Discussion Papers 2007.
Regionality and/or Locality 7-9. p.
FOREWORD
The bi-lateral geographical seminars had initiated by Polish geographers after
World War II. The seminars gave an excellent and practically the only opportunity
to develop personal contacts and to discuss new trends and methods of geography
with Western colleagues. In 1959, I spent 4 months at the Institute of Geography,
Polish Academy of Sciences, and I learned a lot there professionally – and also
about the mechanism of contact-building across the rather closed Iron Curtain. Let
me mention here the name of the late Professor Leszczycki and Kostrowicki, who
helped me enormously during my international scientific career.
Following the Polish experiences, I succeeded to organize French–Hungarian
(1962), then British–Hungarian, Polish–Hungarian and US–Hungarian Geographi-
cal seminars. In 1971, the International Geographic Union organized its very first
regional conference (on the geography in Europe) in Budapest – when Prof.
Leszczycki was the president of the IGU and myself headed the Hungarian Na-
tional Committee of the IGU.
Now, the world is open for the present generation. There are many opportunities
to develop international relations, to develop multinational projects, to carry out
researches abroad. The bi-lateral seminars are over – except the Polish–Hungarian
one. Today, we start the XV. Polish–Hungarian Seminar, what we enlarged and
transformed into an East-Central European Regional Seminar – as a follow up of
the Warsaw Regional Forum.
But one could question: what are the reasons for a regional cooperation and ex-
change of ideas besides the great number of other opportunities? I have four re-
sponses for such a question.
The first aim may be to test and – if necessary – to modify regional models and
methods what are generally used in regional researches. These models were for-
mulated mostly in the most developed countries (first of all in the US and UK),
based on the socio-economic processes of these leading economies. It is well
known that East Central European regional processes show a lot of special peculi-
arities, not only because of the consequences of communist period and the paths of
transition but even of a longer period of history. I feel that, in the excitement of
many new phenomena, the theoretical researches have been somewhat neglected in
our region although our experiences may be useful for the whole emerging econo-
mies’ world.
The second reason for such a seminar that it could contribute to our competi-
tiveness in a globalizing world, may contribute to transnational regional develop-
Enyedi, György : Foreword
In: Regionality and/or Locality
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 7-9. p. Discussion Papers, Special
8
GYÖRGY ENYEDI
ment plans, to a co-ordinated application of the geographical knowledge in regional
policies. “Catching up with the West” has been a century-old desire in our coun-
tries. Now we have a unique opportunity to reach this aim within a few decades –
but it wouldn’t mean at all a simply copying of Western regional processes. Re-
gional development processes – like economic rise and decline of regions, the for-
mation of settlement network, etc. – have of a long-term character, consequently
we should transform and modernise our – somewhat traditional – East-Central
European regional structure.
The final result will be necessarily different than the northern or western
European development – what is evident, it is a part of the European diversity. The
differences are not the simple consequences of the 45 years of Communist rule, but
they express partly the continuation of those endemic processes, which evolved
before World War II, during the whole modernisation era of East-Central Europe.
These processes didn’t disappear entirely, just they became deep-frozen during the
state socialist period, they were conserved in traditional value judgements (e.g. in
the symbolic values of the city centres), in the social memory and they resurfaced
during the transition. It is our evident duty to analyse and to define these specific
East-Central European features.
My third answer is that our cooperation may contribute to insert between global
and local the transnational macro-region, as a possible territorial framework for
regional development. Whereas the small-scale transborder cooperation are quite
successful in many cases, there are very few serious attempts to prepare develop-
ment schemes of larger regional units, like the Carpathian Region, or the Central
Danube Valley. It’d be desirable if joint researches would explore the opportunities
of the potential of large-scale regional development within East-Central Europe. It
is evident, that empirical studies are generally limited on the regional processes
within a single country, but we shouldn’t neglect the thinking in larger territorial
frame, to set up programs for diminishing regional differences within East Central
Europe (and not just within the countries), and for a better use of the economy of
scale and the potential of a cultural network offered by a larger transnational re-
gion. We should not start with too ambitious government programs, rather to offer
opportunities to local small and medium-sized enterprises, civil associations, em-
ployment in tourist and cultural industries, etc. The mutual economic interest gives
a stronger cohesion than political slogans.
My favourite example is the Regio Basiliensis, the transnational region in the
lower Rhine Valley, with Basel as a center, covering Swiss, German and French
territories. This region started the transnational cooperation more than forty years
ago, on the basis of business cooperation. The official – government – approval
came much later. Besides the economic advantages, this cooperation contributed to
the diminishment of the traditional French-German animosities. This outcome may
Enyedi, György : Foreword
In: Regionality and/or Locality
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 7-9. p. Discussion Papers, Special
FOREWORD
9
be the fourth reason of the East-Central European cooperation in regional re-
searches: to contribute – modestly – to a better understanding and to diminish ani-
mosities among the different nations of East Central Europe.
Budapest, October 2006
György Enyedi
Full member of Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Section of Economics and Law