Abstract

The purpose of this workshop report is to provide an overview of the different interests and competences of the people and institutions that make up the TRANSFOR(U)M network. The TRANSFOR(U)M1 network was founded to bring together research institutes in Central and Eastern Europe that deal with socio-spatial and socio-ecological transformation processes at the regional level. The participants of the network come from Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Hungary and Austria. Within TRANSFOR(U)M, each partner contributes its own specific research focus to the discussion. However, what all partners have in common is that they share a particular interest in innovative and alternative strategies and views on the complex transformation processes that represent a major challenge for Europe's regions today and in the future. Europe's regions are facing enormous challenges due to spatially reflected complex and profound economic, social and cultural ones. The crisis of many regions manifests itself mainly in processes of shrinkage - conspicuous in the form of declining employment, falling purchasing power, public budgets in deficit, population losses, industrial wastelands, housing estates and desolate urban landscapes. The transformation processes described above can lead to major disparities in local living conditions between structurally weak and prosperous regions. The associated transformation processes and the resulting new socio-ecological issues and problem constellations are concentrated above all in the regions of Europe affected by structural change. For this reason, these processes are taking place particularly rapidly in Central Eastern and South Eastern European countries. Regional transformation processes must always be considered in the context of the social conditions that shape and influence them, such as globalisation processes, demographic change, current urban and regional development strategies or existing infrastructures. However, sustainable regional development. requires innovative ideas and strategies with a long-term time horizon in order to meet the challenges arising from the transformation processes. The contributions in this workshop report therefore address various aspects and problems that will be relevant in this context for science and politics, especially in the long term. The following three areas of interest are addressed: - The concept of cohesion, - Structural upheavals, and - Governance in regions affected by change. The aim of the workshop report is to stimulate discussion around key issues arising within the broad field of regional transformation processes and thus to help identify alternatives to current regional development practices and strategies. The contributions therefore represent a variety of problem areas and interesting research questions that should be the subject of future academic work. Furthermore, they also represent the broad expertise that is represented in the TRANSFOR(U)M network and that will be further deepened in future joint research activities.