POLISH-ROMANIAN JOINT RESEARCH PROJECTS WITH A FOCUS ON INTERNAL PERIPHERIES IN POLAND AND ROMANIA – ROLE OF ENDOGENOUS AND EXOGENOUS FACTORS IN THEIR DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES

. Scientific collaboration between Polish and Romanian geographers is based on a very good and long tradition. It was long developed between human and physical geographers alike. The common bilateral projects had in view aspects related to the impact of natural and human process on the planning of moun - tain and hilly areas, the social-economic transformations in the Romanian and Polish suburban zones, the regional development in Central and Eastern Europe, the socio-economic development of rural areas in Po - land and Romania. The last bilateral project on Internal peripheries in Polish and Romanian regions – role of endogenous and exogenous factors in their development processes , coordinated by Prof. Konrad Czapiewski from the Polish side, had as main research findings identifying common solutions serving the practical prob - lems connected with the economic and social development of the internal peripheries in both countries.


Introduction
The scientific collaboration between the Polish and the Romanian geographers is built upon a very long and fruitful tradition, developed throughout several decades between the physical and the economic geographers.In the case of socio-economic geography, the Polish collaboration with the Romanian partners was started in the early 1960s concerning land-use problems (I.Velcea, J. Kostrowicki, W. Biegajło).After the fall of the Eastern Block, in 1990s scientific cooperation was revived within the framework of a scientific agreement endorsed by the two Academies (inter-academic exchange projects): Institute of Geography, Romanian Academy and the Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Polish Academy of Sciences.Under this agreement, two scientific seminars were organized (Warsaw, 1995 andBucharest, 1996).

Polish-Romanian Joint Research Project: Internal Peripheries in Poland and Romania -Role of Endogenous and Exogenous Factors in Their Development Processes
The present paper is focused mainly on the last joint project titled Internal peripheries in Poland and Romania -role of endogenous and exogenous factors in their development processes (2019)(2020)(2021)(2022) coordinated by Prof. Konrad Czapiewski from the Polish side.Intraregional socio-economic disparities represent an increasingly significant planning and research issue.The social and economic decline witnessed over the decades, mainly in rural areas has been intensified, especially in the Central and East-European countries since different development levels here lag significantly behind those in Western countries.Currently, Poland and Romania are undergoing different processes (demographic, economic, and social) that acquire new dimensions and characteristics.
Regional disparities, in terms of the socio-economic development level, are getting uncovered in the majority of spatial analyses conducted for individual countries, or for smaller administrative units.The main aim of the common project was the evaluation of the internal peripheries of socio-economic development in Romania and Poland with focus on the role of the endogenous and exogenous factors in their development processes.The final result of researches were aimed at offering common solutions to serve the practical problems connected with the economy and social development of internal peripheries in both countries.
The analysis and comparison of the processes taking place in the intraregional peripheries of Poland and Romania had in view the description of the differences and the scale of development among the investigated regions.Determining the main factors behind the development of peripheral areas (endogenous and exogenous) the main trends responsible for overcoming location-induced disadvantages were pointed out.These outcomes may be of use for spatial planning policy makers to a more easily development planning of peripheral areas and the elaboration of an appropriate development policy.
In the project under discussion, the two institutes were focused on the socio-economic characteristics of Poland and Romania regions with the aim to identify the current patterns of socio-economic development and their territorial inequalities at local administrative level (LAU) through by an empirical examination of their underlying factors (e.g.unemployment, employment in agriculture, living space, education, and health-care).Three different research directions were considered: (1) establishing the statistical variables and indicators for identifying the socially disadvantaged rural areas, (2) assessing the levels of social development, and (3) typifying the socially disadvantaged areas.The project objectives had in view the main socio-economic features of Poland and Romania which shape the socio-economic peripheries and the role of endogenous and exogenous factors in their development processes.Assessing the following socio-economic aspects were the main Project objectives: • As one of the most important indicators of socio-economic development, unemployment appears to be detrimental to the quality of life, its social consequences coupled with the insecurity of jobs having a negative impact on households and communities.Inactivity and unemployment are often associated with poverty; unemployed people having the highest poverty rate.• Employment in agriculture is a critical issue for Romania, also for Poland, because rural labourers' categories are more vulnerable they having no social and health insurance and struggle at the limit of survival.• Access to sanitation and indoor wellbeing facilities (e.g.drinking water, sewage network, bathroom, heating) is reflected by a series of indicators related to the public utility infrastructure which mirror the population's income and the purchasing power.In contrast, these indicators point to the scale of the socio-economic problems the poor population with no access to some elementary life conditions is dealing with.• Living space is also important in quantifying the adequacy of living space in dwellings.Large differences between various EU countries are manifest in terms of the average living area per capita.It should be noted that, in most countries, this indicator has remained constant, but there are countries where its value has increased, for example, in Denmark, Spain, Slovenia and Poland.• Bridging opportunity gap in education is an important part of fighting long-term causes of disadvantage.The World Declaration on Education for All states that education begins at birth and continues throughout one's lifetime.• Health-care and socio-economic disadvantage are strongly interrelated.The lack of resources, as well as the unequal territorial distribution of resources makes it difficult for the national and local health-care system to supply proper treatment and medication in all the areas of these two countries.
Overall, the aim of the joint cooperation was the identification of the main problems and methods of assessing internal peripheries in Poland and Romania.The intraregional differentiation of some selected features was shown by taking into account the definition of socio-economic development, infrastructure as well as human capital and migration.Spatial analyses were made at the NUTS 3 and LAU levels, which allowed the comparative description of spatial differences within and between the regions.
The second aim of the project was to identify which of the investigated characteristics shows similarities in the active processes between the investigated different peripheries which are similar in Poland and Romania.
The Project topic was in line with some strategies and development plans elaborated by several ministries (Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration, Ministry of Labor and Social Justice in Romania and Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, Ministry of Investment and Economic Development in Poland) in order to ensure an integrated strategic planning to guide the national territorial development processes.
The results of the joint study provide useful statistical and spatial data for future in-depth studies on different spatial scales.Hence, it can also contribute to some of the targets set by the national strategies for labour employment, education, health, social inclusion and poverty reduction in Romania and Poland so as to a socio-economic disparities/inequalities between regions/internal peripheries and enhance social inclusion by addressing child poverty, and integrating marginalized communities.

