Nowadays Vilnius Region is a territory divided between Lithuania and Belarus. Many changes in political affiliation during last ten centuries caused that now it is still a region inhabited by many different nations: Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, Belarusian, Jewish etc. An existence of so many nations in this area caused lot of conflicts but also some forms of cooperation. During many years Lithuania and Poland was one country and lots of mutual historical facts are evaluated totally different by both sides. In 2004 Lithuania became a member of European Union what caused that part of historical Vilnius Region came under UE law. It has changed a situation of national minorities in this territory.
Der Begriff Region wird je nach dem wissenschaftlichen, politischen, kulturellen oder sozio-ökonomischen Kontext unterschiedlich definiert und interpretiert. Es besteht Einigkeit, dass es keine allgemeingültigen "Universalregionen" gibt, sondern dass Regionen merkmals- und zweckspezifische Konstrukte sind. Regionsbildung erfolgt unter empirisch-analytischen oder normativ-programmatischen Aspekten sowie nach Ähnlichkeits- ider Verflochtenheitsprinzipien.
Nicht Nationen, sondern Regionen sind die Hauptakteure der Weltwirtschaft und damit auch die maßgeblichen Träger der nationalen und weltweiten Wirtschaftsleistung. Doch in zunehmendem Maße entwickelt sich zwischen den Regionen ein Wettbewerb um Investoren, Anwohner und Touristen. Wollen Regionen in diesem sich verschärfenden Konkurrenzkampf bestehen, so müssen sie ein professionelles Konzept des Regionenmarkteing entwickeln und umsetzen. In diesem Beitrag werden die wesentlichen Elemente des Marketing-Managements für Regionen skizziert. Sie reichen von der Situationsanalyse über die planung der Marketing-Konzeption, d.h. der Ziele, Strategien und Maßnahmen des Marketing, bis hin zur Umsetzung und Kontrolle der Konzeption des Regionenmarketing.
Regional studies are right in the center of scientific and political discourse at the moment; regional issues acquire special significance in the countries with a transition economy. However, there is still no clear definition of the term "region". Due to its multifaceted nature, it certainly has natural, cultural, economic, political, and social dimension. At the same time, this term occupies a wide range of phenomena from small parts of countries to huge continental interstate formations. The goal of this paper is the analysis of various theoretical and methodological approaches to the definition of the region. We have brought different approaches, from the classical school to the New Economic Geography. The latter considers the region as a unit of space for economic activities. Thus, the region becomes a multidisciplinary object of research within the framework of economic theory and economic geography. In Europe, the integration processes put the region on the forefront of economic policy. The issues of regional policy are equally important in the light of the economic modernization processes taking place in Russia and Serbia. This article also summarizes the experience of regional studies of Serbian and Russian schools. The results can be used in further theoretical and applied research, writing theses in the field of economics and economic geography.
The author of the paper offers as his central thesis a need for a certain degree of flexibility when it comes to setting up structures for the region, be this at national or international level. Such a flexibilizing is here felt to be a need imposed by the speed of the changes being suffered by regions on account of economic globalization and the democratic demands now made upon the regional setup as such. So that such a degree of flexibilizing might be achieved. the paper recommends a renouncing of any directing initiatives and a "from the centre downwards" philosophy when it comes to defining a region that this thinking be replaced by initiatives springing from its social basis which would lead on to defining of the region in terms of neighbouring territories and even of those with no common border or even of different countries. The technological and scientific revolution now under way is seen to call for new ways of understanding the region given that once long-standing limits founded upon territorial neighbourhood and their size no longer hold. Structural complexity is now the over-ridding factor in identifying regions, it is felt. their size being of little at the moment. The paper proposes a new typology for regions in which would figure 'pivotting' regions, these being the smaller units in our present-day political and administrative configuration but at the same time of a sufficient complexity as entities, associative regions which would freely enter into political association and count among them at least one pivoting region and one or more of the political and administrative regions neighbouring this and 'virtual' regions, created by tacit agreement between pivoting regions or associative regions when not sharing common borders. The Columbian Constitution is said here to offer a practical legal framework in which the above suggestions could be accommodated. The Peruvian Constitution is likewise felt to offer regional flexibility whereas that of Chile is. on the contrary, utterly inflexible. ; El autor plantea una tesis central: la necesidad de introducir un considerable grado de flexibilidad en la generación de estructuras regionales. tanto al interior de los países como en términos supra-nacionales. La flexibilidad es un requisito impuesto por la velocidad del cambio en el entorno regional. por la globalización de las economias y por los requerimientos democráticos en la conformación de regiones. Al fin de alcanzar tal grado de flexibilidad, se propone abandonar los esfuerzos dirigistas y "del centro hacia abajo" en la conformación de las regiones, para dar paso a iniciativas que surjan de la base social y que permitan la configuración regional entre territorios contiguos y también, entre territorios no contiguos, incluso, no necesariamente pertenecientes al mismo pais. La revolución científica y tecnológica en marcha obliga a idear nuevas formas de región, dando por superadas antiguas restricciones vinculadas a la contigüidad de los territorios integrantes y al tamaño de ellas. La complejidad estructural es ahora el factor crucial para identificar regiones, no importando su tamaño. En la propuesta se presenta una nueva tipologia regional en la cual se reconocen regiones pivotales (correspondientes a las menores unidades de la actual división político-administrativa que sean al mismo tiempo de una suficiente complejidad), regiones asociativas (conformadas por la unión política voluntaria entre a lo menos una región pivotal y una o más unidades político-administrativas colindantes), y regiones virtuales (conformadas mediante acuerdos tácticos entre regiones pivotales o entre regiones asociativas sin que medie contigüidad entre ellas). La Constitución de Colombia representa un marco jurídico práctico que permite encuadrar justamente este tipo de proposiciones. La Constitución del Perú también es un ejemplo de flexibilidad regional en tanto que, por el contrario, la Constitución de Chile es totalmente mandatoria.
