User:Chilling T/Greater Region of Luxembourg
This article deals with the Greater Region of Luxembourg explaining its structure and the related cooperation and projects. The cooperation area was created to promote the economic, cultural, touristic and social development of the region.[1]
Structure[edit]
Geography[edit]
The Greater Region of Luxembourg is composed of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Wallonia, Saarland, Lorraine, Rhineland-Palatinate and the German speaking community of Belgium presenting a total area of 65.401 km², spreading more than 400 km from East to West and more than 350 km from North to South. Northern Wallonia and the Rhine valley are part of the same mountain ridge, which forms a natural border in the North/North-East of the Greater Region. In this area, the numerous large cities as well as the high density of population and transport networks influence the spatial structuring in an important way. In opposition to this, in its south, the Greater Region is connected to a diagonal of only little population density and economic dynamism, proceeding from the center of Spain to the eastern plains of the Paris Basin. Inbetween these two regions, the cross-border region SAAR-LOR-LUX constitutes an industrial core area with many urban agglomeration areas in the geometric center of the Greater Region. Within this asymmetric area, the densely populated axes of the big valleys (Moselle, Saar) and the extensive transport network, connecting this central region across the highlands with the outlying regions of the Rhine, constitute important elements of continuity and simultaneously essential windows towards the neighboring regions.[2]
Demography[edit]
The first January 2008, the Greater Region of Luxembourg was inhabited by 11,359,815 persons which are distributed in a very unbalanced way over the 5 sub regions. More than half of the population lives in Rhineland-Palatinate and in Wallonia. Only 4,26 % of the total population lives in Luxembourg which constitutes the smallest sub region.[3]
For 2030, a very slight decrease of the total population of the Greater Region is forecasted. However, there are important differences in the projected population evolution across the composing sub regions. Thus, Luxembourg will be confronted with an important proportional increase of 0,25 %, while a decrease of 0,11 % is predicted for the German sub region Saarland.
Economy[edit]
The Greater Region of Luxembourg is characterized by the very high number of 164,000 daily commuters with 132,000 of them working in Luxembourg (2007/08). Due to the drastic changes of the industrial and coal mining areas in the 4 countries, the common economic problems have lead to the creation of a community of interest and to the development of common projects like the European Pole of Development in the cross-border area of Longwy (France), Rodange (Luxembourg) and Athus (Belgium).
The European center situated between the rivers of Sarre, Moselle and Meuse presents the highest number and density of cross-border commuters in the European Union. More than half of them are originate in Lorraine and almost three-quarter of them (73,4 %) work in Luxembourg. Thus, these two regions play a very important role in the dynanism of the cross-border labour market. The Grand Duchy and the Saarland are both characterized by a positive cross-border commuter balance. However, Luxembourg regularly presents high positive balances while the positive balance is continously diminishing in the Saarland. The other subregions have more out-commuters than in-commuters. The Lorraine provides the highest number of workers for the benefit of the neighbouring regions (-89 478 persons).[4]
Culture[edit]
After 20 years, the Greater Region of Luxembourg was the first area including 4 countries and 5 regions with 3 different languages, which was selected as the European Capital of Culture. The sub regions respectively selected one focal theme:
- Luxemburg: Migration
- Rhineland-Palatinate: Important European personalities
- Saarland: Industry as cultural heritage
- Lorraine: Culture and memorization
- Wallonia: Ausdruckformen der Moderne
The 28th of April 2008, the "association Espace culturel Grande Région" (association cultural Space Greater Region) was created in 2007 when the Greater Region constituted the European Capital of Culture. Its goals are the pursuit and the conservation of the cultural cross-border cooperation. The main principle of the association is to bring cultural authorities of the Greater Region together and to define a common work program.
The work program of the "Espace culturel Grande Région" is based on the following axes:
- conduct a reflection on the cultural strategy of the Greater Region
- develop and conduct the cultural and cross-border projects culturels
- develop and professionalize the networks of competencies
- encourage mobility in the Greater Region
- développer des passerelles liant la culture à l’éducation et à d’autres champs d’action.
Partners of the association "Espace culturel Grande Région":
- in Lorraine
Directorate General of the departments Moselle, Meuse and Meurthe-et-Moselle Regional Directorate of cultural affairs of Lorraine Region Lorraine
- in Luxembourg
Ministry of culture of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
City of Luxembourg
- in Rhineland-Palatinate
Miniistry of education, science, youth and culture Rhineland-Palatinate
City of Trier
- in Saarland
Ministry of Culture of the Saarland
- in Wallonia
Ministry of the French Community of Belgium Ministry of the German Speaking Community of Belgium
The association is a project cofinanced by the European Fonds of Regional Development in the framework of the INTERREG IV A program Greater Region. [5]
Cooperation and projects[edit]
Interregional cooperation[edit]
Interregional observatory of the labour market
Interregional parliamentary council
Network of mediators
EuRegio SaarLorLux +
e-BIRD
Cooperation of development
Interregional council of the Chamber of Crafts Saar-Lor-Lux
Association 'Espace culturel Grande Région'(Cultural Space Greater region)
Association of the museums of the Greater Region
Cultural portal of the Greater Region plurio.net
Musical cooperation of the Greater Region
Chorus Robert Schuman
1, 2, 3 GO
Secondary school germano-luxembourgeois Schengen-Perl
Charter of universitarian cooperation
University of the Greater Region
Interregional press
TIMIS flood
Statistical offices
Interregional syndicate council
Interregional syndicate 'des Trois Frontières' (three borders)
Syndicalistic platform of the Greater Region
cross-border Eures
Quattropole
European level of cooperation[edit]
INTERREG IV A Grande Région
Notes[edit]
- ^ Luxembourg for ICT (2009): European Dimension. Online under: http://www.luxembourgforict.lu/pictures/photos/economie/Grande_Region_portail_fr.jpg
- ^ Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (2009): La Grande Région. Online under: http://www.granderegion.net/fr/grande-region/index.html
- ^ Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (2009): Bevölkerung. Online under: http://www.granderegion.net/de/GROSSREGION/BEVOLKERUNG/index.html
- ^ Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (2009): Travail frontalier. Online under: http://www.granderegion.net/fr/grande-region/marche-de-lemploi/travail-frontalier/index.html
- ^ Agence luxembourgeoise d'action culturelle a.s.b.l. (2010): L’asbl Espace culturel Grande Région. Online under: http://www.espaceculturelgr.eu/
