THE TRANS-BORDER CO-OPERATION AS THE SUCCESSFUL REALIZATION OF THE " GLOKAL " PHILOSOPHY ?

Developing the cross-border regions is a preferenti al area of the European Union’s regional policy, an d it has so far provided several sources for this purpose (P HARE, Interreg, Cross-border Co-operation Programme s). In our present research, we examine how the people pol d think the forms of cross-border co-operation – especially in the fields of environmental protectio n, tourism, local economy and commerce – contribute to the success of a region made up of a Hungarian, an Aust rian and a Slovenian small region. The main areas o f development are environmental protection and touris m which are supported in the period of 2007-2013, a nd as experience shows these are the two sectors whe re t most spectacular results can be reached in t he shortest term possible. We have examined the success and achievements of th e region from the point of view of economic system, culture of innovation, regional availability, and p re aredness of labour force, decision centres, soci al structure and cohesion. During the empirical research, we questioned three small regions’ municipal representatives as decisio n makers and representatives of local authority. The res arch sample involved municipal representatives of the minorities’ (Slovenian, German, Roma), as well as t he non-governmental organizations related to the fi elds examined. The results of the research point out the accentuat ed role of the factors of connection that they play in the process of organising and realising trans-border co -operations, as well as in that of building a prosp ective trans-border region.


INTRODUCTION
As a result of the enlargement of the European Union and the achievement of the Schengen process, there are no more physical obstacles to broadening trans-border cooperations. As an effect of these processes, it can be expected that the previously peripheral border regions briskly start to develop by leaps and bounds both economically and socially, as they are now able to build their relationships within a radius of 360° around themselves, given that the borders are not so much an obstacle as a linking element. Economical and social upswing is supported by the European Union's regional policy also through (financial) resources, as trans-border regions are regarded as "laboratories" where advancing processes of integration in the EU can be measured and evaluated (Bufon, 1996;Knippenberg, 2004).
On the other hand, the political and economic participants were expecting at the beginning of the globalisation era, which can be characterized "from anywhere -anything -DETUROPE -THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM Vol.4 Issue 2 2012ISSN 1821-2506 anywhere -to anywhere", that global companies would move to out and away the cheapest places, that is to less developed regions, where development could also start, which means that a certain kind of regional equalisation would emerge. In reality, however, the stabilisation of regional differences can be observed, of which main reason is that intangible assets, such as patents, brands, culture of organisation and networks of relationships have become primary contrary to physical goods, while taking the production of added value come into consideration. Local co-operations and "embededdness" rise into prominence in sustenance of competitive advantages of companies. Porter writes that the "more advanced dimensions of competition remain geographically bounded" (Porter, 1998), that is the sources of permanent competitive advantages of particular industries become localised. For regional participants, it also means that local co-operations become substantial to secure and sustain permanent competitive advantages of companies, the concepts of "locality" and "space" have shifted from the former passive position into an active one (Barna et al, 2005).
According to these, the importance of local cultural and co-operational attitudes and that of human, social relationships grow; besides, those local organisations (e.g.: municipal and non-profit organisations, educational, training and development organisations, trade and professional associations) become determinant that are able to promote the success of companies by shaping local social conditions adequately. (Lengyel -Rechnitzer, 2004).
In our present study, we examine in which fields the trans-border co-operations can be realised in a Hungaro-Austro-Slovenian micro region and how these co-operations can contribute to the success of the region.
In the first part of the study, we summarise the characteristics of the border and borderlands, the motivations of trans-border co-operations, and the two characteristic fields of cooperation (tourism and environmental protection). In the second part, we introduce the results of our empirical research done in the Hungaro-Austro-Slovenian triple border region, the fields of co-operation and the trans-border region's success -factors, as well as the correlations between them.

