Professor John Bachtler and Dr Arno van der Zwet participated in the second workshop of the RSA Cohesion Policy Network in Paris on 15 March.
Part-funded by the Regional Studies Association and hosted by the DATAR, the French national agency for regional development, the workshop brought together academic researchers and practitioners from across Europe to discuss the concept and practice of cross-border and transnational cooperation as well as macro-regions.
Arno van der Zwet presented a paper, co-authored with Dr Irene McMaster, taking a critical perspective on the role of sub-state actors in territorial cooperation programmes. The paper drew on research undertaken by EPRC in conjunction with international partners as part of the ESPON-funded 'TERCO' project which is invesigtaing the role of territorial cooperation in promoting economic development and quality of life across Europe.
John Bachtler chaired the conference sessions relating to cross-border cooperation and acted as discussant for the papers on the theory and practice of macro-regional cooperation.
The papers from the workshop will shortly be made available on the Coesionet website.