Theoretical reflection on the making of the Alpine region. The role of transnational networks of local actors on regional identity and institutionalization Cristina DEL BiaGGiO Del Biaggio, Cristina (2010). theoretical reflection on the making of the alpine region. the role of transnational networks of local actors on regional identity and institutionalization. Fennia 188: 1, pp. 137–148. issn 0015-0010. the article is a theoretical contribution on the ongoing debate on cross-border regions, regional identity and local networks. it shows how the alps are being institutionalized and how a pan-alpine regional identity is built across national boundaries. the aim is to show how the alpine actors (nGOs, alpine leaders and scientists, alpine population, etc.) contribute to what Paasi calls “the insti- tutionalization of regions”. the paper proposes an application of existing theo- ries on identity and regional identity to the alpine case. the combination of the different theories enables one to better identify the actors involved in the build- ing of the alps and other European cross-border regions. the proposition of Paasi will be combined with the contribution of avanza and Laferté on identity, which differentiate the concepts of identification, social image and belonging. the analysis and comprehension of regional institutionalization is advanced if it is broken up into the three components of identity distinguished by avanza and Laferté. in that way, the role of each component can be underscored and re- gional actors easily identified. this distinction is particularly interesting in order to capture the processes of region building and multi-level governance currently going on in the alps. an integrated framework combining the different concepts is proposed. Finally, the paper will show how the alpine region is part of a more generalised process of renewed regional governance, where European cross- border regions play a central role promoting them as “pivotal spaces of integra- tion” (sidaway 2009: 749). Furthermore, a final critical point about the partici- pation of the population in this process will be addressed. Keywords: identity; regional identity; institutionalization of regions; Cross-bor- der regions; alps; regional identity; Belonging; social image; identification; transnational networks; regional governance Cristina DEL BIAGGIO, Department of Geography, University of Geneva, Uni- Mail, Bd. Pont-d’Arve 40, 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland. E-mail: Cristina.DelBi- aggio@unige.ch Introduction the alps constitute one of the “largest continuous unspoilt natural areas in Europe”1, shared by eight countries. Besides the well-known natural and landscape features, the 1100 km mountain range constitutes the living space of 13 million people, speaking four languages with all the derived dia- lects. the fact is that in the last two decades, a consid- erable variety of transnational networks have been initiated in the alps. these are linking different ac- tors and objects as protected areas (Alparc), mu- nicipalities (Alliance in the Alps), small businesses (NENA), cities (Alpine Town of the Year), scientists (ISCAR), touristic resorts (Alpine Pearls) and many others. the aim of this paper is not to give results of the research i am conducting in the alpine countries, but to propose a theoretical understand- ing of these initiatives. in other words, i intend to answer to the question: which scientific frame- work can facilitate the understanding of the imple- Urn:nBn:fi:tsv-oa2525 138 FEnnia 188: 1 (2010)Cristina Del Biaggio mentation of these local actors’ networks? Which theories can help to better understand the “making of” the alpine region? in particular, i will explore the theory of the “re- gional institutionalization” forged by anssi Paasi (1986) and focus on the distinction between “iden- tity of a region” and “regional consciousness”. taking the example of the alpine arc, the role of identity in the making of regions will be empha- sized. the analysis on identity by French-speaking scholars, less known by the anglo-american- speaking geographers, can add a wider and deep- er view on how to understand Paasi’s contribu- tions. the works of different scholars (e.g. avanza and Laferté, Debarbieux, Di Méo), in addition to the ones by Paasi, represent an interesting tool for understanding how the alps and other European regions are being institutionalized. i will examine how two alpine projects can be understood with help of existing theories on re- gions and identity: the alpine Convention frame- work as an example of a “scaling down” state-led initiative, and locally-based networks as “scaling up” proposals for implementing the goals of the alpine Convention. the aim is to show how al- pine leaders contribute to what anssi Paasi calls the “spatial socialization” process (Paasi 1996: 8), and to the institutionalization of the alpine region. i will conclude this paper discussing how the ini- tiatives described above are materialized in re- gional institutions and how they thus lead to forms of regional governance. The emergence of the Alps under the effect of two socio-political processes the first approach, which can be identified as a “scaling down” initiative, emanated from the non- governmental association CiPra (Commission for the Protection of the alps) and resulted in an inter- national treaty called alpine Convention2, which came into force in 1995 in the eight