ITEM / TEIN Annual Conference 2024
26sep(sep 26)09:0027(sep 27)16:15
Event Details
This 2-day Conference (co-organised by the Institute for Transnational and Euregional cross-border cooperation and Mobility (ITEM) and the Transfrontier Euro-Institute Network (TEIN) addresses the practical challenges and prospects of future cross-border cooperation and mobility and advances debates and policy outlooks around and beyond the concept of horizontal integration.
The registration form will be published on this page as soon as possible.
About the conference
Crossing the border daily is part and parcel of the life world of millions of Europeans. Whether traveling for work, to study, to shop, or for leisure, inhabitants of border regions go regularly back and forth between one country and another. In our cross-border mobility we experience not only the pleasures of the EU’s freedom to travel, but in many ways also still face administrative and cooperative limits, and problematic differences in social security, taxation, health systems, diploma recognition, crime control, cross-border entrepreneurship, studying, sustainability, energy transformation etc. etc.
Since Maastricht 1992 we have come a long way in fostering cooperation and mobility in cross-border regions, but cross-border cooperation and mobility is easier said than done. We haven’t (yet) cleared all technical, legislative, and cultural obstacles for a borderless process of European integration. How can we move forward to the next level of European integration in cross-border regions? Which innovations in cross-border governance mechanisms do we need?
The European integration discourse has long been dominated by the concept of vertical integration, that is to say on the relationship between the EU and its member states. Horizontal integration implies a process between similar public and private authorities across state borders at lower (regional and municipal) administrative level as well as people to people interactions.
Preliminary Programme
Thursday, 26 September 2024
| 09:00 – 17:00 | Registration |
| 09:30 – 10:05 | Opening
Welcome remarks by hosts (TEIN, BIG, ITEM) |
| 10:05 – 10:30 | First keynote address
Elisa Ferreira, DG REGIO (to be invited) |
| 10:30 – 11:30 | Thematic plenary session: The Future of Cohesion in Cross-border Regions
Moderator: Martin Unfried The panel will discuss the future strategy and funding instruments for cohesion policy with a focus on in cross-border regions. In particular, the panel will discuss the future of Interreg programmes with respect to current deficiencies and strengths and the role of other EU funds. Expected panellists:
|
| 11:30 – 11:45 | Coffee break |
| 11:45 – 13:15 | Plenary paper presentation – TEIN Cross-Border Impact Assessment: Facilitating Cross-Border Solutions in the European border regions – the revised ECBM – An instrument for Horizontally integrated Europe?
A new instrument has been proposed to boost cross-border cooperation in Europe and to foster development in border regions: Facilitating Cross-Border Solutions. This panel will present insights from different border regions across Europe and assess what the impact would be. Insights from border regions in the Benelux territory, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, France and Austria by ITEM, CESCI, WSB, Euro-Institut, Faculty of Public Administration – University of Ljubljana, Viadrina Center B/ORDERS IN MOTION, Carinthia University of Applied Sciences. |
| 13:15 – 14:15 | Lunch break |
| 14:15 – 15:15 | Thematic plenary session: functional cross-border cooperation:
Moderator: Math Noortmann Cross-border cooperation: structural inhibitors and functional enablers In this panel we discuss aspects that facilitate or impede cross-border cooperation. The panellist in this panel address (inter alia) such dogmas and sacred cows as national sovereignty and competitive advantage. But the panel also exhibit sectoral success in the fields of administration, education, entrepreneurship and crime control. |
| 15:25 – 17:10 | Plenary paper presentation – Attitudes on European Integration in Border Regions in the light of the European Parliament Elections 2024