Acknowledgement: The University of Malta would like to acknowledge its gratitude to the Committee of the Regions of the European Union for their permission to upload this work on OAR@UoM. Further reuse of this document can be made, provided the source is acknowledged. This work was made available with the help of the Publications Office of the European Union, Copyright and Legal Issues Section. ; Since the opening of accession negotiations in February 2000 with six new candidate countries (Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania and Slovakia), as decided by the Helsinki European Council, the Committee of the Regions entered in a pre-accession dialogue with the regions and cities of these countries as well as making initial contacts with those of Turkey. The CoR has had a key contribution to make to the success of the forthcoming EU enlargement due to its closeness to citizens and to its natural links with the local and regional elected representatives of the applicant countries. Indeed, the CoR first made contact with elected representatives of the candidate countries in 1997. These relations have been formalized through the establishment of a number of joint committees for the Association Council with representatives of local and regional authorities of candidate countries, and the CoR now plans to welcome these colleagues as observers. The local and regional authorities of the applicant countries have a major role to play in developing modem democracy in their countries and implementing pre-enlargement institutional reforms. In addition, the success of accession to the European Union relies on a better preparation and information of the citizens of these countries, and here again local and regional authorities have high responsibilities. And we know their role will grow further, especially with the process of devolution currently underway in these countries. This study complements the first CoR study "A Europe of Regions and Cities - Strategies and Prospects for EU Enlargement" on the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and Cyprus published in 2000. It highlights significant differences with the countries dealt with in the first study in particular a strong history of centralism. However, there are positive driving forces to decentralisation and regionalisation to be seen, such as a convergence of regional identities and regional administrative structures. ; N/A
"Ich kann mir unter Großregion den SaarLorLux-Raum vorstellen und Trier noch mit einbezogen." – solche und ähnliche Antworten geben Grenzgänger auf die Frage nach der 'Großregion'. Dabei kommen erstaunliche Gebietszuschnitte zum Vorschein: "Ich würde mal behaupten, dass damit Luxemburg gemeint ist." oder "Alles, was so um Trier drumherum gehört." Die Zitate zeigen, dass sich die Menschen unterschiedliche Begriffe von der 'Großregion' machen, hierfür unterschiedliche Bezeichnungen verwenden und schließlich das verfehlen, was von politischer Seite einmal als 'Großregion' definiert wurde. Ferdinand de Saussure folgend sollten das Bezeichnete (politisches Gebiet 'Großregion'), sein subjektiver Begriff und das Bezeichnende (Name 'Großregion') eindeutig zusammengehören. Das gelingt jedoch nicht immer angesichts der vielfältigen Gebietszuschnitte sowie der etwas sperrigen Setzung durch den Gipfel : Großregion Saarland - Lothringen - Luxemburg - Rheinland-Pfalz - Wallonische Region - Französische Gemeinschaft Belgiens - Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft Belgiens.
International audience ; The 'region' has been a prominent focus of economic development studies for many years, fuelling conceptual and political debates about the relevance of this particular scale of activity as a unit of analysis and a site of social activity. Although these questions are still far from resolved, the nature of the debate has shifted decisively towards a larger, more compelling question – namely the scope for sustainable development in capitalist societies.
