How Regional is Regional Environmental Governance? Comparing Regional Environmental Governance in East Asia and Europe EE-REG Kyoto 24-25th January 2013 Prof Juliet J. Fall

Two questions What is a region, and how is/are they made? What ‘environment’ are we talking about when we talk about regional environmental governance?

WHAT IS A REGION? 1. If we are talking about framing regional environmental governance, then…

Regionalisation?

Ex.: How was the Carpathian Convention built around a natural geographical object? Defining the boundaries to the Carpathians was a contested political process. Ex.: 120 page report to decide boundaries (2006) – National Definitions – UE, UNEP, WWF definitions of ‘mountains’ etc. – Should Serbia / Montenegro be part of it? Where should the Secretariat be located? Who should fund it? Fall, J.J. & Egerer, H., 2004, Constructing the Carpathians: the Carpathian Convention and the search for a spatial ideal, Revue de Géographie Alpine / Journal of Alpine Research, 92 (2),

How do we construct regions? Beyond the state… 1. Natural regions 2. Supranational organisations 3. Decentralized affiliates of global organizations 4. Social configurations 5. Hybrid entities

Research projects  Following regionalization processes in the Carpathians, the Balkans, the Danube Strategy, and local (bottom-up) initiatives, and comparing them to the Alpine experiences.  Analysing the identification of natural entities (mountains, river basins, bioregions, etc.) in projects, international cooperation designs and data processing D. DjordjevicRaphael PieroniJuliet FallSimon GaberellGilles RudazIsabelle MauzJoerg BalsigerB. Debarbieux C. Del Biaggio

Living with a flexible definition “Region” and “regionalization” refer to spatial entities that are constructed at particular levels (i.e. subnational, supranational or transnational) The question is how are such regions framed (“how are they constructed”, and by whom) >>> literature on the politics of scale; on New Regional Geography; and Political ecology

The Carpathians from environmental data to institution building Glo-Rete: example

WHAT ENVIRONMENTS ARE WE TALKING ABOUT? 2. If we are regionalisation environmental governance, then do we all agree that we know…

Cultiver son jardin ? Environmental issues require thinking beyond clearly contained political spaces … but how can we rethink such multi-level and flexible regional environmental governance?

Transgressions

Nature without boundaries?

Diversity of science and culture Example: Transboundary protected area between Germany and France, well-established Interreg projects between two European Union countries: “It is not easy to agree what the natural vegetation is here” (‘Kathrin’, park manager in Pfälzerwald, Germany, interview with J. Fall, 2002) Different scientific opinions about what the climactic forest vegetation is in the Pfälzerwald/ Vosges du nord, Different cultural conceptions of what is worth conserving. Fall, J.J Drawing the Line: Nature, Hybridity and Politics in Transboundary Spaces, Border Regions Series, Ashgate, Abingdon

Diversity of nature(s) Natures ? ‘Nature’ for ecologists ‘Nature’ for Germans ‘Nature’ for French ‘Nature’ for biologists ‘Nature’ for foresters ‘Nature’ for l’UNESCO ‘Nature’ for Ministry Environment ‘Nature’ for local officials ‘Nature’ for local people

WHERE DO WE GO FROM NOW? 3. If we are talking about governance working across scales and regions, then…

For example… GEOSPECS GE Geographic specificities GIRAUT FREDERIC EU-ESPON 12/31/121,259,930 ESPON INTERCO Indicateurs de cohésion territoriale DAO QUOC-HY EU-ESPON 12/31/ ,600 Comparable and reliable indicators and indices that can be used to measure territorial cohesion, complex territorial development, structural issues, territorial challenges and opportunities Past trends, and potential future developments of geographical specificities for territorial policy and regional development.

Thank you for your attention, and greetings from the whole team for the success of the meeting! D. DjordjevicRaphael PieroniJuliet FallSimon GaberellGilles RudazIsabelle MauzJoerg BalsigerB. Debarbieux C. Del Biaggio