countries bor- dering the alps. although not every member has ratified the different protocols of the Convention3, the agreement made it possible to sketch a map of the region, thereby, defining its limits. the alpine region is therefore recognised as being inside the territorial limits outlined by the Convention. and it is precisely inside this area that a new space of ac- tion has been created. One consequence stem- ming from the nature of the Convention, which is an international treaty, is that the actors leading the process actually come from outside the alps. some scholars have noted, not without some criti- cism, the “colonial manner” (Bätzing 1994: 186) in which the Convention and the different proto- cols were established. Bätzing pointed out that the Convention was made in rome, Bonn, and Paris, but not in the alps. On the other hand, this “scaling down” process is accompanied by numerous other initiatives that are more local in nature. since the 1990s, a vari- ety of transnational networks were initiated in the alps, which are linking different actors such as businesses, municipalities, protected areas, cities, ski resorts, and so on. if CiPra played an impor- tant role in stimulating the birth of these networks, the involvement of local leaders is central to the success of their initiatives. the aim of these net- works, i.e. the implementation of the alpine Con- vention’s principles at a local level, is to mitigate one of the major criticisms of the treaty, namely that it is an “ineffective paper tiger” (Balsiger 2007: 5). the result of this “pan-alpine activism” (Debar- bieux 2008b: 40) is the evolution of an alpine re- gional identity for collective action4 through an “ecoregional institutionalization” process (Bal- siger 2007: 4). the prefix “eco” can be understood in two different ways: on the one hand the alps can be seen as a natural, mountain region; on the other hand, the initiatives undertaken in the alps, thanks to the input of the alpine Convention, aim at the creation of a territory “under the umbrella of sustainable development” (Balsiger 2007: 4), a concept which is constantly used by the alpine actors (Debarbieux & rudaz 2008: 504). in that sense, the alpine region emerges, as highlighted by Debarbieux, under the double effect of collec- tive actions which refer to these representations (Debarbieux 2008b: 52). More generally we can say that “a transalpine identity has emerged to re- inforce the regional institutional architecture” (Balsiger 2007: 5). norer, with an enlightening German word, speaks about a growing “alpenbe- wusstseins”5 (2002: 5) based on the shared repre- sentation of nature, among other things. the authors quoted in the last paragraphs refer to different notions to capture the contemporary evolution occurring in the alps. they use the con- cepts of “institutionalization”, “identity”, “repre- sentation”, “region”. in the following chapter i would like to discuss these concepts and how they are related in order to build a theoretical frame- work capable of uncovering the processes de- FEnnia 188: 1 (2010) 139Theoretical reflection on the making of the Alpine region … scribed above. the goal is to know if (and how) the alps are undergoing a “regional institutionali- zation” process, in the manner that anssi Paasi describes it, which is “a sociospatial process in which a territorial unit emerges as part of the spa- tial structure of the society concerned, becomes established and identified in various spheres of so- cial action and consciousness, and may eventually vanish or deinstitutionalize in regional transforma- tion” (Paasi 1991: 243). in that sense, regions can- not be considered as frozen and static, but instead as a “consequence of a complex process of repro- duction, production and creation of space” (raag- maa 2002: 56) under the effect of changing social relations (Gilbert 1988: 216). in that way, there is a connection between the “spatial” (region, the French territoire and place) and identity. this link will be explored in the following paragraphs by using the concept of “regional identity”. Identity and territoire6 it is widely assumed in the scientific community that regions are socially constructed (Bourdieu 1980; Murphy 1991; allen et al. 1998; MacLeod 2001; Fall 2003; Gonon & Laserre 2003; Debar- bieux 2004a; Debarbieux 2004b; Balsiger 2006; Häkli 2008; Debarbieux & rudaz 2010). there- fore, the focus in regional studies must be placed on the process of “contingency and becoming” (Painter 2008: 343). regions and regional identity are in that sense both “resources for, and the out- comes of, human action”. Or, as Paasi writes, “re- gions are simultaneously both products and con- stituents in social action” (2002b: 200). referring to Paasi, there is a link between identity and social action, since, as he points out, regions and region- al identity are social facts that can generate action, as long as people believe in them (2002a: 139). thus, the building of regions has to be considered as a dialectical process. On the one hand, it con- tributes to social action and, on the other hand, it is a construct built by social practices and dis- courses. therefore, a strong link of co-construction between identity and places can be emphasized. in fact, one cannot look at identity only as an indi- vidual or social category, but rather, it should also be acknowledged as a spatial category (Paasi 2001: 10). in that sense, as the French geographer Di Méo