Malta, or more specifically the Maltese Archipelago, comprises the inhabited islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino, together with a few uninhabited islands, collectively termed as Malta. As an entity, Malta, after its independence from the United Kingdom in 1964, and after becoming a democratic republic in 1974, joined the European Union in 2004. It is concurrently part of the Commonwealth of Nations and the United Nations. It is an independent Island State and has had its own self government since 1964. As a hierarchical system of governance, Malta has a President, as head of state, the Prime Minister, Parliament, and finally Local Councils (equivalent to Municipalities — albeit on a town- scale). ; peer-reviewed
Encouraging migrants to move to regional Australia is frequently viewed as a 'win-win' for receiving communities, local economies, and migrants themselves. New arrivals—including skilled workers, temporary migrants, refugees and other permanent migrants—have the potential to revitalise regional towns and bring new life to local economies. Migration to Australia's regions also adds cultural richness and diversity while easing pressure on urban infrastructure and services. In turn, settling in regional contexts can speed up the integration process for migrants, providing them with unique settings in which to establish a new life. However, Australia's regional areas differ greatly in terms of their socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Many of the potential benefits of regional migrant settlement may be offset by the challenges of existing disadvantage, limited employment and career opportunities, and gaps in service provision, housing and affordable transport. Moreover, not all communities in regional towns have experience in supporting new arrivals or a shared commitment to celebrating cultural diversity. Migrants themselves may be wary of the limited opportunities for employment and cultural safety in regional towns and may choose to relocate only temporarily, sometimes to meet visa requirements. These risk factors can combine to compromise the sustainability of regional settlement initiatives before they have even begun. Realising the benefits of regional settlement requires careful planning, knowledge of what works, and close collaboration between key stakeholders. Funded by the Queensland Government through Multicultural Affairs Queensland, Welcoming Cities has partnered with the Monash Migration and Inclusion Centre to conduct a review of existing evidence on regional migrant settlement in Australia and propose scenarios for the design of potential migrant resettlement initiatives.
Though the European Union (EU) is a development conversion machine for national economies, it is less so for subnational regions. EU accession countries have been catching up to regional averages in terms of economic development since they joined the union. The economic success of the accession countries reduced disparities in national GDP per capita, but since 2005 both EU-wide and in most individual countries the gap between most- and least-developed subnational regions has been widening. This suggests that in accession countries growth, and its benefits are concentrated in a few regions, mostly large cities and national capitals, while many areas fall further behind. Slovakia illustrates the difference between national convergence and subnational divergence. While Slovakia is considered one of the EU's economic stars, it also has some of the union's highest regional disparities. Slovakia's impressive economic gains over the last two decades were led by Bratislava region, which in 2016 became the sixth richest region in the EU by GDP per capita. On the other hand, Eastern Slovakia, which includes Prešov, is among the poorest regions in the EU. This report on the Prešov region of Slovakia, reviews patterns of regional development in Slovakia, discusses opportunities and challenges of the Prešov region, and recommends policy actions for the region.
The authors look at the concept of social facilitation as a possible component of Russian social consolidation in the course of social reforms. The article focuses on the results of an empirical study of the levels and characteristics of competence in social facilitation, which is here understood as the ability to apply certain knowledge and systems of skills and as a success rate of actions based on experience in improving the conditions of social development. The study was conducted in the Kaliningrad region in 2012-2013. The data was obtained through a survey of 400 respondents using the authors' methodology encompassing eight basic elements of competence and a structured interview aimed at a better understanding of the subject of the study and attitudes towards it. The data is compared against the results of a similar study in two regions of central Russia with similar conditions.The results suggest a disharmonic and inconsistent structure of competence in social facilitation, low motivation for social activity in youth, and a narrow range of ideas about possible areas of personal activities in the current conditions. Gender differences are identified in the level and structure of competence.The authors believe that certain differences in competence components identified through mathematical methods are determined by the geographical characteristics of the Kaliningrad regionits exclave nature, a relatively small territory, and proximity to the EU countries. It is stressed that the regional conditions affecting motivation, forms and areas of activities, and structure of experience should be taken into account in selecting means and methods of organising youth activities. They can also serve as a basis for the regional youth policy.
The past decade has seen a resurgence of interest in the idea of regionalism, that is, the basic notion that economic trends, social challenges, and environmental problems are not neatly contained by city jurisdictions and that solutions must thus incorporate coalitions and constituencies from across the metropolitan landscape. Such interest is, of course, not entirely novel: discussions about thinking, planning, and acting regionally have waxed and waned since Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan for Chicago stressed the need for infrastructure improvements and transportation investments at the regional rather than urban scale. But part of what seems to make the new regionalism" both new and real is that the rising interest is not confined to planners and academics: alongside the scholarly literature has come a body of practice, including the engagement of business and political leadership in metropolitan organizations like the business-oriented Chicago 2020, the evolution of community-oriented metropolitan groups like the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, and the growing presence of new regionally-focused intermediaries like the Alliance for Regional Stewardship, PolicyLink, Smart Growth America, and many others.
The past decade has seen a resurgence of interest in the idea of regionalism, that is, the basic notion that economic trends, social challenges, and environmental problems are not neatly contained by city jurisdictions and that solutions must thus incorporate coalitions and constituencies from across the metropolitan landscape. Such interest is, of course, not entirely novel: discussions about thinking, planning, and acting regionally have waxed and waned since Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan for Chicago stressed the need for infrastructure improvements and transportation investments at the regional rather than urban scale. But part of what seems to make the "new regionalism" both new and real is that the rising interest is not confined to planners and academics: alongside the scholarly literature has come a body of practice, including the engagement of business and political leadership in metropolitan organizations like the business-oriented Chicago 2020, the evolution of community-oriented metropolitan groups like the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, and the growing presence of new regionally-focused intermediaries like the Alliance for Regional Stewardship, PolicyLink, Smart Growth America, and many others.
