Cooperation without boundaries – Beethoven 4 at the UPWr

• Local communities are free to cross borders, which allows them to engage more effectively in caring for a shared environment

The Beethoven programme supports Polish-German research, which perfectly matches the project of Dr. Solecka, who, in cooperation with the Leuphana University Lüneburg, wants to investigate the impact of mobility on the importance of where and how environmental management is conducted in the context of cross-border regions – on the example of the Odra River area dividing Poland and Germany. Dr Solecka's team wants to explore how people become attached to a location, how their place of residence influences their approach, and how this bond creates the potential to organise grassroots pro-environmental initiatives to protect landscapes and rivers.

Rivers are social-ecological systems that offer people various benefits and also form the geographical and administrative boundaries of countries. Despite the need and requirements for cross-border cooperation for sustainable river management, formal landscape planning institutions only operate within national borders. At the same time, European Union borders do not restrict the mobility of people of EU residents on the move. Due to the differences between Poland and Germany, for example economical ones, local residents cross the border for different reasons. These types of mobility can be related to work, shopping or visiting family.

– Cross-border regions, such as the Oder region, are a special case for exploring the relationship between different types of mobility and location importance, as well as the potential of bottom-up environmental management by local inhabitants. While open borders allow for cross-border activities, historical burdens and socio-economic differences continue to create a divide between both sides of the border, resulting in specific mobility patterns – explains Dr Solecka of SCR Leading Research Team, adding that the simultaneous rapid development of the Internet of Things supports new forms of travel, both physical and virtual. These trends in human mobility require a new approach to sustainable river management, where people can act as environmental stewards, crossing administrative boundaries and working together for the common good of cross-border regions.

It is inhabitants who have the greatest influence on the common areas, not the authorities

Since local residents, unlike state institutions, can freely cross borders, supporting sustainable river management, the researcher decided to investigate the impact of their mobility on the importance of location and environmental management.

– Firstly, I want to explore mobility patterns in a selected Odra River cross-border region and broaden my understanding of the directly perceived and socially and culturally constructed meaning of a location in natural and semi-natural landscapes. Next, we want to identify the impact of mobility patterns on the importance of location and environmental management. Based on this, we are going to develop innovative methods to support grassroots environmental management initiatives based on nudge theory – says Dr. Solecka.

As the Beethoven 4 grant winner explains, nudge theory is the idea of using incentives or suggestions instead of introducing laws or orders to influence people's behaviour, while giving them the freedom to make their own decisions. It was popularised in 2008 by a book by two scientists from the University of Chicago, Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, "Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness", which inspired American and British politicians. As one of its authors, Richard Thaler, says – “The idea behind nudge theory is that we never make isolated, unrelated choices. The nudge effect cannot be avoided.”

Interviews with experts and residents alike will be used to explore mobility models. At the same time, an online participatory survey will be used to determine the significance of the location, which will allow respondents to associate the meaning with the location, post photos, inform about grass-roots initiatives in environmental management, and also about movement patterns. This information is important for researchers from Dr. Solecka's team, because the willingness of residents to take action regarding the natural environment is closely related to the importance assigned to a given place, or their attachment to it.

The quantitative results will be used for further research using satellite navigation and further interviews. This will allow a greater understanding of the relationship between mobility and location importance.

– We will use our empirical insights to show how both essentialist and progressive understanding of the meaning of location can lead to a better understanding of the relationship between people and location in a cross-border context – explains Dr. Iga Solecka, emphasising that her research proposal, as well as the subject of the research, will be based on international cooperation: – Empirical research requires language skills, cultural background and intercultural competences. This is especially important in direct interactions with local people during interviews and in the coding process – says the researcher.

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