Positioning Higher Education in the Imagined Histories, Geographies and Futures of a European Cross-Border Region

Abstract

This article examines attempts to develop research cooperation and the research sector in a European cross-border region (CBR), Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino. It reports the result of thirty-one expert interviews with key actors: senior managers in universities and research institutes, and policy-makers and administrators within the region. The focus is on the positioning of higher education and research institutes at various scalar levels: the regional, the respective national contexts (Italy and Austria), the Euroregion, and the international. The paper draws on social identity and positioning theory in analyzing the material and emphasizes the, often paradoxical, dynamic between the scalar levels. It concludes by drawing out some broader implications of the case study for understanding the role of HE and research institutions in emerging knowledge cities or regions.