First published in 1999, this volume is a study of regional and local co-operation across national borders in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and also of regional co-operation out of the area - across the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and in the Barents region. The focus of the study is on processes of region-building. Co-operation between regions across national borders is seen as a creative process, and as something that has to be nurtured and guided. The authors recognised the need for a work which examined issues crossing Nordic borders and made the information more publicly accessible, emerging within evolving discussions of regional governance, cross-border collaborations and Nordic co-operation. The editors have featured three forms of contributions: a series of regional case studies, collations of data on sub-national governments and relating these sub-national factors to debates on Nordic co-operation and European integration. Authors with specialist regional knowledge examine these processes in detail, through case studies which represent the most important of this type of Nordic area and provide a view of what may constitute 'success' in such ventures. The authors also discuss what such processes may signify for general Nordic co-operation against the backdrop of European integration and seek to indicate what Nordic regions may bring to European regionalism. Such a discussion is of particular interest since the EU acquired a new Nordic dimension when Sweden and Finland joined. Contributors' articles focus on areas including the Kvarken Council, the ARKO co-operation, the internationalisation of Finnish and Norwegian local government and the Øresund region. The collaboration was published in English in order to better contribute to discussions on cross-border interaction more widely, particularly in the case of Europe.

1. Transborder Region-Building: Cement or Solvent in Nordic Co-operation? Harald Baldersheim and Krister Ståhlberg. Part 1. Region-Building Across Nordic Borders. 2. Patterns in Nordic Cross-Border Region-Building - an Overview. Mårten Johansson. 3. The Kvarken Council. Paul Lindell. 4. The North Calotte Committee. Eva Johansson Aalbu. 5. The ARKO Co-operation. Kenneth Nyströ. 6. Danish-Swedish Co-operation in the Øresund Region. Bjarne Andersen. 7. The Baltic Sea Co-operation - Visions and Realities. Jan Åke Dellenbrant. 8. The Barents Region. Lassi Heininen. 9. The North Sea Commission. Norman O'Neill and Eirik Sæter. Part 2. European Integration and Local Government. 10. The Internationalisation of Finnish and Norwegian Local Government. Harald Baldersheim and Krister Ståhlberg. 11. European Integration and Municipal Self-Government - the Case of Sweden. Sören Häggroth. Part 3. Conclusions. 12. The Dynamics of Cross-Border Region-Building and Nordic Co-operation. Harald Baldersheim and Krister Ståhlberg.