31.12.2011 EUBORDERREGIONS NEWSLETTER 2 New Year’s Message from EUBORDERREGIONS If 2011 is anything to go by, 2012 promises to be a tumultuous year in economic, political and social terms. Much of our attention will be directed towards Europe and the troubles of the Eurozone, but the shifts that are taking place are obviously of international importance and touch all corners of the globe. Traditional politics “as usual” might not be enough to guide us through the creative, complex but often frightening unruliness that is our contem- porary world. Part of the raison d’etre of EUBORDERREGIONS is the proposition that co- operation, dialogue and openness are still our main resources for social and economic devel- opment and dealing with the challenges of diversity. During 2012, this project will explore the potentials of local development strategies based on economic, social and political networking beyond the EU’s formidable external frontiers. Although somewhat drowned out by politi- cal messages of fear and controlled borders, local diplomacy has a long and important history of creating inter- cultural dialogue. We here at EUBORDERREGIONS hope for a productive and progressive 2012, both in more in more global terms as well as for all of us individually. Stay tuned to this website for up-to-date information from fascinating borderlands “on the edge” of our greater regional Neighbourhood! Yours, James Scott EUBORDERREGIONS II Workshop was held in INSIDE THE NEWSLETTER: V i e n n a Status of the project, WP activities The EUBORDERREGIONS Workshop 2 was held in Vienna (Austria) overview (Pages 2-3) on October 21-22, 2011, attended by the representatives of all 14 partner organisations. During the two-day meeting, the progress of the Workpackage Profile of Russian-Finnish Border (WP) 2 (Geopolitical Data, WP 3 (Socio-Economic data), WP 4 (Empirical Tem- Region (Page 4) plate), WP 5 (Case Studies), WP9 (Dissemination) as well as several adminis- Profile of Estonian-Russian Border trative and financial issues. Region (Page 5) Next workshop will take place on May 8-10, 2012 in Budapest, organised by Hungarian project partner TARKI- Social Science Research Institute. Profile of Polish-Ukrainian Border Region (Page 6) Profile of Italian-Tunisian Border Region (Page 7) Xavier Ferrier-Gallardo´s article “On islam and European identity” published in December edition of Le Monde Diplomatique (Page 8-9) Upcoming events (Page 10). Page 2 www.euborderregions.eu Status of the project: Migration, Military, Politics). The project work is divided into a major theoretical The specific objectives of the database are following: and methodological element (WP 1), five main · To contribute with relevant, exhaustive and updated research (RTD) workpackages (WP 2-6), an RTD information to the research to be conducted workpackage for actual fieldwork implementation within the entire EUBORDERREGIONS project; (WP7), a training package for fieldwork (WP 8) and separate workpackages for policy options deriving · To allow immediate comparison among different is- from our research as well as dissemination activities sues and different countries; (WP 9) and management (WP 10). · To assist in the identification of the main issues that WP1 “State of debate: theories and affect the European Neighbourhood Policy and methods of complex regional analysis ” cross-border relations across the EU’s external frontier, including the selection of case studies Main activities are defining scope and select case to be conducted within the project; study areas, characterising the current state of scholarly debate, policy research and analytical tools, · To provide data and information that will be further summarising insights and arguments that have elaborated and interpreted in the framework of WP 2, as a support material to the analysis and emerged as a result of research, preparing a Final presentation of the main geopolitical issues Project Report. which affect cross-border relations across the In the workshop in Vienna the consortium has agreed EU’s external border. on the following case studies: According the work plan, WP2 Mid-term scientific re- 1. NOR-RU (Kirkenes-Murmansk Oblast) port will be delivered by June 2012. 2. SE-NOR (Kiruna-Narvik) 3.FIN-RUS (SE Finland-Leningrad Oblast: Kotka- W P 3 “ S o c i o - economic data” Lapeenranta-Vyborg-St. Petersburg) 4. EST-RUS (Narva-Ivangorod; Tartu-Pskov) WP 3 is managed by Institute for Advanced Studies 5. POL-UKR (Przemysl- Sambor) (Austria). WP3 tasks include regional benchmarking 6. HUN-UKR (Ungvár-Nyíregyháza-Beregszász) and the analysis of socio-economic development pat- 7. ROM-UKR-MOL (Iasi-Chernivtsi-Chisinau) terns in the EU peripheral border regions within 8. TR-BG (Kirklareli-Burgas) mesoregional contexts. The NUTS 2 and NUTS 3 levels 9. GR-TR (E. Macedonia/Thrace-Edirne) are the main focus. 