Matti Fritsch

Whose partnership? Regional participatory arrangements in CBC programming on the Finnish-Russian border

ABSTRACT Cross-border cooperation (CBC) serves as a tool to combat peripherality of border regions and integrate formerly disconnected borderlands. Resting on the principles of partnership and multi-level governance, CBC activities are deemed by the European Union (EU) to include local/regional authorities, economic and social partners at various stages of the cooperation process. Even at the EUs external borders, where EU regional development principles of CBC are endorsed in an often uneasy combination with external policy principles, joint cross-border administrative arrangements and regional programme designs have been introduced through successive administrative reforms. Analysing the preparations for the European Neighbourhood Instrument Karelia CBC (2014–2020), it is argued that in order to promote regional development goals the priorities of CBC programmes should be in line with the aims of local/regional stakeholders, which requires resilient consultation and participatory processes throughout the programming cycle. Participant observation of the Finnish–Russian Karelia CBC programme preparations helped the authors pinpoint achievements and weaknesses of current joint programming solutions and investigate ways in which the partnership principle is put into practice in the preparatory processes. In the current political climate, it is interesting to note that CBC was not included by the EU or Russia in sanctions/countersanctions that were the result of the crisis in Ukraine.

Influences from and Influences on Europe: the Evolution of Spatial Planning and Territorial Governance in Finland

Abstract Simultaneous processes of accelerated socio-economic transformation, geopolitical repositioning and rapid integration into the EU make Finland an interesting case and testbed for the analysis of processes of Europeanization of territorial governance and spatial planning. Focusing on institutional preconditions and underlying debates, this paper explores the ways in which “Europe” (in its manifold forms) has shaped and influenced Finnish territorial governance and how Finland has attempted to upload domestic interests to the European agenda. EU regional governance requirements, the spread of European planning concepts, and a Nordic epistemic community are identified as important catalysts for Europeanization. Overall, the findings cannot be taken as an indication of significant process of convergence of spatial planning and territorial governance in a European context. Instead, they represent a case of a countrys specific engagement with the EU dimension in territorial governance.

Planning Strategically or by the Book?—Contentious Land Use Planning in South-eastern Finland

ABSTRACT The debate on strategic spatial planning highlights the limitations of statutory land use planning in weighing up future options for spatial development, particularly in instances of rapid change. This paper draws on this debate in order to analyse planning institutions and practices in Finland. The case in point is the south-eastern border region where interdependencies with Russia, particularly shopping tourism, have created pressures on land use and led to contentious planning processes between regional and central levels of government. It is argued that, in the absence of cross-border spatial co-ordination, there is a need to establish links between regional land use planning and visions of spatial scenarios in the national context.