Territorial thinking and the legal framework in cross-border cooperation : the recent situation and fieldwork results in the western alps.

In this article we discuss the following questions: what is the key to cross-border cooperation, particularly in the case of European mountain regions? Does the legal framework represent a starting point for the development of cross-border relations or is it just a simple tool in the service of territorial thinking? If we consider that there is a strong link between cross-border relations and the European project, the above questions also raise the issue of the relative roles of the bottom-up and top-down processes in the dynamics of European integration. Results suggest that the legal framework represents an indispensable tool in the service of territorial thinking but it cannot be a starting point for the development of cross-border relations. The solutions do not only concern the law but also territory; the essential question is how to define the social, political and spatial boundaries of cross-border cooperation

Predict and Provide vs Explore, Envision and Plan: Transforming the Urban Planning Approach towards the Future

Thinking about the future of humanity cannot be separated from thinking about the future of cities. Today, half of the world’s population lives in cities and the number of urban dwellers is constantly growing. On one hand, cities play a key role in generating economic growth; they are cores of human activity and frontiers of technological and cultural progress. On the other, urban areas are a source of a broad range of social and environmental problems and are especially vulnerable to the threats posed by factors such as climate change, terrorism, pandemic, social and cultural clashes. Considering the role and situation of cities today, it becomes evident that a change in ways of thinking and acting about the future of cities is required in order to ensure their prosperous and sustainable development in the future. This paper argues that futures methodologies can stimulate that change by providing a fresh, systematic, imaginative and innovative approach for the examination of possible, probable and desirable urban futures. On the outset, the paper explores the reasons behind the recent growth of interest in the application of futures methodologies in urban planning. It discusses the shortcomings of the current planning approach towards the future and outlines in which way futures methodologies can assist communities and decision-makers in envisioning and creating the desired future. Finally, the authors present the Prospective methodology model that can be used to promote and facilitate the shift in ways of thinking and acting about the future of cities

Social Participation of Turkish and Arabic Immigrants in the Neighborhood: Case Study of Moabit West, Berlin

Social participation of immigrants in district activities and local planning processes is given significance in Germany. It has become an important issue with the introduction of Neighborhood Management concept in the 1990s. This concept deals with districts which have a considerable percentage of low-income, unemployed, low-educated,immigrant population and social help beneficiaries. Immigrants are usually seen as the cause of the problems in those areas by the authorities since they are not integrated into the host societyand to the other immigrant groups. Since the 1990s, they have started to be seen as potential solution to the problems by means of an active social participation in their neighborhood. Desired level of social participation, however, has not been reached due to a number of reasons although there are a few immigrants who take part in social, cultural and planning activities in their district.The aim of this article is to outline the reasons of low participation rates, motivations of the participant immigrants and the forms of participation among Turkish and Arabic immigrantsin a neighborhood of Berlin, Moabit West, based on in-dept interviews made with both nonparticipant and participant immigrants and with some immigrant associations. The field research was carried out in June 2005, within the framework of the project ‘Immigrants in the City’. The reasons of low participation which were found as a result of this research study are language deficiency, different cultural understandings of participation, looking for concrete results of participatory actions and lack of information. The participant immigrants are motivated to solve the problems in the district and to change it, to increase integration of the immigrant youth into the society and of the immigrants, to the established society. Lastly, participant immigrants usually take part in street festivals and youth social work, and in immigrant associations instead of German ones

Cohesion Policy for rural areas after 2013. A rationale derived from the EDORA project (European Development Opportunities in Rural Areas) – ESPON 2013 Project 2013/1/2

The starting point of the EDORA project was the recognition that, rather than becoming more uniform in character, rural Europe is, in many ways, becoming increasingly diverse, implying new challenges and opportunities. The project’s overarching aim was to examine the process of differentiation, in order to better understand how EU policy can enable rural areas to build upon their specific potentials to achieve ‘smart, sustainable and inclusive growth’. The first phase of the project consisted of a literature review in order to establish a conceptual framework for subsequent empirical analysis. This identified a very wide range of aspects of contemporary rural change. In order to manage this complexity, and so that it could be communicated simply and clearly, three ‘meta-narratives’ of rural change were devised. In the second phase the evidence base for rural change was explored, both in terms of large scale patterns, based upon regional data, and local processes. The macro-scale patterns were addressed by three typologies. These were complemented at a micro-level by in-depth studies of 12 exemplar regions, reflecting a wide range of types and contexts. The third phase explored policy implications. The project’s findings point towards neo-endogenous approaches, in which a ‘bottom up’ process of regional programme design is fully supported and guided by available information, expert advice and the kind of strategic perspective which is best assembled at a central level. The EDORA findings are thus generally supportive of the ‘place based’ approaches advocated by the Barca Report

An Introduction to the Debate on Economic Governance an the European Constitution

Governance is a versatile term used in connection with several contemporary social sciences. The European Union (EU) established its own concept of governance in the White Paper on European Governance (Commission, 2001). The Final Report of the Working Group VI of the European Convention (2002) focused the debate on the concept of economic governance and analysed some of its implications (at political, economic, regional, social, legislative and international levels). The Constitutional Treaty has no clear definition of the scope and means of actions of the new Economic Governance in the EU, especially when Governance refers to economic and social policies. The dichotomy between Monetary Policy, controlled by the European Central Bank, and socio-economic policies, regulated by Member States, remains one of the peculiarities of the European process of integratio