Governing Border Regions: A conversation with UniGR-CBS Fellow María Verónica Elías

During her UniGR-CBS Fellowship at RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau from the end of May to the end of July 2026, María Verónica Elías explored border governance from a comparative perspective. The Associate Professor of Public Administration at the University of Texas at San Antonio brought her research on the US–Mexico border into dialogue with the European Greater Region. In an interview with the UniGR-CBS, she reflects on the differences between the two border contexts, the role of governance and planning, and the international exchange enabled by the UniGR-CBS Fellowship Programme.
 

UniGR-CBS: What motivated you to apply for the UniGR-CBS Fellowship and conduct research in the Greater Region?

María Verónica Elías: What interested me most was the interdisciplinary character of the UniGR-Center for Border Studies. When I discovered the Fellowship Programme, I was impressed by the way researchers from different universities and disciplines work together around shared questions in Border Studies. I had not encountered a comparable institutional network in the contexts I usually work in. For me, the Fellowship offered an opportunity to experience this cooperation directly and to explore what such a model can contribute to border research.
 

UniGR-CBS: Your research focuses particularly on the US–Mexico border. What stood out to you when comparing this context with the Greater Region?

María Verónica Elías: The two border contexts are very different. In the Greater Region, cross-border cooperation is supported by a broader European framework and by programmes and institutions that explicitly aim to strengthen territorial integration. At the US–Mexico border, cooperation is much more strongly shaped by questions of trade, security and border control. At the same time, both contexts raise similar questions about institutions, political priorities and the way decisions taken at higher levels affect border regions.
 

 
^{María Verónica Elías presenting her research at the UniGR-CBS Seminar Border Studies, June 2026, Saarland University, Saarbrücken (Germany).} 

UniGR-CBS: What does border governance mean from your perspective?

María Verónica Elías: I am particularly interested in how public institutions translate laws and policies into practice. Governance is therefore not only about formal rules, but also about the actors involved, the values and norms that shape decisions, and the way policies are implemented in specific situations. In border regions, this becomes especially relevant because different legal and administrative systems meet and because political decisions can have very direct consequences for everyday mobility and cooperation.
 

UniGR-CBS: How do these political and administrative decisions affect people living in border regions?

María Verónica Elías: Border policies affect people who cross borders for work, education, healthcare or other daily activities. Changes in border controls or mobility rules can therefore influence quality of life very quickly. This is why I think it is important to include the experiences of people living in border regions in policy processes and to create opportunities for their perspectives to inform decision-making.
 

^{María Verónica Elías and UniGR-CBS member Karina Pallagst during the podcast recording at RPTU, July 2026, Kaiserslautern (Germany).}  

UniGR-CBS: Looking back on your Fellowship, what has been the most valuable aspect of your stay?

María Verónica Elías: The most valuable aspect has been the people I met and the connections that developed during my stay. I had the opportunity to exchange with researchers across the UniGR-CBS partner universities, participate in the Seminar Border Studies and the Forum Greater Region, meet students and colleagues, and discuss possible future collaborations. For me, this is one of the main strengths of the Fellowship: it creates an environment in which new perspectives and collaborations can emerge across disciplines and institutions.

The UniGR-CBS thanks María Verónica Elías for the exchange.

Listen to the ON AIR Podcast Episode here