Looking Ahead: Educational cross-border projects in the Pomerania Euroregion. Comprehensive overview of the COVID-19 Special Selection
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15290/eejtr.2025.09.01.08Keywords:
cross-border education, COVID-19 pandemic, Pomerania Euroregion, INTERREG projectsAbstract
The experience of the COVID-19 pandemic shows that the virus had a huge transformative impact on many sectors of life, causing a great deal of challenge and suffering. Schools were particularly affected during this period, experiencing an immediate transformation. In addition, the closure of borders between countries not only restricted transport and tourism but also affected the daily life of the populations living in the Euroregions. Cross-border mobility and cooperation, natural to these areas, has been significantly reduced. At the same time, the incalculable impact of the pandemic required a search for solutions that allowed customs, relationships and activities to be maintained and sometimes even transformed. The main purpose of this article is to analyze Polish-German educational projects realised in the Pomerania Euroregion the COVID-19 pandemic. The study analyses 48 educational projects out of a total of 184 that were implemented as part of the Small Project Fund INTERREG VA COVID-19 Special Selection. In order to prepare the text, the resources were collected, analyzed and described. As a result, the interpretation of facts being the objects of research have been done. Moreover, the reading literature and searching the studies were undertaken. The analysis of the resources were conducted in a qualitative way. The article raises important insights into overcoming difficulties across borders in implementing cross-border educational projects in times of pandemic, demonstrates model activities in the field of distance education, and exposes innovative educational activities shaping new possibilities for building neighbourly relations in the borderland of two countries.
Downloads
References
Andersen, D. J, Klatt, M., & Sandberg, M. (Eds.). (2012). The Border Multiple. The Practicing of Borders between Public Policy and Everyday Life in a Re-scaling Europe. Routledge.
Babbar, M., & Gupta, T. (2022). Response of educational institutions to COVID-19 pandemic: An inter-country comparison. Policy Futures in Education, 20(4), 469–491. https://doi.org/10.1177/14782103211021937.
Böhm, H. (2022). Challenges of Pandemic-Related Border Closures for Everyday Lives of Poles and Czechs in the Divided Town of Cieszyn/Český Těšín: Integrated Functional Space or Reemergence of Animosities? Nationalities Papers, 50(1), 130-144. https://doi.org/10.1017/nps.2021.51.
Böhm, H., & Kurowska-Pysz, J. (2019). Can cross-border healthcare Be sustainable? An example from the Czech–Austrian borderland. Sustainability, 11(24), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11246980.
Czerepaniak-Walczak, M. (2020). Respect for the right to education in the COVID-19 pandemic time. Towards reimagining education and reimagining ways of respecting the right to education. The New Educational Review, 62, 57-66. https://doi.org/10.15804/tner.20.62.4.05.
Dubeck, K. & Schulz, D. (2004). German, Polish, and Czech School Cooperation in the Neisse-Nisa-Nysa Euroregion. European Education, 36(3), 70-76.
Frątczak-Müller, J., & Mielczarek-Żejmo, A. (2020). Networks of cross-border cooperation in Europe–the interests and values. The case of Spree–Neisse–Bober Euroregion. European Planning Studies, 28(1), 8–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2019.1623972.
Greta, M., & Lewandowski, K. (2010). Euroregion's ‘Mission’ and the Success of the Lisbon Strategy. Business and Economic Horizons, 1(1), 14-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.15208/beh.2010.03.
Jarynowski, A., Czopek, K., & Paradowski, M. B. (2021). ‘Keep your friends close’: Przyswajanie języka obcego poprzez interakcje rówieśnicze a edukacja zdalna w dobie pandemii. Acta Neophilologica, 2(XXIII), 115–132. https://doi.org/10.31648/an.6660.
Kajta, J. & Opiłowska, E. (2021). The Impact of Covid-19 on Structure and Agency in a Borderland. The Case of Two Twin Towns in Central Europe. Journal of Borderlands Studies, 37(4). https://doi.org/10.1080/08865655.2021.1996259.
Lepik, K., L. (2009). Euroregions as mechanisms for strengthening cross-border co-operation in the Baltic Sea region. Trames Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences, 13(3), 265-284. https://doi.org/10.3176/tr.2009.3.05.
Marchlik, P., Wichrowska, K. & Zubala, E. (2021). The use of ICT by ESL teachers working with young learners during the early COVID-19 pandemic in Poland. Education and Information Technologies, 26, 7107–713. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10556-6.
Maree, J., G. (2022). Managing the Covid-19 pandemic in South African Schools: turning challenge into opportunity. South African Journal of Psychology. 52(2), 249-261. https://doi.org/10.1177/00812463211058398.
Medeiros, E., Ramíréz, M. G., Ocskay, G., & Peyrony, J. (2020). Covidfencing effects on cross-border deterritorialism: The case of Europe. European Planning Studies, 29(5), 962–982. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2020.1818185.
Opioła, W. & Böhm, H. (2022). Euroregions as political actors: managing border policies in the time of Covid-19 in Polish borderlands. Territory, Politics, Governance, 10(6), 896–916. https://doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2021.2017339.
Parczewska, T. (2021). Difficult situations and ways of coping with them in the experiences of parents homeschooling their children during the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland. International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education, 49(7), 3-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2020.1812689.