1. Cross-border regions as laboratories for European integration in the perspective of the European elections 2024: a comparison of the Franco-German and Franco-Belgian borderlands – prof. dr. Bernard Reitel (University of Artois) 2. European narratives at the Franco-German border (Upper Rhine and Greater Region) in the light of European Elections 2024 – prof. dr. Birte Wassenberg (Sciences Po Strasbourg) 3. What future in terms of cooperation for a pioneering cross-border region? A study at the Franco-Walloon border. – prof. dr. Fabienne Leloup (UCLouvain) 4. The cross-border effects in political plans for European Parliament Elections 2024: quo vadis? – Martin Unfried (ITEM) Discussion on future of border regions in light of the Elections. |
| 17:10 – 17:15 | Closing of the day |
| 17:30 – 19:30 | Welcome Reception (hosted by Province of Limburg) & speech of Governor Roemer (Governor Province of Limburg & Chair of the Euregio Meuse-Rhine (TBC)) |
Friday, 27 September 2024
| 09:00 – 13:00 | Registration |
| 09:30 – 09:45 | Welcome Remarks (UM) |
| 09:45 – 10:15 | Second keynote address
Prof. dr. Tobias Chilla, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (contacted, to be confirmed) |
| 10:30 – 12:00 | Parallel paper session 1A Cross-border regions in national and European policies
1. Towards de-territorialised cross-border cooperation: Exceptional rules for cross-border situations without territorial differentiation criteria – Prof. dr. Michael Frey (HS Kehl) 2. A self-centered approach of EU instruments: Active subsidiarity in cross-border cooperation – dr. Jean-Francois Clouzet (Savoie Mont-Blanc University) & dr. Tamara Espineira-Guirao (Sciences Po Rennes) 3. Evaluation and the Future of Cross-border Cooperation in Hungary – dr. Zsuzsanna Fejes (University of Public Services) 4. Beyond the current toolbox of the Benelux Union: practices, experiences and foresight – dr. Loth van der Auwenmeulen (UHasselt) (TBC) |
| Parallel paper session 1B Cross-Border Integration and Cooperation from Lingual and Cultural perspectives
1. Cross-border Cooperation and the Maintenance and Revitalization of Minority Languages – dr. Jordi Cicres (University Pompeu Fabra) 2. Multilinguism in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine – dr. Daan Hovens (ITEM; TBC) 3. Adapting new horizons: Unravelling individual readiness in cross-border collaboration within the Dutch-German Borderland – Max Klöters (Fontys Venlo) 4. Measuring the cross-border integration level through the cross-border cultural powers. The case studies of the Basque, Flemish, and Upper Rhine cross-border regions in the EU – dr. Ahmed Bakry (Kassel University) |
|
| 12:00 – 13:00 | Lunch break |
| 12:30 – 12:50 | Book presentation |
| 13:00 – 14:15 | Plenary Session Resilient Cross-border Cooperation in times of Crisis
panelists: 1. Cross-border Cooperation & Crisis Management: Results related to Floods and Pandemic – Pim Mertens (ITEM) 2. Managing cross-border projects towards more resilient cooperation in borderlands. The post-pandemic perspective. – Prof. dr. Joanna Kurowska-Pysz (AWSB) 3. Strengthening the Resilience of EU Border Regions – Ruslan Zhechkov (Technopolis) (TBC). 4. Marian Ramakers, Crisis Management from a practitioner’s view |
| 14:30 – 15:45 | Parallel paper session 2A Cross-border mobility: Labour and Business
1. Pooling Cross-border Human Resources in the Healthcare Sector – Caroline Fischer & Le Anh Long (UTwente) 2. Learning organizations in a cross-border context: What are the leadership challenges of cross-border business development in the Dutch-German borderland? – Oskar J. Bronsgeest & dr. Sofie Moresi (Fontys Venlo) 3. Grasping crises as a whole – About current challenges and perspectives in light of the labour market transformation in the Upper Rhine Region – Margot Bonnafous & Fabienne Schimek (Euro-Institut) |
| Parallel paper session 2B Cross-border education
1. Exploring the Value of Cross-Border Business Curricula: A Case Study of the Collaborative Design on the Slovenian-Italian Border for MA Level Program in Intercultural Management – dr. Svetlana Buko (SASS FUDS) & dr. Giustina Selvelli (University of Ljubljana) 2. Towards a European degree for cross-border mobility? – Susanne Sivonen (ITEM) 3. Internationalisation in an euregional context |
|
| 15:30 – 16:00 | 3rd (Closing) keynote address
Prof. dr. Liesbeth Hooghe, University of North Carolina at Chapel (contacted, to be confirmed) |
| 16:00 – 16:30 | Conclusions and closure (ITEM/TEIN) |
