The Conflict in Ukraine and the Potential of Urban and Territorial Cooperation to Contribute De-escalating it
The conflict in Ukraine and the potential of urban and territorial cooperation to contribute de-escalating it
It sounds crazy to propose urban and territorial cooperation in support of peaceful and sustainable development in Ukraine while at the same time Russia is amassing troops which soon could invade Ukraine and launch a major war.
In reality, it’s not crazy and the basic idea is simple: Where there is communication and cooperation there is no war. And, where people on the ground cooperate with their neighbors across borders of regions and nation states something better than war develops: their own future. Using an example of the past and the Western Balkans the post demonstrates that urban and territorial cooperation don’t substitute diplomacy but can contribute to a peaceful development scenario. No illusions. The path there is not easy but still more promising than that of a war.
This post takes a perspective outside of the box of security experts and global politics which is more focused on military challenge and stability. The current danger of war and its aggressor is described elsewhere and shouldn’t be ignored. Nonetheless, it is important to dig deeper and to search for alternatives contributing to long term stability and peace. And that won't work without cooperation of cities and territories.
A peaceful scenario for conflicts like the one in Ukraine needs the input from outside of the small community of security and foreign policy experts and lobbyists
When conflicts between countries heat up the public dialogue often narrows
down to the perspective of a rather small and mostly male group of security experts and lobbyists. Where creativity and empathy would be necessary the cold analysis of defence experts and some political gamblers moves into the frontline.
For citizens its increasingly difficult to distinguish truth from fiction. And it doesn’t help if those governments sceptic towards sending weapons to the conflict zone don’t have better ideas than donating a field hospital to Ukraine. Yes, this flat idea comes from the German government.
Obviously, to develop an alternative scenario to that of a war in Ukraine it needs fresh inspiration from outside of traditional foreign and defence politics. And you won’t believe it but practitioners in urban and territorial cooperation are among them and they have already gained experience in response to international conflict.
Europe prepared cross-border and transnational cooperation of cities and regions in the midst of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999
It was the most bizarre and maybe one of most important conferences I attended so far: The INTERREG III conference held on 9th and 10th April 1999 in Grado (Italy).
Organized by the European Union with the support of the Region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia in Grado close to the Italo-Slovenian border the three interregional organizations in Europe – the Assembly of European Regions (AER), the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) and the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR) – adopted in Grado a common position on the Community Initiative, Interreg III . Somebody must have forgotten to cancel the conference since in those very days the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. But everybody came: There were participants from all across the European Union, from Yugoslavia and all other parts of the Western Balkan. The airspace over Italy was blocked for commercial flights but standing outside of the conference venue in Grado I could see at the sky the bombers originating from NATO airfields on their way to Belgrade and Novi Sad.
The war wasn’t much discussed at the conference. It was almost a tabu but you could see people starting to cry at the lunch or dinner table after receiving phone calls from home. The war was present but didn’t split the audience. Instead, all participants longed for a prospect of peaceful cooperation in the region and the wider Europe. I remember how Prof Borislav Stojkov, the outstanding spatial planner from Belgrade lamented that he was born in Serbia when it was part of a Mediterranean country but as consequence of the division of Yugoslavia he is now living in a landlocked country. In this situation European interventions like the Community Initiative INTERREG offered hope and an opportunity to build cross-border, transnational and interregional bridges. Important, at the time of the conference the hunger for these bridges of cooperation was bigger than the interest in related funds. The close presence of the war guaranteed that the conference never lost track of the deeper purpose of such cooperation. And it was the region Friuli-Venezia Giulia that helped to keep up the mood up with its generous hospitality (for meals participants were shuttled to numerous restaurants and vineyards across the Italian-Slovenian border region).
Certainly, neither the conference nor INTERREG with its funds and administrative requirements could overcome all problems in the region. It still needs diplomatic work and progress. However, the conference in Grado in the middle of the last of the Yugoslavia wars marked a starting point for cooperation in a divided region. And without such starters there would be just the war.
Connectivity and cooperation as a new form of change through rapprochement’?
In response to the conflict in Ukraine and challenges by Iran and North Korea the Singapore based social scientist Khanna published on 21 January 2022 a paper title ‘Invade Russia, Iran and North Korea – With Connectivity’ . In the paper he discusses security challenges and defense efforts and proposes a Grand Strategy of Connectivity:
Parak Khanna doesn’t expect that Russia, Iran and North Korea would ever become like the West but that engagement can minimize conflicts. With respect to Russia, he analyses Russian challenges related to a growing influence of China and to demographic and ecological challenges for Russia. And he sees these challenges as entry points where cooperation on a level playing field could open the door for a new cooperation. Certainly, urban and territorial cooperation and development can be important facilitators when it comes to subjects like transport, energy and infrastructure and to a cooperative approach which at the end is not too far away to the older approach of ‘change through rapprochement’.
Just imagine for a moment stakeholders would organize a major Black See workshop where people from all countries around the Black Sea would come together and discuss challenges and opportunities which cooperation along and across Black Sea offers to their future development. In a similar way, cities like L’viv, Kiev, Kharkov, Volgograd, Saratov etc would meet and discuss economic, environmental, social and cultural opportunities of a city network in the region. These are small steps but if you want to understand the potential of the region you have to go local, start visioning and developing future scenarios. The first steps are likely to be small but they could lead to a peaceful and promising scenario not only to reduce conflicts but also to stimulate new links and cooperation.
In the current debate about the crisis in Ukraine the people living there have no voice and at the international stage not even the Ukrainian government is included in direct talks between Russia and USA on Ukraine. And those politicians and experts who think that it would be waste of time to go local should admit that they don’t really care for the people.
Giving the affected people a voice is not only an act of dignity and empowerment. It also has the positive side effect that it allows exploring the full potential of cities and territories. National statistics or analytic work by secret service agencies usually don’t focus on the potential for innovation of a region or how it can be fostered. Not engaging the people on the ground risks major and possibly costly misjudgments. Instead, engaging citizens in visioning, diagnostic and policy development can lead to win-win scenarios for all stakeholders.
3. Cities and rural areas as the stage for all development
What makes the place-based approach of cities and territories so important is that the territory is the stage for all economic, social and environmental development. Thus, beginning with urban and territorial development makes it easier to launch a comprehensive and integrate development approach.
The author chairing a first conference on sustainable territorial development in the Black Sea Region. Odessa, Ukraine, 11-12 November 1996
Policies and Governance for Resilient and Sustainable Cities and Regions