The characteristic features of the borders and border regions
The border can work as a fence separating the regions from one another; in this respect, the border throwing obstacles in the way of co-operations. However, the border can also be such a zone of connectionsand co-operation (Ratti -Reichmann, 1993;Ehlers-Buursink, 2000;Fritsch-Németh, 2003) where those advantages, rising from the common use of DETUROPE -THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM Vol.4 Issue 2 2012ISSN 1821-2506 74 economical and cultural resources, prevail that result from the existence of the border. The most opportunities open up for economies in previously peripheral regions to get connected in the case of such open borders. The co-operation of both sides of the border getting increasingly tighter may result in border towns and villages developing, using their comparative advantages, supporting each other and getting rid of their peripheral characteristics (Hardi, 2004).
In this advanced phase of the co-operation of borders and cross-border regions, we can no longer talk about cross-border regions, but trans-border regions (Baranyi, 2007).
Martinez defined four types of border regions according to the number, depth and frequency of the interactions between the two sides of the border, (1994) as shown in Figure 1.

Interactions in border regions
Source: Martinez,1994, quoted by Hardi, 2004 In case of the possible best scenario the integrated borderlands can come into existence if stability is strong and permanent. The economies of the two countries merge functionally, and the free movement of people and goods across the borders is not restricted any more.
The two countries can be looked upon as a single social system. This high level of relations has not evolved among Hungary and the neighbouring countries yet (Hardi, 2004 In the second place, trans-border co-operation needs to become an everyday practice and involve all the areas and groups of society on both sides of the borders. In the third place, it DETUROPE -THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM Vol.4 Issue 2 2012ISSN 1821-2506 75 has to appear at all the levels of public administration, e.g.: at national, regional and local levels." (European Commission, 1997).

The motivations of trans-border co-operations
The particular trans-border co-operations can be motivated by the rationality of economic advantages and its intrinsic identity-shaping and image-building power that can be used in city marketing.
The economic motivation can be reached by using resources together above all. The inclination and readiness for co-operation is extremely important in the case of different investment in infrastructure (e.g.: the agreement on the waste water management between Jennersdorf and Szentgotthárd, the cross-border Industrial Park Szentgotthárd -Heiligenkreuz), organising civil protection services ( e.g.: setting up joint flood prevention systems), and in the case of projects of education, cultural, religion (e.g.: joint renovation of the church of St.Imre between Rönök -Inzenhof), projects of tourism, or environmental protection and conservation of natural resources (Őrség -Raab -Goričko Natural Park).
The trans-border co-operations can be regarded as a sort of response, too. They can be a response to the regional and "networked" logic of economic activities on the one hand, and a response to the state's limited opportunities of handling globalisation-related problems and developing geographical peripheries, such as borderlands, on the other hand (Scott, 2001).