argues, the territoire forms the visible and readable figure of social identity, because it can be mapped and its limits can be drawn. it is therefore the tan- gible object of an immaterial social reality (Di Méo 2002: 178). Di Méo, in the same article, adds that identity leans on cut and delimited territoires for a precise purpose. identity uses territoires as an efficient bond of social groups. Following Di Méo, the territoire gives to identity a material consisten- cy made by signs and symbols which are inserted in objects, things, landscapes and places (Di Méo 2002: 175). For this reason, identity cannot exist in individuals, but develops, grows and changes with social interactions (Pohl 2004: 12918). as Pohl suggests, the culture, tradition, landscape, and his- tory form regional identity, and are also part of it. in the alps, the distinctiveness of the alpine terri- tory, its landscape and its topographic specificities seem to be powerful engines for collective action, which, in turn, helps to build a common identity. Working together with the goal of protecting the mountain territoire, local actors share experiences and know-how through their networks, but also common representations of alpine nature and so- ciety. thanks to this shared identity, they act to construct the alps as they imagine them: a terri- toire shaped by sustainable development. Searching for alternatives for the “identity catchword” the concept of “shared identity”, as pointed out by numerous authors in recent decades became a “catchword” (Häkli 2001: 115), something “inde- finable” (Bray 2002: 14) or “ambiguous” (Brubak- er & Cooper 2000: 2). so, how do we truly grasp it? instead of discussing here the relevance of the concept, i propose a way to capture it, by using three notions coined by the sociologists Gilles Laferté and Martina avanza. in their proposals, partly a response to Brubaker’s famous article “Be- yond ‘identity’” (Brubaker & Cooper 2000), Laferté and avanza suggest looking at identity distinguish- ing three senses of it: identification, social image and belonging. i will answer, presenting their the- ory, the following questions: how can these three concepts help us understand the alpine process? and how can they be linked to the notion of re- gional identity? avanza and Laferté define these concepts as fol- lows: • Identification can be qualified as social action where identity attribution is external and prac- ticed on individuals within a social institution, 140 FEnnia 188: 1 (2010)Cristina Del Biaggio following a codified technique (avanza & Lafer- té 2005: 144). notably, the most emblematic actor of the process of identification is the state while attributing categories (avanza & Laferté 2005: 144). nevertheless, the authors do not identify the bureaucratic apparatus as the only one capable of classifying persons and socie- ties; • The social image concerns the social produc- tion of discourses and symbols (representa- tions), which designates territoires and groups (avanza & Laferté 2005: 143); • Belonging defines the participation of people to the collective ”thing” and to the group (avanza & Laferté 2005: 144). the distinction of these three concepts of iden- tity is useful if applied to the alpine case. the combination of avanza and Laferté’s theory with Paasi’s institutionalization of regions gives a terri- torial basis to the sociological distinctions of iden- tity made by avanza and Laferté. For the specific case of the alps, this helps to clearly identify the different actors (and their actions) involved in the complex process of the alpine regionalization. Paasi distinguishes two facets forming the so- called “regional identity” (Paasi 1986: 131−138, 2002a: 146, 2009: 469). On the one hand is re- gional consciousness, which indicates the identifi- cation of inhabitants within a specific region. On the other is the identity of a region which “refers to such features of nature, culture and inhabitants that distinguish a region from others” (Paasi 2009: 469). in that way, and following Paasi, discourses on identity of regions are typically discourses by scientists, politicians, administrators, cultural ac- tivists or entrepreneurs, whose aim is to make a distinction between “their” region and that of “the others”. in order to clarify the links between the two coupled theories (Fig. 1), i propose following this structure and discussing it with the help of the al- pine example. these combined concepts will bring out the different actors involved in the re- gionalization process and the actions they under- take to achieve it. as explained in the precedenting paragraphs, the identification process of the alpine region was undertaken mostly by scientists (Debarbieux 2008b: 43) and politicians with a “scaling down” approach, notably during the constitution of the alpine Convention (Bätzing 1994). in the identifi- cation process, the alpine non-governmental or- ganization CiPra, and the international scientific Committee on research in the alps (isCar), both also played key roles. From a theoretical point of view, the concept of identification refers to the Fig. 1. regional identity. Regional identity Regional consciousness Identity of a region Identification Belonging Scaling up process Scaling down process Social image FEnnia 188: 1 (2010) 141Theoretical reflection on the making of the Alpine region … identity of a region as both allude to the attempt by different actors to objectivise the “self” in