‘A successful start is the key to success, or in search of best practices in TBC’
On 24-25 October 2024, Uzhhorod National University, as the main partner, hosted the first Methodological Workshop within the framework of the project № 22410100, funded by the Visegrad Fund, ‘CBC IN UKRAINE AND V4: IN THE SEARCH FOR EXAMPLES OF BEST PRACTICE’. The partners of UzhNU in the project are the University of Presov (Slovak Republic), WSB Academy (WSB University, Poland), Technical University of Liberec (Czech Republic), Central European Service for Cross Border Initiatives (Hungary). The main implementer of the project on behalf of UzhNU is the Research Institute of Central Europe (Director - Doctor of Political Sciences Myroslava Lendiel).
The focus of the workshop was to develop ideas on the effectiveness of research methods and to develop a holistic vision of the research methodology to be used during the project implementation, to select the best examples of cross-border cooperation in the V4 countries, which will help identify and approve the most effective institutional and daily practices of cross-border cooperation that can be applied to the border regions and communities of Ukraine in the process of accession to the EU.
Experts from partner institutions and other participants of the event were able to communicate and discuss freely in Ukrainian, English, Slovak, Hungarian, Polish and Czech.
The event was held in a mixed format (in-person and using remote communication technologies) to maximise the effectiveness of engaging invited and interested guests. The main objectives of the seminar included selection of research methods with appropriate methodology development, group expert work, development of questionnaires for the project's focus groups.
During the brainstorming session, the participants exchanged visions of the best methodology and detailed steps for project implementation. The experience of the partners allowed us to identify the best examples from previously implemented, thematically relevant projects.
Ideas on the research methodology and individual practices of cross-border cooperation were presented by project experts, in particular, Myroslava Lendiel made a presentation on the methodology of institutional mapping in the study of cross-border cooperation, Head of the International Relations Department, Associate Professor of the Department of International Studies and International Communications, PhD in History Oksana Svezhentseva informed the participants about effective and accessible tools for stimulating cross-border cooperation in Ukraine, namely the EU funding programme, Associate Professor of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, PhD in Political Science, Nadiia Kichera, introduced the main goal and objectives of the project, as well as the basic research methodology and the proposed possible methodological tools, Associate Professor of the Department of International Law, Doctor of Law, Yuliia Fetko, analysed in her presentation the legal forms of cross-border cooperation in the V4 countries and Ukraine.
Gyula Ocskay and Melinda Istenes-Benczi, experts of the think-and-do organisation CESCI, which is the Hungarian partner of the project, presented the CESCI methodological toolkit for researching cross-border cooperation, and Polish colleagues, in particular in particular Joanna Kurowska-Pysz (WSB University in Dąbrowa Górnicza) outlined the features of the tourist cross-border functional area on the example of the Polish-Lithuanian case, and colleagues from the Czech Republic Artur Bohac and Hynek Bohm, Hynek Bohm, Technická univerzita v Liberci) analysed the peculiarities of cross-border cooperation as a tool for mitigating contradictions, using the example of the Turov lignite mine, Slovak colleagues from the University of Presov, in particular Martin Lacny, University of Presov, presented an example of the methodology used to implement the project from their own experience, namely ‘CBCED - Cross-border Cooperation and Entrepreneurship Development’.
In addition, Alexander Duleba, Professor of the University of Presov, and Associate Professors Natalia Maradyk and Michal Cirner took an active part in the discussion. Svitlana Mitryaeva, Igor Vegesh, Mykhailo Shelemba, Yuriy Ostapets, Oleksandr Bertolon and other participants came up with useful initiatives and ideas during the discussion. The event was also attended by students of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration of various levels, including M. Zheleznyk, I. Shumsky, A. Radko, L. Ilko, and I. Hrynyshyn.
We thank the project partners and all the participants of the seminar for a constructive discussion, new ideas and suggestions that will become an effective basis for building a study and, in the future, for developing effective practical recommendations for improving cross-border cooperation mechanisms for stakeholders, especially in the context of cooperation with the Visegrad countries.
