Euroregion as an Entity Stimulating the Sustainable Development of the Cross-Border Market for Cultural Services in a City Divided by a Border

Abstract

The article discusses the issue of the sustainable development of the cross-border market for cultural services in a city divided by the state border. The article uses the example of Cieszyn and Český Těšín, a city divided following the decision of the Council of Ambassadors in 1920. The research carried out so far indicates the main constraints in the harmonious functioning of the cross-border market for cultural services in this city, such as: different cultural policies implemented on both sides of the city, language barriers as well as legal and administrative differences. Therefore, the authors undertook research aimed at recognising the role of Euroregional structures in stimulating the sustainable development of this region. On the basis of the analysis of the Cieszyn Silesia Euroregion's documentation and the results of qualitative and quantitative research, the article describes the role of the Euroregion in building a cross-border market for cultural services. Recommendations were also prepared that could constitute the principles of a common cultural policy not only for Cieszyn and Český Těšín, but also for other European cities in the Schengen Area, which, like Cieszyn and Český Těšín, have been divided by a state border.

The Relationship Between the Inhabitants of the City Divided by the Border with Polish and Czech Cultural Institutions in the Context of Cultural Education

“…Interpreting the results relating to cultural institutions in Cieszyn, it can be stated that for the inhabitants of Cieszyn and Czech Cieszyn, activities related to promotion play a key role in the process of establishing relationships. The obtained result confirms the results of other qualitative research, which was conducted using the method of individual in-depth interview in a group of 25 Polish experts of the cross-border market of cultural services in Cieszyn-Czech Cieszyn (Wróblewski and Kasperek, 2019). The surveyed experts concluded that on the cross-border market of cultural services, it is not a product (as their Czech colleagues claimed), but better marketing communication that is of key importance in the process of establishing a relationship of a cultural entity with the inhabitants of both its own (national) and foreign side of the divided the city limits, the interest in the offer is very high, which contributes to the development of cultural education in the cross-border region.…”

“…It is also worth noting that some of these cities are duplicated cities, which, because of integration, may form "connected cities". The occurrence of this type of cities is characteristic of, among others, for Western Europe and Northern Europe, which are characterized by the presence of stable borders (Jańczak, 2009;Dołzbłasz, 2013;Castanho et al, 2019;Wróblewski et al, 2019). In the case of another category of divided cities -one city split by a border, two features play a special role: the heritage of unity and immediate spatial proximity.…”

Challenges of Pandemic-Related Border Closures for Everyday Lives of Poles and Czechs in the Divided Town of Cieszyn/Český Těšín: Integrated Functional Space or Reemergence of Animosities?

“…According to many scholars, Těšín/Cieszyn Silesia, with its Polish minority living on the Czech side, is the most integrated part of the borderland with a high volume of multiple cross-border flows (Pásztó et al 2019; Böhm and Opioła 2019), and where CBC contributed to mutual post-conflict reconciliation (Böhm and Drápela 2017; Wróblewski and Kasperek 2019).…”