com- parison to the “other”. if avanza and Laferté allude first of all to sociological characters, their theory can also be applied to characters and elements used to objectivise regions (nature, topography, culture, etc.), as Paasi proposes with the concept of “identity of a region”. in our case study, the dra- matic topographical and microclimatic complexi- ty of the alps, that set them apart from other eco- systems (Balsiger 2007: 29) is often highlighted. Martin Price (1999: 88) shares the opinion of Bal- siger while declaring that the alpine Convention contributes to the recognition that the alps are a region with distinct environmental and cultural characteristics. the social image implies a representation of the alps that promoters of the alpine initiatives es- pouse and convey to the broader population. this is clearly linked to the concept of “sustainable de- velopment”. this principle is integrated in the al- pine Convention, as described by CiPra: “the alpine Convention is an agreement between vari- ous countries for the protection and sustainable development of the alpine region”7, and perma- nently used as reference by the local networks, whose members, “together with their citizens, strive to develop their alpine living environment in a sustainable way”8. as Debarbieux analyses, the alpine Convention and the actors who identify themselves with it, try to generalize sustainable development at the entire mountain range level. in so far, the image of the alps that the local leaders share, contributes to shape their regional con- sciousness, in the name of which they act. as con- firmed by Derbarbieux, these actions are motivat- ed by a certain representation of the quality of the alpine environment (2008a: 101). therefore, we can say that there is, indeed, a shared image of the alpine nature among local actors, who try to steer all human activity in the alps on a sustainable path (Balsiger 2007: 15). the concept of social im- age, thus, has some commonality with that of identity of the region, since it helps, as does the concept of social image, to highlight the special characteristics of a particular region which are to be protected. this link between the two concepts is not direct, but mediated through the representa- tion the actors have from the identity of the region and thanks to which they implement their actions and projects. the first impressions drawn from reading and listening to the discourses of local leaders i inter- viewed, is that they share an image of the alps as being, on the one hand, “beautiful and extraordi- nary”, and on the other, particularly “fragile” place. in that sense, the networks are seen as a possible innovative medium to solve “common alpine problems” and are an important way for “seek[ing] strategic advantage” (Häkli 2008: 475). this leads, as Martin Price emphasizes, to the rec- ognition that various issues cannot be solved through national legislation, and that coordinated regional initiatives are indispensable to solving common problems (Price 1999: 88). the image of a fragile and shared mountain environment makes local leaders act at a transnational level, and thereby to contribute to what Jouni Häkli calls a “politics of bridge”, where “one seeks to appropri- ate the unifying rather than the separating aspect of the mountains” (Häkli 2004: 65). although a shared image of the alps seems to be present amongst alpine leaders, there is disagreement about the actions that should be lead at the pan- alpine level, as well as the form that pan-alpine networks should take. in a previous paper, i called this discord a “dilemma between technical links and political influence” (Del Biaggio 2009: 109). the debate surrounding this question implies de- fining the role of the networks, the primary objec- tive of which is the sharing of experience. How- ever, certain leaders express their wish, not neces- sarily shared by others, to go beyond simple ex- changes on technical points and to develop a po- litical voice for the alps that reaches beyond its frontiers to the state level, and even the European Union (Del Biaggio 2009: 109). the sense of belonging involves an analysis, as with the concept of regional consciousness, at the inhabitant’s level. Even if my research is not fo- cused on alpine inhabitants, but more at the lead- er and network level, the initial results clearly show a lack of involvement by the population in the development of the networks, and in the crea- tion of pan-alpine institutions. this occurs despite the major pan-alpine networks efforts to stress the importance of the population’s involvement in their activities. alparc underlines the “environ- mental education and awareness-raising targeting the general public” as two key components of its role9. the Charter of alliance in the alps includes a principle called “participation of the popula- tion”, which clearly underlines the active role that the population should have in the implementation of the pan-alpine goals at the local level. so, the question can be raised about the capacity of the 142 FEnnia 188: 1 (2010)Cristina Del Biaggio local leaders to pass the pan-alpine consciousness and engagement to the population. the initial re- sults of my research show that there is a clear gap between the two levels. specifically, the entire process seems to be firmly in the hands of the leaders (Del Biaggio 2009). this confirms what Häkli discovered in the Pyrenees, which is that the majority of the