Sustainable Planning in Cross-Border Cooperation

Dear Colleagues,

Cross-border cooperation is being increasingly acknowledged as a crucial domain for addressing shared challenges, fostering economic development, and promoting sustainable territorial design and development in border regions. These regions often face common issues that transcend national boundaries, such as environmental degradation, socio-economic disparities, and natural resource management. Research in this area is crucial to develop integrated and holistic approaches to effectively tackle these challenges while significantly contributing to building trust, fostering dialogue, and promoting stability between neighboring countries. By examining the role of sustainable planning in enhancing social cohesion and reducing conflict, research can provide valuable insights into building resilient communities along borders, unlocking economic opportunities, and stimulate innovation in border regions. Still, there is limited research on the best practices, policy frameworks, and strategies to maximize the social, cultural, and economic benefits of cross-border collaboration while minimizing negative impacts. Effective governance and institutional frameworks are also limited, thus disabling successful cross-border cooperation. In this regard, research can play an important role in the analysis of existing governance structures, identifying barriers to cooperation and proposing innovative solutions to enhance institutional capacity and coordination. Furthermore, sustainable planning for cross-border cooperation can promote social inclusion, cultural diversity, and dialogue between communities from different cultural backgrounds, which can help identify strategies to promote social cohesion and cultural exchange. Therefore, research on sustainable planning in cross-border cooperation is essential for:

• addressing transboundary challenges;
• promoting stability;
• enhancing social, cultural, and economic development;
• protecting shared natural resources;
• strengthening governance and institutions;
• addressing climate change;
• and fostering social inclusion.

By increasing the knowledge in this field, researchers can help design and implement effective policies and initiatives that benefit border regions and their inhabitants. This topic will focus on the following sub-topics:

1. Transboundary Natural Resource Management: This involves research development centered on strategies for the sustainable management of shared natural resources, such as water, forests, and wildlife, in cross-border regions.
2. Sustainable Territorial Design: This involves envisioning sustainable design and planning strategies for implementing strategic cultural and social networks and communication systems across borders to facilitate economic development and connectivity.
3. Cross-Border Environmental Protection and Conservation: This considers research development on policies and practices for protecting and conserving biodiversity, ecosystems, and sensitive environmental areas in transboundary regions.
4. Socio-Economic Innovation Integration and Development: This considers the development of strategies for promoting economic growth, social cohesion, and balanced development across border regions while considering cultural diversity and social equity.
5. Cross-Border Governance and Institutional Frameworks: This involves analyzing governance structures, legal frameworks, and institutional arrangements for effective cross-border cooperation and coordination.
6. Spatial Planning and Land Use Management: This considers the development of integrated spatial planning approaches to address land use conflicts, urban sprawl, and territorial disparities across borders.
7. Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience: This considers the development of adaptation strategies and resilience-building measures to address climate change impacts on cross-border regions, including natural disasters and extreme weather events.
8. Social–Cultural Collaboration in Innovation and Knowledge Exchange: This considers initiatives to promote collaboration in research, innovation, and knowledge exchange between institutions, industries, and communities across borders to foster sustainable development.

Prof. Dr. Luís Carlos Loures
Prof. Dr. Paulo Ferreira
Topic Editors