Funded by European Commission DG Research, 6th Framework Programme

New Event

Challenges and Prospects of Cross Border Co-operation in the Context of EU Enlargement

Policy Workshop

to be held on 13 Novenber 2008, Brussels, Belgium

Aims of the Workshop

To present the policy implications of the study to Europe’s policy making community, identifying examples of good policy practice and making evidence-based policy recommendations at the EU, national and regional levels with respect to cross border entrepreneurship.

Workshop Programme

To see the programme, please, click here.

 

The Venue

The workshop will be held in West Midlands European Centre - an ideally located facility in the heart of Brussels. The address is Avenue d’Auderghem 22-28, 1040 Brussels. It is 2 minutes walk from Schuman metro, connecting to national and international rail routes. The centre can be reached in 20 minutes from Brussels International Airport.

 

Registration

To register, please, download the registration from, complete it and send it to Dr. Mirela Xheneti, e-mail: M.Xheneti@kingston.ac.uk

 

Past Events

Cross Border Cooperation and Entrepreneurship Development in Border Regions

International Scientific Conference

to be held on 2 – 4 July 2008 Varna, Bulgaria

http://conference.crossbordercoop.net

Papers are welcome on any aspect of cross-border co-operation, entrepreneurship and economic development in border regions, but papers on the following topics are particularly welcome:

• The impact of EU enlargement on border regions;

•  Entrepreneurship development  in  border regions;

• The roles of identity, historical and cultural background on cross border co-operation;

• Learning and trust in the context of entrepreneurship development;

• The role of institutions in cross border cooperation involving entrepreneurs and enterprises

• Policies to encourage and support cross border co-operation involving entrepreneurs

Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec 2007

Greece

November - December 2007

Two workshops were organized by RDPRU team, Greek partners in the project, at the regions of Florina and Serres:

The first one, involving the regions of Florina-Edessa, took place on Monday, 26 November 2007, including a working dinner in a restaurant at the city of Florina. We invited a limited number of participants, namely eight people, with whom we already have close cooperation and we believe they are able to disseminate the main findings of our project.

Representatives from the local authorities and business support organisations attended this meeting and we were able to present our key findings from the enterprise and household surveys that were conducted during the two previous months. Thus, we were able to strengthen our relationships with the local policy makers and focus on the specific regional policies that can foster cross border cooperation in the neighbouring regions.

The second workshop (Serres-Drama) took place on Monday, 3 December 2007 in a hotel’s conference hall at the city of Serres. There were more people invited there, owning to the fact that the local entrepreneurs were interested in participating. Thus, there were 17 people who attended this meeting, including the Prefect of Serres, the General Director of Serres Chamber, the president of Serres Business Innovation Centre, representatives from the entrepreneurial community and the local public media.

The meeting lasted two hours and we were able to present our findings, discuss them and assess the available policies aiming at fostering cross border cooperation in the regions of Serres and Drama. Proposals concerning policy measures were also made, aiming at reaching some conclusions for the local policy makers.

Bulgaria

October 2007

Two workshops in Petrich and Kyustendil were held on 30 and 31 October 2007 in the frames of CBCED project.

The workshops were attended by local entrepreneurs, managers in enterprises working with the neighboring countries and by representatives of local authorities and NGOs.

Special participant in the workshops was the project coordinator Professor David Smallbone who presented briefly the project progress and the so far achieved results.

Discussions about the characteristics of the cross border regions as preconditions and limitations for cross border co-operation and entrepreneurship were held during the workshops.

The preliminary results from the interviews with local entrepreneurs doing cross border activities were discussed too.

The workshops ended with deliberations of the possible policy recommendations to local, regional and central authorities aimed at encouragement of cross border entrepreneurship.

Important outcomes from the workshop were the finding of common interests of the participants and formulations of directions for future advantageous co-operation.

Greece

July 2007

On Wednesday the 11th of July 2007, the First Experts’ Meeting was conducted in Florina, aiming at analysing the prospects of cross border cooperation between Thessaloniki-Florina-Edessa and the neighbouring regions from the F.Y.RO.M. The meeting lasted for two hours and took place in Florina University. Representatives from the Local and Prefectural Self Governments of the two Greek regions were invited, together with business support organisations and other local development institutions.

The RDPRU team presented the findings collected through the key-informant interviews that were conducted in the region during the first phase of the CBCED project, followed by a discussion concerning the opportunities and threats deriving from the recent EU enlargement and the prospects for cooperation between institutions and enterprises from the cross border regions. Finally, the available policies aiming at fostering entrepreneurship and local development were evaluated, while proposals for the improvement of the current situation were introduced.

On Monday the 16th of July 2007, the First Experts’ Meeting was conducted in Serres, aiming at analysing the prospects of cross border cooperation between Thessaloniki-Serres-Drama and South Bulgarian regions. The meeting lasted two hours and took place in “Konstantinos Karamanlis Hall” at the premises of the Prefecture of Serres.

The local Self Governments of Serres and Drama were invited, alongside with business support organisations from the same regions. The Serres Business Innovation Centre, the Nestos-Mesta Euro-region and the Exporters’ Association of Northern Greece also participated. Moreover, the meeting was attended by representatives from other institutions as well as citizens from the region of Serres.

A discussion concerning the findings of the key-informant interviews that were conducted during the first period of the project took place, while the participants exchanged their views on the prospects of cross border cooperation in the context of the EU enlargement and the accession of Bulgaria. Finally, there was an attempt to evaluate the available policies, both on a regional and a national level, aiming at fostering the institutional and entrepreneurial cooperation between the Greek and Bulgarian cross border regions.

Poland

March 2007

The second experts’ meeting in the project Cross Border Cooperation and Entrepreneurship Development (CBCED) was organized in Zgorzelec on 7 March. Participants of the event were representatives of local authorities – the City of Zgorzelec, Dolnośląski Marshall Office and also associations of entrepreneurs in the region. After the presentation of the project objectives, there were discussed important issues including engaging entrepreneurs to the process of improving competitiveness and cross border cooperation. Participants of the meeting agreed, that the region has a great potential to examine ways of cooperation in the field of textile Euroregion. The main factor which determines future perspectives of the region is a strategic location and tradition of the City of Zgorzelec and Zgorzelecki district. Location on the Polish-German border gives a great opportunity for a development of cross border cooperation and entrepreneurship.

February 2007

The first experts’ meeting in the project Cross Border Cooperation and Entrepreneurship Development (CBCED) was organized in Biała Podlaska on 27 February. Participants of the event were representatives of local authorities – the City of Biała Podlaska and the Bialski District, members of the Bialskopodlaskie Association of Regional Development and also Polish and Belarusian entrepreneurs. There were discussed important issues including cross border cooperation, the process of building clusters and ways of entrepreneurship development in the context of widening the European Union enlargement. Participants of the meeting agreed, that the region has a great potential to create logistic and transport cluster and also a tourist one. The main factor which determines on the development of the region and its future perspectives is a strategic location of Bialski district next to the international communication ways. The discussion was moderated by Prof. Bogdan Piasecki from the University of Lodz and Krzysztof Hetman from the Lublin Marshall Office.