The Collective Memory Effect on Cross-Border Cooperation Practices in Europe

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to examine the significance of planning cultures under the lense of overcoming the dividing function of national borders. Doing so this paper seeks to analyse the collective memory effect on cross-border cooperation practices and more precisely to figure out to what extent subconscious collective memories influence formal planning decisions in general as well as the quality and success of cross-border cooperation processes in particular. However, rather than searching for the cultural nucleus of cross-border planning practice, I am proposing an analytical framework, capable of examining the question of how appropriate trans-cultural understanding can be built up in different cross-border regions. Absent such an understanding will tend to legitimise the stereotypes we hold of ‘the others’ and hamper the practice of cross-border cooperation.