News - BorderCrossing

The “Eurodistrict Oderland-Nadodrze” was founded in 2004, when 15 german and polish mayors decided to solve their problems, such as high unemployment, insufficient infrastructure or unused touristic potential, together. Since June 2005 the INTERact-project “Border Crossing” became responsible for the network, the European cooperation and the preparation of the new programming period of structural funds 2007-2013.
In Chojna the EURODISTRICT’s members discussed concrete results of three working groups (economy & tourism, cross border infrastructure, education & culture) with more than 70 projects planned within the coming six years.
“Let me show you one example from the working group Economy & Tourism” says Heike-Doreen Ehling, mayor of the town Oderaue (D). “German and Polish construction engineers, locksmiths and electricians produce biogas facilities for the use of electrical energy created by renewable resources. Regional credit institutions finance the construction or the acquisition of assets. Agricultural undertakings buy or lease and operate the facilities. Later they sell the energy they produced in their farmyards.”
One of the most important factors for the regional development is the improvement of traffic conditions close to the border. Agnieszka Zurawska, director of the Department for European Affairs in the Municipality of Kostrzyn, explains the benefits for the whole region resulting out of the restoration of existing street- or trainbriges across the Oder: „The traffic would be more fluent and the conditions for our touristic offers would be more attractive. In a next step we should renovate and expand the access roads as well as existing intersections and border crossings in a passage 50 alongside the Oder.”
During the coming General Meeting in Kostrzyn, 07.11.2006, the EURODISTRICT will decide on the most important projects for the German-Polish border region within the next six years.