Developing trans-border tourism
In the present concepts of the regional, urban and rural development and construction, one can find the tendency to view the development of tourism as a "magic device" to solve social-economical problems overnight. Today, it is firmly intended to develop tourism not in all the regions of countries, but also in trans-border regions. The development of tourism appears as a priority both in the areas hit hard by the structural problems of the agriculture or industry and in places that can be otherwise considered to be developed. The main reason for this being is that it is tourism by which such natural and cultural resources can be utilised that are otherwise not or less effectively exploitable (Lengyel, 2002).
The development of tourism and that of the cross-border regions have also become intertwined to a great extent, which can be traced back to several reasons.
In the process of cross-border regionalisation, tourism have been becoming one of the pioneer type of trans-border sectors, as people have always endeavoured to do away with borders while travelling. Besides tourists, experts specialised in the development of tourism DETUROPE -THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM Vol.4 Issue 2 2012ISSN 1821-2506 76 have also started to take a look at the other side of the border. This process will lead towards the development of transnational tourist destinations.
At the same time, what tourism means to people is the connection with other cultures and countries; this is how it makes both tourists and tourist receivers to be able to accept other cultures. In the EU policies, tourism is consequently considered to be such a means that promotes the development and enhancement of the regional consciousness among people (Prokkola, 2007).
The frequency and the process of trans-border co-operations depend on nature of the border. "Closed" borders typically mean obstacles to traffic and development of tourism.
However, in the case of "open" borders tourism development can only be complementary, as there exist only minor differences between the two sides of the border in terms of culture, politics and economy. The worst case in this situation is that the regions lying in both sides of the border compete with each other. According to the best scenario ever, the development of tourism is an interactive process in the course of which the cross-border regions strive for joint development (Timothy, 2001).
Trans-border developments of tourism indicate also the EU integration processes more or less. The European Commission's 2003 document on helping the more effective use of the financial support sources emphasises that tourism in cross-border regions creates jobs and secures livelihoods for people living there. The study highlights that the cross-border regions have such characteristics that offer opportunity for the development of tourism: interesting history, rich cultural heritage and an often intact natural environment. The developments of tourism make sustainable development possible in three different areas: economic development, environmental protection and the preservation of the local inhabitants' identity (European Commission, 2003). According to the above mentioned, tourism secures real possibility of development for cross-border regions. If we are more critical, valuing the opportunities and advantages of the development of tourism, then as a matter of fact tourism comes up as a "last resort" for cross-border regions, because low population density and big distances from the middle and big centres hinder the development of other sectors (Vizvári -Bacsi, 2003 be a positive economic, while it is obvious that it influences the social environment, as well) (Puczkó-Rácz, 2001).
The nature of the competition also changes through the effects of the global competition, which can be observed in tourism, too: while there used to be a competition typical of tourism suppliers, now the competition of particular destinations has become decisive.
Besides the differences between destinations getting appreciated, the tendency has become general that all the experience that tourists get during their trips has become more important than the particular components separately (Jancsik, 2008).

Trans-border environmental protection 15
However, it is a commonplace but it is true that environmental pollution does not stop along the borders and thanks to this, environmental issues and preventing and managing the risks are always on the agenda of cross-border projects and programmes. Normally, typical areas of intervention are projects related to joint environmental initiatives and preparations for natural disasters (Németh et al, 2011).
In the case of trans-border environmental-related conflicts, we talk about negative externalities that harmfully affect and concern local inhabitants, municipalities and the economic actors. These negative extern effects put off prospective investors, inhabitants and tourists, too, thus determining the course of development in the region in the long run. There are such activities where the extern effects are due to happen necessarily. These are called necessary externalities. The extern effects cannot be separated from the basic activities in such cases (Mozsár, 2000). When it comes to judging the occurrence of the externalities, there are significant differences among the concerned people, as the investor -who is normally the polluter -try to play down the importance of negative effects and put the emphasis on positive ones (e.g.: creating jobs, generating energy), while the sufferers of the pollution (people and organisations also) highlight the negative effects (e.g.: economical, health-related and environmental risks).
Economics aims to do away with wealth-related losses by internalising (making the extern effects intern) externalities. The main point of this is that incidental expenses and profits must me made perceivable for insiders, that is, all the profits and all the costs must appear on the side of the economic/market actors. As a result of successful internalisation, 15 Several environmental conflicts have come up on the Austro-Hungarian border in the last few years. The conflicts started by polluting the rivers Rába and Lapincs (Raab and Lafnitz in German), culminating in the building of a waste incineration plant planned to be set up right on the border. The Hungarian and Austrian parties concerned "keep hedging" and no trace of internalisation can be found, as no advance has been made in the last three years. Vol.4 Issue 2 2012ISSN 1821-2506 78 social and individual profits and expenses will be equal, which means that the external effects will cease (Kopányi, 2007). The internalisation of negative environmental effects raises difficulties, because the parties concerned "keep hedging", equivocate and are not able to "bury the hatchet". Internalisation does cause difficulties, because it is hard, impossible or at least morally alarming to put a price on the territory of a community, the individuals' quality of lie or their lives in the worst case.

