A conference organised in partnership with the Mission opérationnelle transfrontalière (MOT)

Available online in a webinar format too (in French only!): weblinks of the "Planning" webpage

Speakers' presentations are available on the "Planning" page.

As in-between spaces dealing with specific challenges, maritime areas often require transnational cooperation involving various agents, from local authorities to national governments or economic actors. The challenges may concern flow management, maritime policing, or environmental protection.

This conference addresses the specificities of regional cooperation in maritime areas, in particular in maritime border areas. It aims at opening perspectives and reflections on the impact of territorial transitions linked to these cooperation dynamics, whether it be economic, institutional, or functional. The conference draws on the specific example of Brexit as a territorial transition that has had significant effects on cooperation in the English Channel space, and more precisely in the Strait of Dover. From this specific example, the conference widens the analysis and introduces a comparative approach with other regional cooperation initiatives in maritime areas: Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, the Atlantic Ocean.

Three main axes that will be dealt with are:

- The specific situation of straits, as hybrid maritime-terrestrial spaces of cooperation but also as areas bearing their own challenges due to social and geographical proximity. Cooperation may involve spatial and urban planning initiatives,

- The governance of maritime areas involving multi-level public or private local, national, or supranational agents

- Regional, transnational, and cross-border cooperation initiatives in the field of culture.

The conference will take place September 14th and 15th, 2023 at the University of Lille.

It delivers an interdisciplinary approach of maritime border areas, gathering academics and experts from border studies, maritime studies and/or regional studies.

Registration weblink: https://recma.sciencesconf.org/registration