Networking approach to the sustainable development of European Regions bordering major rivers

The paper proposes a systemic approach called Networking to the model of major rivers in Europe – assets which bring together multiple organisations and combine economic, social and environmental elements – to address changes aimed at sustainable development. The paper focuses on the lower basins of major European rivers. The ultimate aims of this new ’networking’ approach are: (a) to implement a model of territorial planning and governance from a European perspective and (b) to improve the socio-economic knowledge base for a sustainable development. European major rivers, despite their relevance as commercial transport routes, divide the territory into two parts, one on each bank of the river, with different levels of economic and social integration. The banks of major rivers are more or less urbanized and populated, with a variety of economic structures, business dimensions, cultural heritage and tourism all items to combine to produce a sustainable territorial management. One obvious reason for this separation is material: the inadequacy of infrastructure for moving people from one side of the river to the other. Less obvious are the immaterial reasons, related to the absence of a truly integrated system which crystallizes the riparian regions on each side into a single economic district which would be better structured to attract people, investors and ideas. The paper discusses initiatives under way to implement this culture and the networking methodology for an integrated territorial planning and management.