This training was set up in response to the complex issues that the Latin American population faced in this part of the world. The border region, which includes 6 Mexican states and 4 American states, has specific characteristics in terms of demography and migratory dynamics. This vast territory studied has become a complex ecological, geopolitical and economic unit whose development significantly impacts the United States, Mexico and part of Latin America.
The University of San Diego's Trans-Border Institute (TBI) promotes lasting peace in Mexico and in the border region, through applied research, innovative educational practices and cross-border partnerships. For twenty years, the TBI has been a source of information on cross-border issues and the relations between Mexico and the United States. The TBI publishes data from surveys and reports on police reforms, arms trafficking and the application of the immigration laws.
The Centre for Border Region Studies in the University of Southern Denmark, in Sønderborg (founded in 2016, based on a research tradition dating back to 1976), links the Faculty of Human Sciences and the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences for interdisciplinary and comparative research work using qualitative methods. Specifically, the disciplines represented for research in the field of European cross-border regions are anthropology, geography, history and political sciences.
The research themes are structured using four fields as indicated by the Centre for Border Region Studies:
The role and developing functions of borders and cross-border regions
Current cross-border European regions: conflicts and cooperation
The role of (cross-border) regions and of the European Union
The cross-border research workshops were organized by the researchers from the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme of the University of Lorraine (MHSL) in collaboration with researchers from the University of Luxembourg. The main topic was the definition of the concept of “border.” Between 2008 and 2009, three workshops took place in order to provide the researchers with a meeting place where they could share and exchange ideas and knowledge.
