General informations
he Center for Regional and Cross-Border Studies was established to provide a platform for cooperation between the Faculty of Economics of the University of Rzeszów and the international socio-economic community, as well as to support research on cross-border issues.
The Center's activities began in 2013, with the signing of a partnership agreement establishing the Cross-Border Scientific, Informational, and Statistical Cluster (signed in Lviv on March 20, 2013). The partners of this agreement were:
The Institute of Regional Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, based in Lviv, the Lviv Statistical Office, the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, the Faculty of Economics, the Lviv Regional Union of Economists, the Rzeszów Statistical Office, the Faculty of Economics of the University of Rzeszów, and the Center for Statistical Research and Education of the Central Statistical Office.
Initially, the Center for Regional and Cross-Border Studies operated as an informal unit, hosting several scientific conferences. These included:"Socio-Economic Potential of Cross-Border Cooperation," April 18-20, 2016, Lviv, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv; "Creating a System of Key Indicators for Assessing the Socio-Economic Development of Cross-Border Areas," April 25-26, 2017, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Lviv Statistical Office; International Scientific Conference: "Depopulation in the Three Seas Countries and Regions: Conditions and Consequences," February 17, 2020, University of Rzeszów.
In 2018, the Center's activities were formalized, based on Resolution No. 394/12/2018 of the Senate of the University of Rzeszów of December 20, 2018, on the establishment of the Center for Regional and Cross-Border Studies, a research center. Under the Resolution, the Center became an organizational (research) unit of the University of Rzeszów, conducting and supporting interdisciplinary research, training, expert, and promotional activities, as well as coordinating and integrating activities related to universally understood regional and cross-border issues. The Center was located at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Rzeszów, currently the Institute of Economics and Finance.
The Center for Regional and Cross-Border Studies carries out its tasks by, among other things: conducting scientific research and innovative projects, building information resources on cross-border processes and economies that are not only regionally significant but also strategically important for shaping macroeconomic policies, with a view to establishing the Three Seas Regions Observatory, coordinating cooperation within the Three Seas Regions Observatory and the "INFOSTAT UKRAINE-POLAND" Cross-Border Scientific, Information, and Statistical Cluster, organizing/co-organizing meetings, open lectures, debates, seminars, conferences, and congresses.
The TRANSBORDER ECONOMICS International Journal on Transborder Economics, Politics and Statistics was established within the Center. In 2016, the first issue of the TRANSBORDER ECONOMICS International Journal on Transborder Economics, Politics and Statistics was published in collaboration with the Statistical Office in Rzeszów, the Association of European Border Regions, and the Carpathian Euroregion. Subsequent issues followed, until 2022, when the name TRANSBORDER ECONOMICS International Journal on Transborder Economics, Finance, Politics and Statistics was expanded. It is worth noting that the journal is published in English, and the editorial board includes experts from Poland and abroad. Furthermore, in collaboration with the Statistical Office in Rzeszów, a monograph entitled "Cross-border areas of Poland, Ukraine, and Slovakia – factors of progression and peripherization" was published. Statistical Office in Rzeszów, University of Rzeszów, Rzeszów 2015.
In furtherance of its goals of collaboration with other research centers, the Center actively collaborates with the Scientific Institute for the Development of Local Government of the Lublin Voivodeship. On September 17, 2020, as the Center's representative, Dr. hab. Elżbieta Feret, professor at the University of Rzeszów, was invited to join the Scientific Council of the Institute for the Development of Local Government of the Lublin Voivodeship (invitation). As a result of her work on the Council, the Local Government Economic Congress was organized as part of the 2nd Three Seas Forum of Regions with the participation of the Center at the University of Rzeszów, which took place on June 29 and 30, 2021, in Lublin.
Collaboration in this area also resulted in another invitation for Dr. hab. Elżbieta Feret, professor at the University of Rzeszów, as the Center's representative, to participate in the Program Council of the Local Government Congress of the 3rd Three Seas Forum of Regions, which took place in Lublin on May 16-17, 2023.
Through its activities, the Center for Regional and Cross-Border Studies has actively engaged in activities related to the specific situation in Podkarpacie due to the war in Ukraine. This interest resulted in organizing, in collaboration with Dr. Ewa Leniart, Voivode of Podkarpacie, and Dr. hab. Marek Cierpiał-Wolan, Professor of the University of Rzeszów and Director of the Statistical Office in Rzeszów, a conference entitled "Geopolitical Situation: World-Europe-Region" on March 3, 2023. The conference was held at the Voivodeship Office in a hybrid format, aiming to present the actual situation in our region, located near the border with Ukraine, and to identify the consequences and future challenges. Participants included representatives and experts from Poland and abroad, government officials, and uniformed services.
The observations made during the Conference led to the need to prepare another International Scientific Conference, this time held within the walls of our Alma Mater, on "Refugees from Ukraine in Poland – Socio-Legal Impacts and Challenges," scheduled for May 29, 2023. This conference focused on three thematic areas: Health of refugees from Ukraine in Poland 2022. Survey findings; Formal and legal consequences of the mass influx of refugees from Ukraine; and the Podkarpackie region's experience of a large influx of refugees from Ukraine. Guests who have announced their attendance include: Agnieszka Ścigaj, Minister – Member of the Council of Ministers; Maksym Kozicki, Chairman of the Lviv Regional Administration; Dr. Paloma Cuchi, World Health Organization (WHO); and Ane Just Ohrt – Emergency Response Coordination Centre (agenda). The conference will result in the preparation of a special issue of the TRANSBORDER ECONOMICS International Journal on Transborder Economics, Finance, Politics and Statistics.
From July 1-6, 2024, the Polish-German Student Seminar "Administrative challenges related to persons from Ukraine under temporary protection" was held as part of the "Forum of German and Polish Universities of Administration." The seminar was organized as part of the Regional Excellence Initiative Project. The seminar was attended by 30 students and academics from universities associated with the Forum of German and Polish Universities of Administration, representatives of: the University of Rzeszów, the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, the University of Warsaw, the University of Economics and Business Berlin, and the University of Economics and Business Kehl. The Organizing Committee was chaired by Prof. Elżbieta Feret, PhD, hab., Director of the Center for Regional and Cross-Border Studies, and Dr. hab. Krzysztof Żarna, PhD, hab., prof. UR, the members of the organizing committee were employees of the Department of Financial Law and the Forensic Laboratory of the Institute of Legal Sciences.
The main theme of the seminar was the challenges faced by refugees from Ukraine, during which students prepared papers on the issue of temporary protection for refugees. Students worked under the supervision of academic teachers on specific topics: "Temporary protection in Germany and Poland – general problems, challenges, practice," "Temporary protection and human rights," "Temporary protection under administrative law," "Providing an education system for refugees from Ukraine," and "Tax and the social security regulations regarding Ukrainian refugees." The results of their work were published in the “Journal of Transborder Economics".
During their stay at the University of Rzeszów, Seminar participants visited the Welcome Center, the Forensic Laboratory, and the University of Rzeszów Library, and also met with the Vice-Rector for Student Affairs and Education, Dr. hab. Elżbieta Rokosz, professor at the University of Rzeszów. During the Seminar, a meeting was organized with representatives of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship Office dealing with refugee issues – Director Irena Marszałek-Czekierda, Director Jakub Dzik, and Voivode's Plenipotentiary Małgorzata Majka-Onyszkiewicz, who presented the role of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship authorities in solving migration problems.