Factors for a successful regional cross-border cooperation : case study of the Kvarkenrådet cooperation

Within the EU the cohesion policy and encouragement for cross-border cooperation has becomemore important over the years. And in the academia, there has been a lot of research about thesekinds of cooperation. However, there have been few studies of cross-border cooperation regarding underpinning factors for successful cross-border cooperation. This study aims to create a theoretical model for factors that influence the success of such cooperation. This model is later applied to the cross-border cooperation between Västerbotten and Örnsköldsvik in then orthern Sweden and the tree counties of Österbotten in Finland, which is called Kvarkenrådet. The main purpose of this study is to find out whether Kvarkenrådet is a successful cross-border cooperation by applying the theoretical model on Kvarkenrådet:s cooperations. To answer the aim on the study two personal interviews have been conducted with the director of Kvarkenrådet Mathias Lindström and the president of the bord Lennart Holmlund and later the empirical results from the interviews is compared to the theoretical model of factors that influence cross-border cooperation. The result showed that all the factors in the theoretical model could be identified in Kvarkenrådet. Except from the factors in the theoretical model. The conclusion of this study is that Kvarkenrådet is a successful cross border cooperation that is built on many different factorson different level