Results of the Polish-Romanian Joint Research Projects
Under the Polish-Romanian agreements the scientific seminars, special sessions within the Warsaw Regional Forum devoted to topics stemmed from the projects were organized, as well as different papers were published.Scientific cooperation will have several types of benefits:

(i) Attendance to scientific conferences
During the Warsaw conferences -Warsaw Regional Forum 2005Forum , 2009Forum , 2011Forum , 2013Forum , 2015Forum , 2017 special sessions devoted to topics included in the projects were organized (Figs.1-3).The topics addressed in the presented papers can be assembled into several groups, some related to main Polish-Romanian collaboration topics: • Rural areas and peripheral areas: The varied socio-economic processes taking place in rural areas as well as of the processes of agrarian structure transformations, of the impact of the European Union on local development, and the developmental problems that peripheral areas face; Socio-demographic issues: analyses of internal and external migrations, social exclusion and unemployment, demographic structures at different spatial scales, human capital and ethnic structures; Management and protection of the environment (8%): issues relating to sustainable development, conflicts in spatial organization of highly-valued environmentally sensitive areas and protection of environmentally valuable areas (Czapiewski, 2010); • Territorial uncertainty and vulnerability: One of the chief elements of territorial capital is environmental potential understood as endogenous resource, which can generate trajectories of regional development.In this aspect the issues of identification and evaluation were discussed, inter alia eco-system services, analysis of improving regional stickiness based on evaluation of investment attractiveness that follow from environmental and landscape potential as well as from taking advantage of ecological and economic models, including input/output (IOM) and total requirement (TMR) models utilized to optimize the regional governance (WRF, 2013); During the Warsaw Regional Forum conferences, field trips have always been an essential part.During these field trips, the participants had the chance were to interact with local stakeholders and representatives of various institutions with an important role in local development where they had the opportunity to challenge their theoretical knowledge with the practicalities of regional and local development.On the occasion of each Warsaw Regional Forum, a new route of the trip was meticulously prepared in such a way to include interesting tourist and scientific sites (WRF, 2021).Under the joint agreement, a scientific seminar Central Europe -Socio-Economic Disparities, Rural and Regional Development was organized in Bucharest on September 18, 2008 (Fig. 5).The main themes were related to accessibility as the key problem of regional development in Central and Eastern Europe, economically successful areas in Poland, development of non-agricultural functions on rural areas during transformation period, inter-communal cooperation and regional development in Romania, Sustainable development for the Danube Delta rural communities, spatial differentiation and changes of agriculture in Poland, types of rural landscapes in Romanian Subcarpathians, intraregional peripheries of socio-economic development, characteristics of tourism demand within sustainable tourism perspective, foreign investments in industry and regional development.A field trip was organized in Danube Delta and Black Sea seaside area in Tulcea and Constanța counties (Fig. 6).

