Keynote lecture:
"Old and new borders – the dynamic construction of regions"
by Christa Kamleithner

"The political landscape is changing. The coherence of the nation state has become loose, in favor of larger supranational entities as well as smaller regional entities which are evolving. The borders of these new entities are quite different: Whereas the borders of supranational entities get stiffer, for instance those of the European Union through the Schengen agreement, those of regions develop dynamically. Old political and administration boundaries, long ago transgressed by economic and demographic developments, are being reconsidered and new ones designed, aligned with the functional interrelations. The new forms of regional and metropolitan co-operation, sometimes across national borders, are more or less loose alliances, which reproduce the economic status in a political manner.

Closely associated with this process is the transcending of another borderline. In economically closely intertwined regions and metropolitan areas, which are mostly situated in the lowlands and well connected to the transportation infrastructure, new kinds of urbanised landscape are evolving, blurring the limits of town and country. The new borders are defined through accessibility: While these new urban landscapes are being more and more technically linked and economically consolidated, other more rural areas, for instance in the Alps or in Eastern Europe, get out of sight and at the periphery of economic development. The new borders are also defined through diverse constructions of identity, the design of regions follows economic, social and cultural focuses. These constructions rely not so much on the demarcation of borders than on the appeal of great projects. Characteristic landscapes also play a role in this respect: today, although new technical networks cross natural barriers without difficulty, scenic highlights and geographical entities are introduced (again) as anchor points for identification."

Christa Kamleithner
research assistant and lecturer at The Berlin University of the Arts;
assistant lecturer at the Center for Metropolitan Studies, Technical University Berlin.



"The first day of the mini-meeting in Kleinwalsertal was the day which was unforgettable for everyone, I guess. The idea, mountaineering was so well related to the topic ‘borders’. We tried to cross our physical borders, having extreme moments. It was a good choice because it is easier to consider what a border is when you go beyond it. For me I did a lot of things which were first time in my life. First with the climbing. It reminded me not to give up so easily. Than I realized with this jumping from the rocks that sometimes we may miss lots of fun if we don’t try just one time. Every time when we see the other adventure we needed to try at first. We always felt like we were not able to do it. But then we said ourselves, that we just need to try. Normally if you took me first to that bridge to jump i would never do it. But the most clever point was that, you planned it so well we didn’t even realize how crazy things we were doing. Thanks all of you to make us enjoy everything."

Elif Nazli Malkoc, Turkey