population living on both sides of the mountain range are still linked to their local political community, and do not see the develop- ment of the transboundary region as a whole (Häk- li 2004: 65−66). the alpine and the Pyrenean ex- amples seem to add further credence to the state- ment made by sidaway and based on a study in the border region between spain and Portugal, that different “visions” of the relations between politics and territory coexist (sidaway 2001: 771). the first two concepts, identification and social image, entail a process which can be considered as “scaling down”. in fact, they are in the hands of some scientific and political leaders acting at the pan-alpine level, promoting actions that should reach the alpine nature and population. the con- cept of belonging is integrated in a “scaling up” approach, in which the feeling of belonging to a common region, the alps, should bring people to act in the name of it. the articulation of the three (belonging, social image, identification) represents a useful research approach – one designed to identify the different actors (and their actions) in- volved in the process occurring in the contempo- rary alpine region. it helps to grasp the “indefina- ble” and “ambiguous” concept of identity and re- gional identity. indeed, in the construction of the pan-alpine region and of the resulting alpine re- gional identity, three major actors can be distin- guished. they play a specific role in the construc- tion of an alpine regional identity: the scientists and alpine nGOs which identify the alpine re- gion as such; the local leaders and the promoters of the pan-alpine initiatives who contribute to communicating a certain image of the alps and its related projects; and finally, the population, which is supposed to act in the name of a pan-alpine consciousness. The crisis of the nested spaces the combination of sense of belonging, social im- age and identification applied to the process of regional institutionalization demonstrates how new places, as regions, are imagined and built. in the alps, and in other European regions, this oc- curs while the nation-state seems to lose power in favour of new actors (agnew 2001: 6; Häkli 2004). Presently, it is difficult to answer with an unani- mous “yes” the question raised by Di Méo (2002: 177): “Do we belong to one social group, to one territoire?”, since in the contemporary world ev- ery person can have broader social and spatial experiences. in that sense, it is possible to pretend that, as Debarbieux does, spatialities and tempo- ralities are multiple and heterogeneous. the emergence of new actors weaken the pertinence of the so-called “magical triangle” (Debarbieux 2006: 345), which assumes the sumperimposition between culture, territoire and identity. the new and complex combination of actors and spaces makes it impossible to analyse the new modes of governance with the ancient model of the “nested territorial politics” (Debarbieux 2006: 345−352). instead, we can affirm, as Brenner does, that we are facing “re-scaled territorialities” (Brenner, in amin 2002: 387), a “proliferation of scales and scalar complexity” (amin 2002: 387), where “na- tion-states become less and less satisfactory as units of analysis” (Hannerz 1996: 48). Or, as Chris rumford summarizes it, society and the nation- state do not inevitably inhabit the same space (2006: 163). this leaves space for new forms of identities and collaborations. as Keating points out, a renegotia- tion of identities and the emergence of layered identities is possible thanks to more porous bor- ders (2003: 11). as Paasi clearly states in a recent article, we are facing a “proliferation of discursive- ly constituted and institutionally materialized and embedded spatial scales” (2009: 467). this is due to, as Paasi shows, increasing “tangled hierar- chies”, with different temporalities and spatialities. this allows the Finnish geographer to say that new places, new spaces and new scales of organization are being created, which enable new actions. in the European context, it is interesting to see that the European Union, thanks to its cross-border cooperation programmes, gave rise to new forms of regionalism, and thereby, to new forms of re- gional identities (agnew 2001: 107). as discussed before, it is possible to consider the alps as being created with help of two types of initiatives, on the one hand the initiatives undertaken by the local leaders and networks and, on the other, the impor- tant catalyst of the European Union, as promoter of transnational projects. as seen before, these projects can take a territorial form, with the con- FEnnia 188: 1 (2010) 143Theoretical reflection on the making of the Alpine region … struction of new places and new institutional con- texts designed to better reflect the scale of belong- ing of the population and its leaders. i would like to conclude this section with a sym- bolic quote by Leitner, who conceptualizes the way in which new types of cooperation, not linked to the old territorial units, can give rise to regional governance: “transnational networks represent new modes of coordination and governance, a new politics of horizontal relations that also have a distinct spatiality. Whereas the spatiality of a politics of scale is associated with vertical rela- tions among nested territorially defined political entities, by contrast, networks span space rather than covering it, transgressing the boundaries that