(iii) Field trips during the Joint Research Projects
In the framework of the Joint Research Projects various interesting field trips where held in Romania and Poland and had in view different scientific issues: social-economic transformations in the Romanian and Polish suburban areas, natural hazards in the Romanian and Polish Carpathian Mountains, regional differences in the socio-economic development of rural areas, assessment of the rural-urban continuum, internal peripheries in Poland and Romania (Fig. 8).(v) Theoretical approaches by extending and updating the bibliographical documentation.These studies, useful to specialists in regional and local development and territorial planning, could become a starting-point for specialists from different fields, researchers, stakeholders.
(vi) Practical-applicative, by offering to the interested local authorities, actors and stakeholders some useful and updated methodological tools.These, together with the resulted comparative case-studies analyses, could be set as a background for future regional and local development strategies.
(vii) The Academic co-operation Project implies the participation of some young researches from Ro(vi)mania and Poland.Young researchers were involved in the conferences organized by the The IGU LRD Commission has been particularly active through the participation to/organization of international meetings and conferences, but also through the series of volumes published in prestigious publishing houses.
Two of the most important international conferences held under the aegis of the IGU LRD Commission took place in Romania and had in the scientific organizing committees, but also as active participants members of the two institutions: IGU Thematic Conference on Land use/cover changes, Biodiversity, Health and Environment, Local and Regional Development, Bucharest-Tulcea, 11-15 September 2017 and IGU Conference on Health, Environment and Sustainable Development: Changes, Challenges and Opportunities in a Post-Pandemic World, Bucharest & Danube Delta, 13-16 June 2023.Following the conference that took place in 2017, some of the scientific works presented were grouped and published in a special issue in the Romanian Journal of Geography jointly edited by Prof. Jerzy Bański and Dr. Ines Grigorescu (Fig. 9).
At the same time, Prof. Jerzy Bański managed to collect, in some regional volumes and monographs, studies that identify and evaluate, through various local and regional approaches, the diversity of problems related to socio-economic development both at the European and global level.A relevant example is Dilemmas of Regional and Local Development: Theory, Methodology and Applications (Bański, 2020), in which teams from the two institutions presented representative regional studies for the local and regional development (Fig. 10).Prof. Konrad Czapiewski was also known for his very active involvement in international scientific life, his participation in numerous conferences that considerably increased his visibility and created connections with various professional associations such as the Association of American Geographers, but especially the IGU.During the latter he was active in the Commission on the Sustainability of Rural Systems, but much more recently he had become a member of the Steering Committee of the Local and Regional Development Commission (elected during the 2022 Paris IGU Centennial Congress) .His presence within the Steering Committee would certainly have brought an important scientific and managerial contribution due to his bold ideas and his resourceful spirit.

