Governance – Power – Cooperation

The objective of this detailed study on cross-border mobility between France and Belgium and more particularly between the Department of Ardennes and Wallonia was, first of all, to provide the French and Walloon public employment services with knowledge of workers' movements between the border areas of the Department of Ardennes and the provinces of Hainaut, Namur and Luxembourg.

This information was intended to allow actions plans to be drawn up that would be better adapted to the characteristics and specificities of the Ardennes and Walloon employment areas in order to facilitate the geographical and professional mobility of cross-border workers, in terms of both information and advice and assistance, service provision and recruitment.

Accordingly, this work is intended, in an initial stage, to enable local stakeholders and professionals in the employment sector to have  socio-economic analysis of the Ardennes/Hainaut-Namur-Luxembourg cross-border territory, presenting the demographic specificities of the population (age, gender, educational level, level of qualification, socio-professional category, etc.) and the nature of the activity engaged in (salaried employee, employer, type of employment contract, length of contract, branch).

Secondly, the intention is to explore the issues relating to the labour market, in both its border and cross-border dimensions (characteristics, actors, demand, etc.) and in particular the question of the flows of cross-border workers, about which little was known until now on this portion of the Franco-Belgian border. The flows researched correspond to the movements of cross-border workers within the Department of Ardennes and the three Belgian province of Hainaut, Namur and Luxembourg. The cross-border flows into the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg are also presented in a complementary analysis.

The work then addresses the comparative study of the public employment services on either side of the border, looking at the points they have in common and their differences and taking into account the recent changes they have undergone. The question of vocational training, a corollary to the issue of job seeking, is also dealt with.
Finally, the study endeavours to review the situation with regard to the cross-border cooperation initiatives that exist on this segment of the Franco-Belgian border, focusing the analysis on employment-related projects in particular, with their successes and their limitations.

The article theorizes border-making in the context of urban development in Berlin (Germany) and Budapest (Hungary). It interprets urban borders as social institutions that emerge locally out of social relations and transform urban spaces. These bordered urban spaces serve as markers of socio-spatial distinction and are constantly (re)created and negotiated over time. Urban borders contribute to the construction of a sense of place and are created in the processes of place-making that relate to the bordering mechanism of attribution, appropriation and representation of places.

In recent decades, Border Studies have gained importance and have seen a noticeable increase in development.  This manifests itself in an increased institutionalisation, a differentiation of the areas of research interest and a conceptual reorientation that is interested in examining processes.  So far, however, little attention has been paid to questions about (inter-)disciplinary self-perception and the methodological foundations of Border Studies and the associated consequences for research activities.  This thematic issue addresses these desiderata and brings together articles that deal with their (inter-)disciplinary foundations as well as method(olog)ical and practical research questions.  The authors also provide sound insights into a disparate field of work, disclose practical research strategies, and present methodologically sophisticated systematizations.

The object of the current Thematic Issue is not to focus on the individuals (the cross-border commuters) but on the organization of the cross-border labor markets. We move from a micro perspective to a macro perspective in order to underline the diversity of the cross-border labor markets (at the French borders, for example) and shed light on the many aspects that impact cross-border supply or demand. Trying to understand the whole system that goes beyond the cross-border flows, the question we address in this thematic issue is about the organization of the labor markets: is the system organized in a cross-border way? Or do the borders still prevent a genuinely integrated cross-border labor market?

For a decade now, borders in Europe have been back on the political agenda. Border research has responded and is breaking new ground in thinking about and exploring borders. This book follows this development and strengthens a perspective that is interested in life realities and that focuses on the everyday cultural experience of borders. The authors reconstruct such experiences in the context of different forms of migration and mobility as well as language contact situations. In this way, they empirically identify everyday cultural usage or appropriation strategies of borders as vastly different experiences of the border. The readers of this volume will gain insights into current developments in border research and the life realities in Europe where borders are (made) relevant.

The UniGR-Center for Border Studies Border Textures working group was set up in 2015 to pursue and further develop the cultural orientation of Border Studies in the Greater Region. This research orientation focuses on the symbolic-social dimension of borders, which it addresses from both high and popular cultural angles and everyday cultural angles. To do this the working group has developed the Border Textures approach, which, as a methodology and heuristic, addresses the practises and discourses around borders with their actors, media, materialisations, effects, places and the complex interactions between them. The approach forms an instrument for analysis and refection that helps to understand the social and cultural workings and mechanisms of border (de)stabilisation.

In the spatial planning field this involves the strengthening of the higher level central spaces as healthcare centres and interconnection points for public transport services, the reinforcement of basic centres to secure primary care provision to the population in neighbouring districts and to stabilise the comprehensive coverage of the population with public service facilities and equal opportunities for access. The basic principles on which the ROP is built are sustainability, equality and gender equality. The spatial planning instruments identified are central places (concentration of development potential and reinforcement of exchanges of services between different levels of central places and their spheres of influence), function identification, threshold values, functional networks, priority areas, regional green corridors, settlement breaks. In addition there are also statements on mobility and the environment (especially the protection of open spaces and climate protection).

The article illustrates the very different developments of the subregions making up the Greater Region, but also the similarities (e.g. guest worker migration in the 1960s and 70s in the Greater Region, ethnic Germans who migrated to Germany in recent decades or American forces in Rhineland-Palatinate. The article looks in depth at each subregion, sets out the specificities of the regions and analyses the reasons behind them.  The development of the subregions is also examined in the context of their historical and economic development and the removal of the borders under the Schengen Agreement and the emergence of simplified cross-border migration (e.g. also atypical cross-border commuters) within the Greater Region. The different approaches to integration are also described.