Research and Practice in Dialogue: How do cross-border public services and civic participation function in the Euroregion Pro Europa Viadrina?

Project lead:

• Dr Peter Ulrich (Scientific Managing Director, University of Potsdam)
• Dr Krzysztof Wojciechowski (Collegium Polonicum Słubice)

Cooperation partners:

• Moritz Filter (PhD student, TU Berlin)
• Dr Marcin Krzymuski (employee, Frankfurt-Słubice Cooperation Centre)

Funding institution:

INTERREG (European Territorial Cooperation)

Project duration:

1 January 2020 - 31 March 2022

Publications:

• Peter Ulrich & Krzysztof Wojciechowski (Hg./red.) (2022): Wissenschaft und Praxis im Dialog in unsicheren Zeiten. Grenzüberschreitende Daseinsvorsorge in der Euroregion Pro Europa Viadrina und anderen Regionen im Vergleich, Working Paper Series B/ORDERS IN MOTION Nr. 11, Frankfurt (Oder): Viadrina. DOI: 10.11584/B-ORDERS.11
• Peter Ulrich/ Norbert Cyrus/ Jarosław Jańczak (2024): Grenzüberschreitende Daseinsvorsorge im deutsch-polnischem Verflechtungsraum. Stand und Perspektiven am Beispiel der Euroregion Pro Europa Viadrina. Wiesbaden: Springer VS. Auch in polnischer
• Ulrich, Peter: "Participatory Governance in the Europe of Cross-Border Regions. Cooperation – Boundaries – Civil Society", Border Studies. Cultures, Spaces, Orders Vol. 4, Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2021. DOI: 10.5771/9783845290492 Nomos eLibrary Access

Social services of general interest include the cooperation areas of health, public transport, education, energy supply, civil protection and the labour market, among others, which are essential for human well-being. In EU border regions, these policy areas are often coordinated across borders at regional level. Despite the already high level of cross-border integration, there are still legal, administrative and political, but also cultural, social and linguistic barriers to cooperation in the area of services of general interest and social cooperation.

The scientifically informed cooperation project "Science and practice in dialogue: How do cross-border services of general interest and civic participation work in the Euroregion Pro Europa Viadrina?" aims to ensure that actors in cross-border services of general interest (for example in the areas of health, transport, education and labour) and civil society (citizens, associations and business) from the cross-border Euroregion Pro Europa Viadrina exchange information about these barriers with each other, but above all with scientists from the Euroregion, and network in terms of content and personnel. In addition to the existing networking of actors in cross-border services of general interest, the project brings these actors together with scientific experts in relevant scientific fields.

The project is funded by the Euroregion Pro Europa Viadrina (European Territorial Cooperation - INTERREG) and is a joint project of the Viadrina Center B/ORDERS IN MOTION and the Collegium Polonicum. As part of the project, field research visits with qualitative interview surveys were conducted with actors of (cross-border) services of general interest in the Euroregion Pro Europa Viadrina. The project results were presented for discussion at a final conference on 17 March 2021 and published in a bilingual publication.