners in the Fehmarnbelt region. To be included in this overview of place branding initiatives five criteria were used. A branding initiative is included if: 1. there is a clear transnational or interregional dimension; 2. they have been implemented or in other words that they are up and running and outsiders can learn from their experiences; 3. there is a identifiable joint strategic approach; 4. identifiable marketing/branding activities have been employed; 5. the focus is preferably broader than attracting leisure tourists, and attracting inward investment is an important part of the initiative; Selection criterion five has been added as a result of the discussion on September 30th where the partners indicated that the focus should be on broader branding initiatives aiming at investors and businesses. In the next section 2 we present an overview of transnational branding initiatives. Section 3 concerns relevant interregional place branding initiatives. Section 4 includes presents our proposed selection of the place branding initiatives presented in section 2 and 3 that could be one of the three cases that will be analyzed in more detail. 1 See: Terms of Reference for Tender - Feasibility Study and Activity Plan: Branding of the Fehmarnbelt Region, p4 2 See: Terms of Reference for Tender - Feasibility Study and Activity Plan: Branding of the Fehmarnbelt Region, p4 1 2. Transnational branding initiatives While non-European examples of transnational region branding exist3, the rise of the transnational region and the development of branding strategies for these regions can be described as a European phenomenon. The typical form of transnational regional cooperation is the Euregion, which are created to reduce administrative, cultural-linguistic or infrastructural barriers separating the governments, firms and residents of border regions. INTERREG-funding is available for enabling projects to reach these aims. Many, but far from all Euregions include cross-border region branding in their list of tasks. By communicating the assets of the combined transnational region as a single offering (for example investment opportunities for the audience of potential investors; workers, markets and cooperation opportunities with local universities for the audience of firms and entrepreneurs considering relocation; jobs and quality-of-life assets for potential residents; cultural attractions for the audience of tourists and business travelers), the combined offering is likely to be more attractive and diverse that that of the separate parts of the region. The implicit promise is that all these assets are within reach from any location within the transnational regions. Gradual reduction of legal, administrative and cultural-linguistic barriers along internal borders of the European Union, as well as continued investment in border-spanning transportation infrastructure makes this promise more and more realistic. However this is not always the case, and in particular differences in governance practices and expectations may pose a challenge. Through desk research a total of 17 examples of transnational branding initiatives have been identified. They range from small transnational regions such as the EUREGIO region spanning the Dutch-German border, to multinational initiatives spanning an area as large as the Baltic Sea Region. For each of the 17 cases, their precise location (including a map) and brand name (with their slogan or catchphrase if available) as well as their intended target