Higher Education Institutions: Decisive Players for Cross-border Integration - DOI: 10.5212/TerraPlural.v.5i1.0003

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to compare how Cross-border Collaboration (CBC) is being conducted between Universities in the border twin cities of Ciudad Juarez/El Paso and Frankfurt (Oder)/Slubice. Both areas concentrate Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) facing the similar challenge of pursuing collaboration within a context characterized by unequal economic development and infl uenced by supranational structures, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the European Union, respectively. As a result of the comparison of some of the CBC initiatives that have been conducted between HEIs in the study areas, the document points out that the development of knowledge societies in border regions requires the existence of a mature CBC culture among the local community.