separate and define these political entities” (Leit- ner, in Jones et al. 2005: 417). in the following section, i will give more details on the potential links between territorial projects detached from nested spaces (as networks) and regional govern- ance. The materialization of regional identity in institutions and governance as we have seen, regional identity can be a useful tool to further understanding the alpine regionali- zation process. in the following paragraphs the emphasis will be placed on how these identities are likely to materialize in an institutional form. in other words, i will answer the following question: what can we expect from these new territorial and institutional reconfigurations? a good answer is given by Gordon MacLeod (1998: 840), who com- ments on the theory of regional institutionaliza- tion, saying that in the contemporary world, the theory of the institutionalization of regions may provide useful elements in order to understand the emergence of particular socially cohesive territo- ries, their institutionalization and their establish- ment as specific sites for political governance. thus the region has the opportunity to become a space of political governance, where regional identity could play an important role, since it is the basic component for the creation of new spaces of identification and belonging. regional identity can materialize in new institutionalized regions, or, as Balsiger underlines it with the alpine case, in “new forms of expression for democratic legitima- cy and accountability” (Balsiger 2007: 5). anssi Paasi, in his regional institutionalization’s theory, emphasizes four steps of the process that allow territorial units to pass from the stage of “re- gions on paper” to “regions of social practice” (Paasi 2002b: 200). in that sense, it seems plausi- ble to formulate the hypothesis that the alpine re- gion is following this same path. as we have seen, the “territorial shape” can be identified by the al- pine Convention’s boundaries, the “symbolic and conceptual shape” can be recognised in the im- portance given to the value of sustainable devel- opment. Moreover the alpine region is developing an important structure of institutions, as is evi- denced by the establishment of networks by local actors. this is confirmed by the observations of Bernard Debarbieux, who thinks that the different alpine initiatives bring about a “process of politi- cal institutionalization, in particular under the form of lobbies, which aim to influence delibera- tive and democratic processes in the name of a legitimacy acquired with help of widely shared so- cial identities” (2008a: 101). as discussed before, the question of whether we can speak about a proper “establishment of a region” as part of the “spatial structure and social consciousness of the society” (Paasi 1991: 246) is still open. this might be possible in the future, if the alps, as other cross- border regions, are able to turn from “regions in discourses” and “on paper” into “regions as social practice” with concrete effects on the daily life of people (Paasi 2002b: 200). an institutionalized region, as i just described it, also has important affinities with the idea of gov- ernance. this is particularly true in an European context where it is possible to think in terms of “multi-level governance” (Perkmann 1999: 665) and where local actors’ networks and cross-border regions play an important role. Following Jessop, governance can be defined as ways in which dis- parate but interdependent social agencies are co- ordinated to achieve specific social objectives, so that one can define the field of governance studies as concerned with the resolution of (para-)political problems in and through specific configurations of governmental (hierarchical) and extra-governmen- tal (non-hierarchical) institutions, organizations and practices (Jessop 1995: 317). this definition can be successfully applied to the alpine institu- tions, which are clearly defining a collective goal, which is to build a space of alpine “transnational regional sustainable development” (Balsiger 2007: 15), following a “model of multi-actor coopera- tion” (Balsiger 2007: 33; Debarbieux 2008b: 40). in the specific case of the alpine region, the role of reticular initiatives seems particularly impor- 144 FEnnia 188: 1 (2010)Cristina Del Biaggio tant. the existing alpine networks have been cre- ated thanks to the initiative of CiPra, with the aim of finding specific tools to implement the alpine Convention (Balsiger 2007: 28). thanks to finan- cial support from intErrEG programmes for the so called “alpine space”, the networks could real- ize a considerable number of projects10. With these programmes, the European Union tried to promote cross-border cooperation inside Europe, and in doing so, “a move towards new forms of rule” (Keating 2003: 2) came into existence. O’Dowd highlights the fact that intErrEG pro- grammes allowed the transnational regions to as- sume a pioneering role, so that regions considered peripheral can now be seen as the heart of a new European space (O’Dowd in: Mcneill 2004: 155). networks of local actors seem to have played an important role for the re-negotiation of collec- tive identities: “Co-operation projects as intEr- rEG have helped redefine borders as complex zones in which multiple identities can be ex- pressed and negotiated” (Bray, in Keating 2003: 12). But, what is a network? a good way to further understand