Forschungsabteilung 1
COMMIN – Promoting Spatial Development by creating COMmon MiNdscapes
A Baltic Sea Region Interreg IIIB project
Duration: 09/2004 – 08/2007
The concept of COMmon MINdscapes
"COMMIN was a follow-up project to the Interreg IIC programme „Baltic Manual". It aimed at improving mutual understanding of planning processes in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) by improving information flows and communication The concept of COMmon MINdscapes cuts in the term „mindscapes“ is a combination of the words „mind“ and „landscape“. It stands for common ideas or mutual understanding about spatial development and planning in the Baltic Sea Region This Region according to the Interreg IIIB programme comprises 11 countries (Belorussia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and Russia) with different backgrounds and institutional arrangements in spatial planning. When the project was developed, need for transnational and cross-border cooperation in the region had increased because of the EU enlargement and the associated task to integrate the East Baltic Sea Region countries. Experiences from previous projects showed that transnational spatial development in the region was especially hampered by deficits in communication and in mutual understanding of national planning systems. Therefore, an agreement on joint concepts and terms in spatial planning and development was asked for and a common terminology in English as a lingua franca needs to be developed.
The products of COMMIN
The project team produced three main outputs:
- An Internet-portal describing national planning systems and developing a common terminology in English
- Training sessions for planers in the region to establish an expert network and disseminate information
- Knowledge transfer on topics of transnational interest, placing emphasis on best practices.
The IRS had participated in WP 1 and WP 3 of the project, with a clear focus on the latter. In WP 1, the IRS conducted an analysis of already existing manuals ("handbooks of spatial planning terms") and gave recommendations for the composition of the planned internet portal. WP 3 was entitled "Policy recommendations" and mainly aimed at producing, exchanging and diffusing expert knowledge of current and future spatial planning processes in the BSR. In this context, the IRS organised two workshops on themes of transnational relevance as well as the final conference.
The aim of the workshops was to create common mindscapes by focussing on problems which occur in transnational cooperation. Furthermore, „good practices“ were identified and conclusions drawn for future policies. Following the notion that diversity is important for collective decision-making, the workshops’ participants were experts with different geographical and professional backgrounds. To ensure some sort of direction, strategic guidelines and key questions were given to the presenters. The issues addressed in the workshops considered both policy-relevance and project orientation.
The first workshop on TEN-T started off from the conditions of (transport) planning in a multi-level context. It addressed planning problems and coordination needs, both between different levels, different sectors or between nation states. Answers to these problems were expected from innovative governance arrangements and good practices (download: http://commin.org/upload/Workpackage_3/Recommendations_TEN-T.pdf). The second workshop on ICZM (integrated costal zone management) drew on the results of the first workshop and focussed on approaches for integrated planning. In order to reach the overall aim of identifying criteria for successful projects, conflicts and problems in ICZM were discussed and ways towards holistic solutions were shown (download: http://commin.org/upload/Workpackage_3/Recommendations_ICZM.pdf). Both workshops resulted in policy recommendations which are ready for download at the project website. They stress, among others, the need for individual solutions for different spatial scales, the importance of communication and the need for clear and long-term visions to coordinate individual measures.
The Main Conclusion of COMmon MINdscapes
For transnational projects in general, some conclusions can also be drawn. Since these projects operate within a dynamic and constantly changing reality, flexible mechanisms for adapting to changing conditions are necessary. Sustainable concepts of learning and stable communication networks are a prerequisite to develop functioning adaptation mechanisms. It became clear during the course of the COMMIN project that one of the main challenges in any cooperation crossing state borders is to decipher culturally rooted codes and come to a joint understanding. Planning systems and their resulting terminologies are only one example for this phenomenon. Therefore, it might be concluded that one of the key future tasks will be to develop a form of "cultural intelligence" (Early/Ang 2003) in transnational cooperation. The cultural intelligence concept incorporates three dimensions: the cognitive dimension (knowledge), the motivational dimension (commitment) and the behavioural dimension (personal skills). In a nutshell, this is what future transnational projects should try to achieve.