Perkmann, M. (2002). Euroregions: Institutional Entrepreneurship in the European Union. In. M. Perkmann & N. L. Sum (Eds.). Globalization, regionalization and Cross-Border Regions, 10(2), 153-171. http://doi.org/10.1057/9780230596092_5
Pete, M. (2014). Investigating the Role of Borders in the Transformation of Space in the Light of the European Union’s Regional Policy. Cross–Border Review Yearbook, 1 (1), 21-36. http://institute.cesci-net.eu/tiny_mce/uploaded/Cross_Border_Review_EN.pdf.
Pokhrel, S., & Chhetri, R. (2021). A Literature Review on Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Teaching and Learning. Higher Education for the Future, 8(1), 133–141. https://doi.org/10.1177/2347631120983481.
Quansah, F., Frimpong, J, B., Sambah, F., Oduro, P., Anin, S. K., Srem-Sai, M., Hagan, J. E. Jr, Schack, T. (2022). COVID-19 Pandemic and Teachers' Classroom Safety Perception, Anxiety and Coping Strategies during Instructional Delivery. Healthcare 10(5): 920. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10050920. PMID: 35628057.
Rapanta, C., Botturi, L., Goodyear, P. et al. (2021). Balancing Technology, Pedagogy and the New Normal: Post-pandemic Challenges for Higher Education. Postdigit Sci Educ 3, 715–742 https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-021-00249-1.
Rashid, S., & Yadav, S. S. (2020). Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Higher Education and Research. Indian Journal of Human Development, 14(2), 340–343. https://doi.org/10.1177/0973703020946700.
Reimers F. M. (2022). Primary and Secondary Education During Covid-19. Disruptions to Educational Opportunity During a Pandemic. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81500-4.
Sahlberg, P. (2021). Does the pandemic help us make education more equitable? Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 20, 11–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10671-020-09284-4.
Stuss, M. M, Makieła, Z. J. & Stańczyk, I. (2020). Role of Competences of Graduates in Building Innovations via Knowledge Transfer in the Part of Carpathian Euroregion. Sustainability, 12(24), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.3390/su1224105.
Świętek, A. (2022). Usługi edukacyjne w Polsce w dobie pandemii COVID-19. Prace Komisji Geografii Przemysłu Polskiego Towarzystwa Geograficznego, 36(2), 91–106. https://doi.org/10.24917/20801653.362.6.
Teräs, M., Suoranta, J. & Teräs, H. (2020). Post-Covid-19 Education and Education Technology ‘Solutionism’: a Seller’s Market. Postdigital Science and Education, 2, 863–878 https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00164-x.
Turczyk, M., & Jaskulska, S. (2020). Kształcenie na odległość a prawa dziecka: nowe wymiary szkolnej ekskluzji w czasach epidemii COVID-19. Edukacja Elementarna w Teorii i Praktyce, 15(57), 9–20. https://doi.org/10.35765/eetp.2020.1557.01.
UNESCO: COVID-19 Impact on Education https://www.unesco.org/en/covid-19/education-response (access: 20.06.2023).
WHO, Statement on the fifteenth meeting of the IHR (2005) Emergency Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic in https://www.who.int/news/item/05-05-2023-statement-on-the-fifteenth-meeting-of-the-international-health-regulations-(2005)-emergency-committee-regarding-the-coronavirus-disease-(covid-19)-pandemic (access: 20.06.2023).
Winiarczyk A. & Warzocha T. (2021) Edukacja zdalna w czasach pandemii COVID-19, Forum Oświatowe, 1(65), 61-76. https://doi.org/10.34862/fo.2021.1.4.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Barbara Żakowska
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
1. The Author declares that he or she has created the written work and holds exclusive and unlimited copyright /both moral and property rights/ and guarantees that no third parties have rights to the work.
2. In the view of the Copyright and Related Rights Act, a work must fulfill the following criterion:
a) be a manifestation of creative work,
b) have an individual character („author’s personal stamp”),
c) have a set form.
3. The Author declares that the text has not been previously published (under the same or different title, or as a part of another publication).
4. The Author allows (grants a non-exclusive license) the publishing house of University of Białystok to use the scholarly text to:
- preserve and multiply by means of any technique; save in a digital form with no limitations as to the manner and form of digital preservation;
- upload online with no limitations as to the place and time of access.
5. The Author grants consent for editorial changes made in the work.
6. The Author grants the University of Białystok rights free of charge for the duration of property copyright with no territory limits. The University has the right to grant sublicenses in the acquired rights.
7. Granting a non-exclusive license allows the Author to preserve their rights and allows other parties to make use of the work according to sublicensing agreement with provisions identical as those of Attribution 4.0 Internacional License (CC BY 4.0), available online at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
8. The Agreement has been concluded for an indefinite period of time.
9. Because of costs born in preparation of the work for publishing, the Parties oblige themselves to act in good faith and refrain from declining to grant licenses.
10. To all matters not settled herein, provisions of the Civil Code and Copyright and Related Rights Act of 1994, February 4 shall apply.
11. All disputes shall be resolved by a court of local jurisdiction for the place of seat of University of Białystok.