the reality of networks is captured in the following definition by Balsiger: “[networks are] ties between actors on the basis of their com- mon relationship to ‘events’. Events can include actual joint participation in events such as social gatherings or professional conferences, or co- membership in organizations or coalitions” (Bal- siger 2006: 12). Balsiger proposes a link between networks and what he calls “events”. these allow the involved actors to share common interests and are likely to last over time. to push the implication of actors in a longer scenario, it is possible to say, as Vertovec (2001: 573) does, that “some networks are marked by patterns of communication or ex- change of resources and information along with participation in socio-cultural and political activi- ties”. the impression is that alpine leaders pro- mote two kinds of actions: on the one hand they promote socio-cultural activities and projects, but, at the same time, they embark on a project that is eminently political. new actors, or new bodies of actors, chose new scales and new spaces of belonging that are more relevant to successfully promoting their collective action. Markus Perkmann makes the explicit link, already emphasized above, between transnational cooperation and new forms of governance. He starts his article by diminishing the impact of net- working on governance, affirming that there is a tendency to “overemphasize cross-border regions as emerging territorial units equipped with self- governing capacities” (Perkmann 1999: 660). For Perkmann, this kind of cooperation only has a positive financial impact. although the author is critical about the long-term effects of cross-border cooperation, he underscores an important point that cannot be underestimated and that moderates his initial point of view: “Cross-border coopera- tion governance is in fact helping to create new opportunities for actors that might change their strategic landscape both on a border, as well as on European level” (Perkmann 1999: 661). in other words, cross-border cooperation can create op- portunities for “new spaces and scales of action”. Jouni Häkli resumes this idea affirming that cross- border regionalization can challenge the state through the new scalar constructs (2008: 475). Häkli continues by saying that “emerging transna- tional political spaces can be conceptualized as scales that help actors to skirt the traditional state- centred patterns of networking. transnational scales, then, are produced and reproduced in processes that set alternative perimeters to net- works of cooperation between actors who seek strategic advantage from this cooperation” (2008: 475). although Perkmann, in contraposition to Häkli, does not see how transborder regions could chal- lenge the domination of nation-states, he con- cludes his article writing that “cross-border coop- eration is symptomatic of the newly emerging Eu- ropean policy characterized by the operation of cross-level networks encouraged by structural Funds” (Perkmann 1999: 665). European practices which have been implemented in the recent dec- ades allow us to conceptualize of the European space as a place where a multi-level governance exists, and where political action can be done on new scales, not limited by the traditional historical spatial grid. in that sense “cross-border coopera- tion has fostered the development of governance disconnected from politics rooted in national ter- ritories” (Häkli 2004: 65). Balsiger sees the same evolution in the alps, and describes in the following manner, how the alpine transborder region can contribute to take new forms of governance inside the European context: “the alpine Convention represents an in- ternational initiative characterized by three fea- tures that may contribute to theory building and governance reform. the first of these relates to its ecoregional but comprehensive sustainable devel- opment scope, the second to its process-based ap- FEnnia 188: 1 (2010) 145Theoretical reflection on the making of the Alpine region … proach to the framework protocol model of inter- national agreement, and the third to its permeabil- ity to nonstate actor influence” (Balsiger 2007: 29). We discussed the first and third features, the second is not central to this paper, as it is more about the way in which the Convention and its protocols were discussed and put into force. What is important to recall is that the combination of these three features enables the alpine initiatives to participate in the process of institutionalization. Conclusion in this paper i explored the link between identity and territoire, giving particular focus to the con- temporary debate on the definition of these two concepts. Having discussed how we may think about these two fundamental notions for geogra- phy, it is easier to understand the debates on re- gional identity. a main distinction, suggested by Paasi, was made between the regional conscious- ness and the identity of regions included in the more general concept of regional identity. the contribution of Martina avanza and Gilles Laferté on the discussions about “identity”, distinguishing the notion of identification from the concepts of social image and belonging, is particularly inter- esting in order to capture the different actors and processes of regional building and multi-level gov- ernance in Europe in general, and in the alps in particular. the analysis of regional institutionaliza- tion gains on