Conclusions
As it resulted from this brief review of the Romanian-Polish collaboration, the long and fruitful tradition of scientific partnerships and friendship bonds generated a series of achievements worthy of mention., e.g.attendance of scientific conferences, common scientific publications, field trips during the Joint Research Projects, project proposals, extending and updating the bibliographical documentation, practical-applicative background, involvement of young researches, collaborations within international professional associations.We are convinced that all these achievements represent a solid basis for the continuation of this cooperation in the future, but also for the development of new interesting partnership ideas to carry this tradition forward.
Facebook webpage (Polish: To czego szukasz, szuka również Ciebie!; What you are looking for is also looking for you!) reflected the way destiny guided his personal and professional quests.
Vulnerability and resilience of cities/towns: Which of the cities/towns are especially susceptible to outer threats?What threats are posed by further suburbanization?How metropolises can take advantage of the current economic situation to enhance development and increase resilience of the settlement system?How should the urban policy be implemented in the face of uncertain socio-economic circumstances?Are metropolises and cities of Central Europe threatened by internal social divisions and whether revitalization could be helpful in this problem?(WRF, 2015); • Inequalities and flows: What are current patterns and recent trajectories of territorial inequalities in European countries?What are the relationships between levels and forms of economic and political governance across European nations and territories?What are the levels of economic development and rates of economic growth, through econometric analysis at various scales?What are the connections and effects between trans-national migration and long-distance commuting?How states design fiscal regimes and public services to mitigate the effects of socio-spatial inequalities?How claims for political autonomy are interwoven with territorial inequalities and whether political autonomy can present a mechanism for addressing issues of spatial justice (WRF, 2017); • Spatial justice: Methods and tools for measuring spatial justice, territorial cohesion and marginalization; Delineation of growth and marginalized areas; Approaches to counteract territorial marginalization; Development inequalities in the European Union in light of the Cohesion Policy after 2020; Territorial inequalities in urban structure (WRF, 2019).

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Warsaw Regional Forum Core and peripheral regions in Central and Eastern Europe, 5-8 October 2005Some of the presentations presented at the Warsaw Forum were published in the Europa XXI journal, under the auspices of the Institute of Geography and Spatial Organisation (IGSO PAS) (Fig.4).

Figure 5 .Figure 6 .
Figure 5. Scientific seminar Central Europe -Socio-Economic Disparities, Rural and Regional Development, Bucharest, September 2008 Figure 6.Field trip during the Scientific seminar Central Europe -Socio-Economic Disparities, Rural and Regional Development, Tulcea and Constanța counties, September 2008

Figure 8 .
Figure 8. Inter-academic exchange, November 2018 (iv) Joint project proposals • The Institute of Geography, Romanian Academy (as coordinator), in collaboration with the Institute of Geography and Spatial Organisation, Polish Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Geography, Slovak Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Geography, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine jointly prepared and submitted a Project under the H2020 Programme, Social Platform on the impact assessment and the quality of interventions in the European historical environment and the cultural heritage sites, Type of action CSA Co-ordination and support action, Romania, Poland, Slovakia and the Ukraine.The topic of the project was related to the wooden churches whose cultural value has been recognized by their inclusion in the UNESCO cultural heritage.• The Institute of Geography and Spatial Organisation, Polish Academy of Sciences (Prof.Konrad Czapiewski as coordinator) in collaboration with the Institute of Geography, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geography, Romanian Academy, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Institute for Regional Studies, KRTK, Hungary, and Institute of Economics and Rural development, Lithuania applied for the project entitled Digital rurality in Central Europe -towards new representations of the rural space within the CHANSE programme.The proposal had in view to contribute to a better understanding of how new (digital) ways could contribute to the changing representations of rural space.
two institutes and in different scientific activities.Moreover, the Institute of Geography, Romanian Academy has a very good collaboration with the Institute of Geography and Spatial Organisation, Polish Academy of Sciences through the International Geographical Union (IGU) -the Local and Regional Development (LRD) Commission.Between 2017 and 2022 the IGU LRD Commission was chaired by the Prof. Jerzy Bański (currently Honorary Member).During this period, a member of the Institute of Geography (Dr.Ines Grigorescu) had become a Steering Committee Member, then Vice-chair.Currently, the Steering Committee of the IGU LRD Commission includes two members of the Institute of Geography (Dr.Ines Grigorescu and dr.Bianca Mitrică) and two members of the Institute of Geography and Spatial Organisation (Prof.Jerzy Bański and Dr. Michał Konopski).