European Integration And Baltic Sea Region Studies

Hauptbeschreibung This Volume II represents articles prepared in conjunction with the workshops and Round Table Debate ""University-Business Partnership through the Triple Helix Approach"" which took place at the International Conference 'European Integration and Baltic Sea Region: Diversity and Perspectives', held in Riga from 26th to 27th September 2011 and organised by the University of Latvia Doctoral School European Integration and Baltic Sea Region Studies. This collection of articles provides information, opinions and research that should be of value to practitioners, academi.

HauptbeschreibungGo North was the programmatic title of an international conference on Baltic Sea Region Studies that took place at Humboldt University of Berlin from April 4-6, 2005. It was hosted by the BalticStudyNet project, which is part of the European Union's Erasmus Mundus programme for the global promotion of European higher education. In order to discuss the past, present and future of Baltic Sea Region Studies, the Berlin conference brought together about fifty government representatives and scholars from all Baltic Sea Region countries, including Russia, as well as from the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the USA, Canada, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. The basic idea of the Go North conference was to encourage a fundamental change of perspective - away from intra-regional and towards extra-regional and truly global approaches to the Baltic Sea Region: How is the Baltic Sea region perceived when viewed, let's say, from Australia? What, if anything, would a Chinese student find typical, extraordinary, or even unique when looking at the region? Why should a scholar from Mexico, South Africa or India wish to do research in and/or about the Baltic Sea Region? Consequently, third country views on Europe's North and the Baltic Sea Region were a feature of many of the presentations and panel discussions during the conference, which are documented in this volume.

Continuity and Change in the Baltic Sea Region uncovers the Baltic States' foreign policy transition from Socialist Republics to EU member-states. Situated between the Russian Federation and Northern Europe, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have had to manoeuvre within an often delicate sub-region. Since independence, the foreign policies of the Baltic States have been dominated by de-Sovietization and European integration. Lying at the crossroads between small state theory and identity politics, this analysis engages with the development of Baltic foreign policies as post-Soviet, small and transitioning states. The authors argue that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania dictated their early foreign policy agendas based on a process of identity construction and as a response to their regional environment. This process took the Baltic States from East to West in their foreign policy aspirations. Key factors in foreign policy making and implementation are discussed, as well as external factors that shaped Baltic foreign policy agendas. Overall, the book illustrates how continuity and change in the Baltic foreign policies has been shaped by both 'hard' and 'soft' factors. It is a study in the foreign policies of transitioning states and in this regard illuminates a much larger research area beyond its geographic focus.

Within the broad frame of regional research in an international perspective, the contributions of this volume present new theoretical, methodological and empirical results as well as political strategies for the following topics: - ecomomic integration in the Baltic rim, - innovation and regional growth, - economic integration, trade and migration, - transport infrastructure and the regions. Most of the topics deal with the long-term integration process in Europe, with a particular focus on the North European and Baltic Sea integration.

The Baltic Sea Region, at the crossroads between East and West, North and South, has long been marked by cultural, ethnical and ideological borders. Overcoming a history of conflict and separation, since the end of the Cold War the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea established widely valued formats of regional cooperation based on shared challenges and opportunities. In comparison with larger regions, however, the Baltic Sea Area is still a blank spot on the global map. This volume's intention is to fill this spot with colour and facts. It provides students, young researchers and other interested parties with basic knowledge of the region. The volume offers a comprehensive introduction into its history, politics, economy and culture, taking into account the various countries' commonalities and differences. By introducing concepts of regionalism and region-building, as well as analysing the structures of regional cooperation the authors and editors demonstrate the Baltic Sea Area's model function as a European macro-region.--Back cover.

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: 1,7, University of Southern Denmark (Department of Border Region Studies), course: European Regional Innovation Policy, language: English, abstract: This paper is designed to examine the Regional Innovation Policy , consisting of existing schemes of systematic exploitation of innovation, so-called Regional Innovation Systems, and entailing public procurement for innovation and cluster-policies in combination with a mapping of the actors in the Regional Innovation System in the Baltic Sea Region, all in regard to Small Medium Enterprises due its pre-dominance in the fields of research and practical implementation of economic innovation. While the scope of this paper includes the effectiveness and efficiency of the "European Union Baltic Sea Region Programme" (EU BSRP) in reference to one of its priorities, "fostering innovation‟ for economical growth in the Baltic Sea Region, the programme's relative novelty in design and strategic relevance, given by the fact of promulgation of a "European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region" (EU STRAT BSR) parallel to implementation of EU BSRP, point out to a demand for further investigation on the fact that the EU BSRP is an innovation by itself concerning regional policy as "macro-regional cooperation" within the framework of the EU. This paper will address firstly the EU STRAT BSR and its potential effects on the strategic environment in the Baltic Sea Region in particular and on European level in general by scrutinizing the second programmatic "pillar", making "[...] [t]he Baltic Sea A Prosperous Place", due to its reference character for the economic yield of the strategy. This short description and analysis of EU STRAT BSR is followed by an outline of the EU BSRP by providing an account of innovation policies in the Baltic Sea Region.Two research questions will serve as a guideline along the descriptive part and as reference to the analysis: Is political innovation in terms of transnational macro-regional cooperation also innovative and rewarding from the perspective of current economic research on innovation and according policies, meaning: Does it foster growth? And secondly, for the sake of the scope of European Studies, are EU STRAT BSR and EU BSRP able to perform even up to their political Level of Ambition?

Seit 1989 ist es im Ostseeraum zu einer explosionsartigen Entstehung einer Vielzahl von regionalen Initiativen und Zusammenschlussen gekommen. Der Ostseeraum weist bis heute eine europaweit einzigartig hohe Konzentration an kooperativen regionalen Strukturen auf. Diese bilden gemeinsam ein enges Netzwerk von Vereinigungen, die unter dem Uberbegriff der Ostseezusammenarbeit' interagieren. Diese Studie analysiert die Hintergrunde dieses regionalen Phanomens oder so genannten "Ostsee-Ratsels" auf Basis eines Vergleichs zwischen den Regionalpolitiken zweier staatlicher Schlusselakteure, Schweden und Finnland, wobei der europaische Integrationsprozess als ubergeordneter Bezugsrahmen fur die Untersuchung dient. In the course of the 1990s, a variety of regional initiatives and associations emerged in the Baltic Sea Region. As a result, today, the region features an extremely high concentration of regionalist structures, which add up to a tight network of cooperative arrangements that all label themselves as Baltic'. The present study looks closely at this specific regional phenomenon, the 'Baltic Sea Conundrum', by employing a comparative approach. Looking at the cases of Sweden and Finland, their political performance as both regional stakeholders and members of the EU, it is sought to show how in recent years regional agendas have intersected with European issues and vice versa.