11 data topics have been selected 10. E-MOR (Straits of Gibraltar) and developed and these include: market size, demo- 11. I-TUN (Straits of Sicily with a focus on graphics, GDP/income data, migration, infrastructure, Trapani (IT) and Bizerte (TUN) national accounts, tourism data, transport (air, mari- About researches read under WP 2,3,4,5. time, road), education indicators, etc. WP2 “Regional dimensions of Change WP4 “Regional dimensions of Change 1: Geopolitical data” 2: Design for fieldwork” WP2 – “Geopolitical Data” is mainly managed by WP 4 tasks include developing, refining and CeSPI – Centro Studi di Politica Internazionale of operationalising central research questions, final Rome and Sapienza University of Rome, with the col- designation of method-mix for case studies, guidelines laboration of UEF (Finland), UIT (Norway), Nordregio for fieldwork. WP is managed by TARKI Social Science (Sweden), UAB (Spain), METU (Turkey), CISR Research Institute (Hungary). (Russian Federation) and IRS (Germany). The consortium has decided to put less emphasis on The first product of the WP2 - Project Empirical Data- standardized questionnaires and more on in-depth base –was delivered in December. The empirical da- interviews but with an inclusion of ‘network analysis’. tabase includes geo-economic, socio-economic and This is being done in order to consolidate resources political data, which are relevant in relation to a vari- and enhance impacts of fieldwork. ety of geopolitical issues regarding EU, EU’s Member Mapping underway in all case study regions States and their relations with EU neighbor countries. and has resulted in the choice of concrete case The contents of the database are classified and avail- study areas (urban networks). It is also decided able according to the data format (Country Data, Re- that visualization elements (social network lational Data, Hot Spots, Regions, Routes) and ac- analysis in particular) are an important prelimi- cording to the information domain (Border issues, nary step and should be incorporated into the Economy, Infrastructures, International cooperation, standardized questionnaire. This will serve as EUBORDERREGIONS NEWSLETTER 2 Page 3 compensation for the reduction of the overall WP 6,7,8 number of standardized questionnaires. Observation (on land border-crossings) that Work packages activities have not started yet. help identify gaps between the different sides level at least NUTS 3 level if not more local. WP9 “Dissemination” Gaps signify distance between neighbours. WP is managed by Peipsi CTC (Estonia) in coopera- Standardized questionnaires mapping has tion of all partners. Project website shown that the target of 300 per case study is www.euborderregions.eu and social media not realistic for several case study areas (e.g. (Facebook, Twitter) are implemented and updated NOR-RUS, TR-GR, PL-UKR) and should not be regularly. Project flyers were produced and distrib- taken as a minimum standard for all partners. uted. Pdf-versions are available also on project web- Instead, in all, we will target 75-100 for each side. In-depth interviews. Observation: this would involve fieldwork of 4 separate weeks during a calendar year and 4 observers. Media analysis e.g. home pages of municipali- ties, firms in the area, local media. WP 4 discussion included the spheres of the fieldwork, the template and concrete research questions: The spheres of the fieldwork “Map- Narrow (in Identifying key players within the three ping” (a general stakeholder groups; reviewing documents, n inven- case study websites and literature relating to issues and tory of areas) specific areas actors) Narrow (around Border-crossings and neighbouring settle- Obser- four bor- ments (with a special focus on twin cities and vation der cross- their vicinity) on the two sides of the border ing points) Ques- The LAU1 regions closest to the border sec- tionnair Wider tion observed es In-depth The NUTS3 region closest to the border ob- inter- Wider served and any other actor relevant in EU view Neighborhood Policy Home pages of the settlements and firms in Content Wider the NUTS3 region and the regional (county- analysis level) on-line media site as well as published newsletters, document tem- plates and other information about the project. Stake- (Participants to be selected at a later stage, holder Wider after survey, interviews) WP10 “Management” Forums WP is managed by University of Eastern Finland. WP5 “Case-studies” Next Workshop 3 and the Conference will take place in Budapest (8-13 May 2012). 11 case studies have been chosen. The work of WP Next deliverables: will strive to produce typologies (for example, regard- ing local and cross-border governance forms and per- * Training Manual (April 2012) ceptions of regional development potentials) and visu- * Working Papers 1 (April 2012) * Project Conference 1 (May 2012) alizations (social network analysis). Descriptions are * Reporting in Month 18. available on www.euborderregions.eu and will be in- troduced in project newsletters also. Page 4 www.euborderregions.eu Border Regions The five regional contexts that connect the EU with its immediate neighbourhood will be the focus of work in EUBORDERREGIONS project: • Northeastern Europe / the Barents Sea Region • Baltic Sea basin, • Eastern Dimensions: e.g.