scholarly journals Transborder Cooperation in the Carpathian and Barents Regions: Optimization of Management through Comparative Sociological Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 5-13
Author(s):  
Olesia Benchak

The article is devoted to analysis of the peculiarities of transborder cooperation in the Carpathian and Barents regions and optimization of its management through comparative sociological analysis. The institutional capacity of managing transborder cooperation, in the Barents region of northern Europe, its focus on increasing human capital and reorienting to cluster development can serve as an example for the development of cross-border cooperation in the Carpathian region. This is evidenced by the multifaceted activities of the Barents Euro-Arctic and Barents Regional Councils for the development of cooperation between the border regions and territorial communities, coordination of priorities and implementation of Barents Co-operation programs at the international, intergovernmental and interregional levels, synchronization of their activities in the Arctic region with EU institutions, cooperation leading international structures in Northern Europe, the Arctic and the Baltic. Such institutional experience in the Barents region indicates the feasibility and high potential impact of establishing a new multilateral international instrument for supporting cross-border cooperation in the Carpathian region. This experience should not be copied, but should be implemented taking into account the specifics of the Carpathian region. The author`s position on the methodological foundations of the sociological study of crossborder interactions as a differentiating and solidarizing factor is formulated. Perspective directions of research of cross-border interactions are seen first of all in: creation of international research collectives; elaboration and improvement of sociological tools for monitoring the state and dynamics of cross-border interactions; constructing a system of indicators that characterize the factors of micro, meso, macro and global levels that determine the content of cross-border interactions. The Ukrainian-Slovak, Ukrainian-Hungarian and Ukrainian-Romanian borders as a special space of social differentiation and integration remain extremely unexplored.

2014 ◽  
Vol 46 (11) ◽  
pp. 2718-2734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaj Zimmerbauer

This paper studies how supranational regions are built through the interplay of borders and networks. The focus is on how territory and network become manifest in planning, and in particular on the actual contexts in planning where the territorial discourse is emphasized. Conceptually, territory–network interplay is linked to recent discussions on relational/territorial space, multidimensionality of sociospatial relations, and thin and thick region building. The Barents Euro-Arctic Region is used here as an example, and the region's recent geoeconomic turn is studied first. The paper concludes that, despite geoeconomization, network is not dominant over territory as a key category in supranational region building. Although the contemporary (new) regionalist planning discourse emphasizes the institutionalization of network-oriented regional (economic) spaces without definitive boundaries, processes such as representing the region in branding or (re)defining who is eligible to join the official structures of cross-border cooperation entail a degree of territorial thinking and make use of the notions of boundedness and spatial symmetry. In planning practices networks commonly create the territory effect and vice versa. However, due to their different ontologies, network and territory can appear as separate or even contradictory discourses as well.


Author(s):  
Elena Maslova ◽  
◽  

The article analyses the cross-border cooperation between the Northern Calotte states (Finland, Norway, Sweden) and the North-West of Russia within the framework of the Kolarctic program. Nowadays, in the context of the sanctions and counter-sanctions between Russia and the EU, cross-border cooperation is one of the few channels for dialogue between them. The paper analyses the EU Kolarctic program regarding the macro-political context of the EU policy and its environmental, Arctic and border dimensions in particular. The author reveals that the EU has neither Arctic territories nor sufficient tools for political influence in the Arctic region, however, its interest in the region is continuously growing. The EU regards its participation in the Arctic agenda primarily in the context of obtaining observer status in the Arctic Council. European Union expresses concern about climate change and environmental degradation, while seeking to increase imports of energy from the region. The author comes to the conclusion that in addition to the task of reducing the periphery of territories, the EU also pursues the political goals through the program. For instance, strengthening the political presence of the EU in the Arctic region as well as to strengthening its role as a global leader on environmental issues.


Author(s):  
E. W. Sexton

Gammarus zaddachi is perhaps the most prolific and widespread of all the estuarine amphipods known to occur in northern Europe, and inhabiting, as it does, the low-salinity estuarine zone and adjacent coasts, it has come to be recognized in recent ecological work as a ‘salinity indicator’.Unfortunately, there has been constant confusion with the other common species of Gammarus, G. locusta, pulex, and duebeni, which has been greatly complicated by the difference in the appearance of zaddachi according as it lives in a freshwater or a saline habitat. It is shown that this difference is entirely due to the sensory equipment, the greater production of hairs in freshwater conditions, and that the structure of the two ‘forms’ is identical.The history of the species has been carried back as far as I have been able to trace it (1836) with the actual specimens, described in the different papers, and the more important of these papers are discussed. It will be seen that the material examined was derived from every country of northern Europe; from Russia, the White Sea, Crimea, and the Baltic, the coasts of Scandinavia, Germany, including the Hamburg water-supply, Denmark, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Ireland, and France as far up the Loire as Nantes.Detailed descriptions and figures of both forms of G. zaddachi are given; and finally, a comparison is made between the species most commonly confused with it, the Arctic species G. wilkitzkii being included because of a suggestion recently made that it might be, not a distinct species, but merely the Arctic form of zaddachi.


Author(s):  
Vasilii Erokhin

The Arctic possesses about one-quarter of the world's untapped energy resources and abundant deposits of minerals. The region has always been in the focus of geopolitical interests of the USA, Russia, countries of Northern Europe, and Canada. However, with an opening of the previously ice-jammed waterways, new potential sites with vast resources have been identified and explored. Diversified transportation routes are of paramount importance to the economic and energy security of energy importing countries, particularly non-Arctic ones. As the Arctic becomes a focus of interest of many regional and non-regional actors, it is crucial to identify the dangers such a boom may bring. This chapter reviews the history of the Arctic policies of major actors in the region, overviews the contemporary approaches to the development of the Arctic, and discusses how varying interests and policies can be translated into the effective international regulations for the benefit of the entire Arctic region, its people, environment, and sustainable development.


Author(s):  
Lesya Hazuda

The paper is dedicated to the role and place of cross-border cooperation in supporting sustainable development of neighboring bordering territories of the Carpathian region and member-states of the European Union. The comparative analysis of the indicators showing social and economic development of the regions of neighboring states from the countries on both sides of the border has been conducted. The ethnic affinity is underlined as an important element of development of cross-border cooperation. The need is substantiated in activation of cross-border cooperation through boosting integration and convergence processes with aim to provide balanced development of bordering territories.


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