CESCI 10

Central European Service for Cross-border Initiatives (CESCI), was established in 2009 with the aim of facilitating cross-border cooperation around Hungary and in Central and South-East Europe. Since its foundation, the association has become an important actor at the international scene as a think-and-do-tank of cross-border cooperation. On its 10th anniversary a two-day international conference with a plenary and six panel sessions was organised in the premises of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences on 25th and 26th April 2019.

The nearly 150 participants were greeted by Karl-Heinz Lambertz President of the Committee of the Regions, Pál Völner State Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Hungary, and Tamás Tóth President of CESCI. After their opening speeches five interesting plenary lectures were performed by noted speakers on different topics of cross-border activities. Karen Maguire held her presentation about cross-border innovation, Andreas Faludi talked about the postmodern interpretation of territorialism and sovereignty, Jean Peyrony spoke about the new approach of financing of cross-border developments, Martín Guillermo Ramírez pointed out the obstacles and opportunities of institutional cooperation across the borders, and Alfonso Zardi addressed in his lecture cross-border cooperation as a tool of democratisation.

The first thematic panel was moderated by Gyula Ocskay, secretary general of CESCI. The panel was dedicated to the scientific background of cross-border cooperation (border studies, borderlands studies or cross-border studies) with a special emphasis on the newest achievements and their theoretical implications of border research. Jaroslaw Janczak spoke about the myth of borderless world, Sara Svensson emphasized the increasing use of (social) network analysis, and, through the example of the Finnish-Russian border region, Heikki Eskelinen talked about the border as a resource for development.

The second thematic session, with the approach of the cross-border planning, was led by Mátyás Jaschitz, director of planning of CESCI. In this panel Eduardo Medeiros talked about the bottom-up cross-border planning, Frederick-Christoph Richters interpreted the role of integrated planning in a cross-border polycentric metropolitan region through the example of Luxembourg, Jerzy Bański emphasized the difficulties of cross-border planning on the case of Lublin region, while at the end of the session Matteo Berzi spoke about the challenges of the Mediterranean Railway Corridor.

The last panel of the first day moderated by Katalin Fekete head of unit of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was dedicated to cross-border governance. In this panel Hideo Kojimoto held his presentation with the title ‘Multi-level Governance or Cross-scale Regional Governance?’, Estelle Evrard dealt with spatial justice, Slaven Klobučar spoke about the EGTCs, and finally Marcin Krzymuski drew the attention on the legal obstacles for institutionalising cross-border cooperation between Polish and German communities.

The first session of the second day was dedicated to the introduction of certain European tools used for the enhancement of integrated cross-border development. The moderator of this panel was Enikő Hüse-Nyerges, project manager of CESCI. Alessandra Giovinazzo talked about the integrated plans and complex projects implemented in the Franco-Italian alpine territory, Szilveszter Holop presented the innovative and integrated solutions of the Interreg V-A Slovakia-Hungary Cross-Border Cooperation Programme, and, based on the experiences of the EGTC GO, Sandra Sodini shed light on the new cross-border cooperation approach.

The fifth panel, moderated by Rudolf Bauer, director of CESCI Carpathia, was about policy making in the field of cross-border cooperation with a special focus on territorial impact assessment. Nathalie Verschelde held her presentation about the European toolbox of cross-border policy and projects, Alain De Muyser spoke about the Benelux Union, as a laboratory for European Integration, Claes Håkansson presented the Nordic Model of Freedom of Movement, while Martin Unfried talked about Cross-border Policy making and legislative impact assessment.

Ervin Erős, director of CESCI Balkans, moderated the last panel of the event. This panel dealt with the topic of cross-border knowledge sharing. ISIG’s relevant experiences were presented by Ramona Velea, while those of Euro-Institute by Anne Thevenet. Anthony Soares addressed in his lecture cross-border knowledge sharing in the border region of Northern Ireland and Ireland. Finally, Hynek Böhm talked about cross-border cooperation in the context of education and labour market at the Czech-Polish border.

Apart from the rich professional program, colourful side-events were organised such as taking a group photo about the ‘Border-Family’. Also, the participants of the conference were invited to a gala dinner accompanied with a cultural program at the Vörösmarty hall offering an amazing view on the Buda Castle and the Danube. The ceremonial speech was delivered by Levente Magyar, parliamentary state secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. After his speech the Corvinus Közgáz Folkdance Ensemble took the floor. The Ensemble – in which Enikő Hüse-Nyerges, project manager of CESCI, is also a distinguished member – provided an amazing atmosphere for the dinner.