Learning Across Regions

Building Successful Cross-Boundary Governance from AlpPlan to the Baltic Sea. Short recap on the second ARL Roundtable Discussion at the World Planning School Congress 2026 in Helsinki

The demand for land continues to rise making it increasingly difficult to implement sustainable land use within existing spatial planning systems. In regions with complex topographies identifying spatial solutions to land-use conflicts is particularly difficult. In the Alps, for instance, developable land is mostly restricted to narrow valley floors. The energy transition and climate-related extreme weather events are intensifying the pressure on the remaining land.

These demands often extend beyond national borders to encompass areas such as energy production, water management and resource use. Developing long-term solutions therefore requires continuous dialogue between researchers and planning practitioners, both within and beyond defined geographical regions. The ARL European Working Group AlpPlan has established itself as an important platform for knowledge transfer between research and practice, connecting local, regional, national and transnational actors throughout the Alpine Space. The network's experiences demonstrate the crucial role of effective governance structures and communication mechanisms in supporting cooperation across macro-regions. Similarly, the Land-based Planners’ Forum project, which was funded by a third party, and focused on the Baltic Sea Region, has identified key priorities driven by practitioners that need to be embedded in functional cross-border governance frameworks.

At the 6th World Planning School Congress in Helsinki, the ARL hosted a roundtable event, bringing together experts from the Alpine and Baltic Sea regions to share their experiences of cross-border and macroregional cooperation and governance. The discussion explored the mechanisms for collaboration developed by different regional initiatives and the lessons that can be shared across Europe. Two members of the AlpPlan Network provided thematic input: Dr Marco Pütz (WSL, Switzerland) and Dr Arthur Schindelegger (BOKU, Austria). They elaborated on the network itself, as well as organisational infrastructures in the Alps revolving around alpine spatial planning. Representatives of the intergovernmental cooperation initiative Visions and Strategies around the Baltic Sea (VASAB), Egija Stapkēviča and Mārtiņš Ulāns, provided detailed insights into VASAB's evolution and the key challenges that have emerged in the Baltic Sea Region in recent decades. Their contributions emphasised the importance of strengthening cooperation in land-based spatial planning in order to respond more effectively to shared challenges. A central theme linking both regions was mobility. Both the Alps and the Baltic Sea Region have long been faced with the challenge of improving connectivity while managing increasing passenger and freight volumes. Participants discussed how these shared challenges have driven the development of macroregional cooperation and governance mechanisms.

One of the key conclusions of the roundtable was the need to establish long-term cooperation that transcends short-term political priorities. Participants emphasised the importance of establishing stable, long-term platforms that would serve as safe spaces in which planning practitioners and researchers could exchange experiences, collaborate on current issues and openly and constructively share best practices. Such trusted environments and enduring governance structures were identified as being essential for addressing complex spatial challenges that transcend administrative and national borders.

Kerstin Ströbel
Research Assistant
Phone +49 511 348 42 66
kerstin.stroebel@arl-net.de

Dr. Britta Bockhorn
International Affairs
Phone +49 511 348 42 25
britta.bockhorn@arl-net.de