comprehension if it is broken up into the three components of identity distinguished by avanza and Laferté (identification, social image and belonging). in that way, the role of each com- ponent in the regionalization process can be iden- tified and the different facets of identity empha- sized. thanks to these concepts, the role of the actors involved in the process of alpine regionali- zation were put forward. the identification process and the production of social image in the alpine region were discussed in the paper. the positive role of leaders and nGOs in the implementation of their main project, primarily the application of the principles of sus- tainable development in the entire alpine arc, was highlighted. Having identified the area of action (the perimeter of the alpine Convention), alpine leaders are acting based on the image of the alps they wish to implement. the building of different kinds of transnational networks is one of the fa- voured and uncontested forms that leaders use to give concrete expression to this image. although the main objective seems to be clear, some disa- greements among the local leaders in how to pur- sue them were emphasized. this, among other debates, leads to what i called the “dilemma be- tween technical link and political influence”. Concerning the discussion about regional be- longing, an important question was raised in the paper related to the role of the population in the creation of transborder regions. Häkli (2004: 65−66), bringing examples from the Pyrenees con- text, declares that: “a vast majority of the popula- tion of these border regions remain connected to their local political communities and everyday concerns instead of viewing the development of the cross-border region as a whole”. some pre- liminary results from the alps (Del Biaggio 2009) noted the lack of participation by the entire popu- lation in the alpine region and is corroborated by other experts on the alps (Debarbieux & rudaz 2008: 513). the participation of the broader popu- lation in transborder spaces is particularly impor- tant in order to enable the shift from “regions on paper” to “regions of social practice” (Paasi 2002b: 200); or, as underscored with the three concep- tions of “identity” coined by avanza and Laferté, in order to be able to talk about belonging and not just in terms of social image and identification while speaking about regional identity. and if, as Häkli (2008: 477) wrote, “in the long run the suc- cess of major political innovations will depend on their appeal among the ‘ordinary people’”, the path seems to be still quite long before a “new po- litical space” can be observed in the alps, as long as the re-bordering process is elite-driven. Even if these processes do not concern the en- tire alpine population, one should not underesti- mate a development that could constitute “some- thing” important, not yet defined, for the future of the alpine territory. the alps could be an emblem- atic chantier, transforming the alps from a periph- eral border region to a “pivotal space of integra- tion” (sidaway 2001: 749). in conclusion, with this paper i presented theoretical tools that helped me to recognize how regional identity contributes to the process of regional institutionalization oc- curring in the alps. in that regard, so far, it may be easier to answer the question raised by Jouni Häk- li about the “possible erosion of the nation-state, the rise of the region, and the uncertain future of cross-border governance” (2008: 476). However, important questions remain for further discussion and studies: what kind of regional governance will 146 FEnnia 188: 1 (2010)Cristina Del Biaggio the alps face in the coming years? is it possible to say, as Häkli argued concerning Catalonia, that in the alps cross-border governance means “govern- ing the mountain” (Häkli 2004: 60)? DisCLaiMEr all the translated citations are my own translations. aCKnOWLEDGEMEnts the author is grateful to Jörg Balsiger for giving con- sent to use his draft versions of papers. thanks to Jörn Harfst and Mathieu Petite for their useful comments. i am also grateful to the two anonymous referees whose comments were very helpful in developing this paper. a warm thanks to Gabriela Velásquez Orner, who kindly corrected my English. nOtEs 1 20.08.2010. 2 For an historical overview of the Convention: Bätz- ing 1994; Price 1999; norer 2002; Balsiger 2007. 3 the 29th of september 2010, the swiss Parliament voted against the ratification of the nine protocols of the alpine Convention by a vote of 102 to 76. this demonstrates that the battle for sustainable develop- ment in the alps has not yet gained traction in all of the alpine countries. 4 a special issue of the Journal Alpine Research is dedicated to this question (articles downloadable in French and English at , 12.08.2009). 5 this concept can be translated in English as “alpine awareness”. 6 the concept of territoire is not used here as a spe- cific notion designing the equivalent of the state as used in geopolitics, which denominates the “delim- ited space of governing” (Giraut 2008: 59−60). the concept of territoire/territory has a different history and therefore different meanings in the French and anglo-american geographical traditions, and i will therefore use, without entering into the epistemologi- cal debate, the French term “territoire” (“territory”) and consider it in a non-specific way. 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