Example: Cross-border mobility in the Greater Region
Let’s take the Greater Region (please hyperlink the section of the website about the GR here) as an example: There are approximately 258.000 cross-border commuters – that’s the highest number of cross-border commuters in the European Union and numbers are growing! Cross-border commuter mobility affects all flows of incoming and outgoing commuters in the sub-regions of the Greater Region. In the following graph, you can see from which countries and regions the commuters go to work.
Source: https://www.granderegion.net/en/The-Greater-Region-at-a-Glance with addition of region and country designation
Within such regions like the Greater Region, ambitions and initiatives for fostering mobility exist as it is stated on the website of the Greater Region:
“Reducing obstacles and tackling challenges regarding cross-border mobility are a priority for the Greater Region. More and more people, and cross-border workers in particular, use several modes of transport to get to their workplace. Therefore, the Greater Region encourages and supports innovative projects on soft mobility that combine public transport with individual eco-mobility.
The working group Transport in the Greater Region enables cooperation between national and regional experts to develop solutions that facilitate and simplify commuting between the regions. The website of the Greater Region lists several online journey planners that provide real-time traffic information on all available modes of transport.” (https://www.granderegion.net/en)
More detailed information about cross-border commuters in the Greater Region can be found here: https://www.iba-oie.eu/themen/grenzgaengermobilitaet/grossregion (text in German or French)
The Greater Region served as a first example, but there is more to discover. The FRONTEM-project (Frontiers in motion/Frontières en motion) involves border regions in Germany-France, Germany-Denmark, Hungary-Romania, Ireland-United Kingdom and France-Belgium. It was launched at the end of 2019 and lead by the Sciences Po Strasbourg. On the project website, each border region is presented with a short introduction, visual impressions and short videos. Furthermore, the characteristics of the different border regions are highlighted: The German-Danish border region, for example, serves as model for minority integration, while the Hungarian-Romanian border region represents an external Schengen border inside the EU. Another interesting outcome are interactive mental maps that were created within the project and which help to understand people’s perception of their border region.