2019 Vol. 11 №4

Until 1991 ties between entities located on either side of the Russian-Polish border were virtually non-existent. There were, however, favourable physical, geographical, economic, social, and ekistical conditions for the development of a cross-border region. Since the early 1990s, cooperation between administrative units and municipalities, businesses, and non-governmental organisations has been developing on an institutional basis. Euroregions and cross-border cooperation programmes have become major contributors to cross-border region-building. On either side of the border, there are socio-economic nodes between which axes of cross-border interaction are emerging. The most powerful axis is the Tri-City (Gdansk-Gdynia-Sopot) — the Kaliningrad agglomeration. A systemic approach is used to analyse a variety of relationships, reflected in a map showing the diversity of geographical areas of cooperation. The University of Gdansk and the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University are playing an important role in the development of Russian—Polish relations. Although the intensity of cross-border ties has decreased in recent years amid tensions between Russia and the West, there is hope that bilateral socio-economic benefits will encourage the restoration and development of collaborations and the Russian—Polish cross-border region will continue to evolve.

Climate change is projected to have a profound effect on natural ecosystems, biodiversity, and societies both in the Baltic region and globally, particularly so through agriculture and food systems. The Baltic region has a vast potential for the development of bioeconomy due to the existing opportunities for biomass production and advances in microbiology leading to process- and product innovations in biomass production and utilization. The development of sustainable bioeconomy in the Baltic region, however, requires a flexible and timely adaptation to climate change. Based on an overview of the relevant state-of-the-art literature, the article explores the implications of the development of bioeconomy for the adaptation to and the mitigation of climate change in the Baltic region. The paper elaborates on actions that may facilitate the sustainability of bioeconomy in the region. It concludes that scientific collaboration across borders in the Baltic region can accelerate innovations to successfully adapt bioeconomy to climate change. Sustainable development of bioeconomy can provide considerable opportunities for mitigating climate change.

The Northwestern Federal District is a Russian macro-region that is a unique example of a model region. It accounts for 10 % of the country’s total area and 9.5 % of its population. This article aims to trace the patterns of city distribution across the region, to assess the conditions of differently populated cities and towns, and to identify sustainability trends in their socio-economic development. Population change is a reliable indicator of the competitiveness of a city. As a rule, a growing city performs well economically and has a favourable investment climate and high-paid jobs. The analysis revealed that population change occurred at different rates across the federal district in 2002—2017. A result of uneven socio-economic development, this irregularity became more serious as globalisation and open market advanced. The study links the causes and features of growth-related differences to the administrative status, location, and economic specialisation of northwestern cities. The migration behaviour of the population and the geoeconomic position are shown to be the main indicators of the sustainable development of a city.