Creating the Gorizia-Goriska euroregion: an European cross-border administrative model for integrated socio-economic development in the upper adriatic. Crossborder co-operation as a tool for trans-national integration and conflict resolution

If we portray borders as places for exchange and co-operation instead of barriers, it is
straightforward to picture them as resources for re-unification and conflicts’ resolution. The
development of institutionalised forms of cross-border co-operation, originating from a will of
populations and institutions of different states to face common problems, lead to the concept of
Euroregion. In the Upper Adriatic area, this experience of cross-border co-operation gave origin to
the EureGo province. The north-eastern Italian autonomous region Friuli Venezia Giulia, located on
the Italian-Slovene border, can be expected to gain substantially from the accession of Slovenia to
the EU facing great opportunities to develop the economic and social perspectives of the border
area while contributing to a proactive remodelling of the cross-border relations in this region.
The paper theoretically operationalises the Gorizia-Goriska Europrovince as a pragmatic small
scale Euroregion; offers an operational model to develop the potentiality of the cross-border area
by drawing from a common background; finds a new centrality for the cross-border area and
redefines the forces linked with the “positional revenues” of a “hard border”.

• Primary Source

European Territorial: Co-operation Co-operation across borders http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/cooperate/cooperation/crossborder/index_en.cfm

Goriška (Wikipedia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gori%C5%A1ka

Gorizia (Wikipedia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorizia

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