The characteristics of a successful region
These days, competitiveness has become the keyword of different developments and analyses. However, competitiveness is a notion hard to define, and it has several academic interpretations primarily in approaches of economic sciences. In the present study, we deal with those theories only that state that competitiveness can be approached in territorial aspects.
According to Ádám Török, the "concept of competitiveness at a micro level means the ability to acquire a position and hold their ground against particular companies, rivals and against particular national economies from a macro-economic aspect" (Török, 1999). The concept of competitiveness in general does not mean market success only, but it also implies striving to hold on in the market competition, the skills and inclination for successful adaptation.
Krugman's theory is based on the economy's locality and the geographic concentration of economic activities and he thinks that if we want to understand the differences between different nations' growth rate, we have to analyse the differences in regional growth first; but if the international specialization is to be understood first, then examining local specializations is a good starting point (Krugman, 1994;. Porter writes that living standards are determined by productivity that is why he considers the competitiveness of geographical units at different levels to be high productivity and high growth rate of productivity, which is determined by the quality of business environment, the region's economic basis, the operation of companies and effective competition strategies (Porter, 1999).
The territorial (regional or national) competitiveness comes to the fore as a consequence of globalisation and its effects/impacts after territorial approach has become necessary, as one of the basic consequences of globalisation is locality, thus the change and appreciating of the role of regions and areas (Enyedi, 2000;Rechnitzer 1998), since new a new economic space has evolved thanks to globalisation. The empirical researches also DETUROPE -THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM Vol.4 Issue 2 2012ISSN 1821-2506 79 prove that the global competition and market have regional specialisation to accompany, and local advantages have been appreciated, such as developing innovations, lower transaction costs, institutes offering special competitive advantages (education, training, etc.), local base of knowledge, etc. Measuring the regional competitiveness is an extraordinarily complex task to be described by a great number of variables. Besides this, only certain dimensions of competitiveness (e.g.: competitiveness in innovation or tourism) can be measured. Competitiveness measured only by economic indicators does not give a clear picture of the given geographical unit's situation compared with its rivals, as it is an important task to reach also environmental and social-political aims besides the economic ones in the case of regional development.
As a matter of fact, competing with one another has never been unfamiliar to towns and villages, however, the main drive of the competition changed from time to time in different historical eras. They had to compete for royal privileges, resources, central subsidies, or EU grants as it is today. All the time, the aim has something to do with getting into a more advantageous economic position (Piskóti -Dankó -Schupler, 2002).
There is no single and unified background of theories, but the regional competition basically goes on according to economic aspects, the participants of the competition in the region mainly aim to increase their income in a stable way in the long run, that is, to reach successful economic development. The competition usually goes for: The company investments (mainly in the processing industry, IT, commerce, etc.), the competition goes on so as to settle down new enterprises, and to keep the ones already existing.
Drawing population into the area, especially highly qualified competitive human resources, people with professions of higher income.
Groups of people choosing the place to live there temporarily (tourists, students, etc.).
Budget sources, public funds, creating and setting up public utilities and institutions Organising cultural, sports, political, etc. events and programmes drawing attention, mostly those that are part of the area / city marketing.
All those people and organisations that influence the area's successful management by means of their decisions (Lengyel, 2003;Piskóti -Dankó -Schupler, 2002).
If the notion of competitiveness is extended, the notion of successfulness can be used, as well, to compare the competitive position of regions, cities and towns. Enyedi draws the attention to the fact that every city, town or village has to fight to reach and maintain success day in day out, and success can be achieved only as a joint effect of several factors (Enyedi, 1997). To do so, one of the means for successful and less successful cities, towns and villages is to get organised into a network so as to make better use of their endowments and facilities and implement their interests more effectively.
The sixth report also contains those factors that characterise all those regions generally said to be successful and these factors are the high rate of employment in services and the processing industry, a widespread range of innovation-related activities, regional availability, and favourable conditions of accessibility, the qualification of labour force and the high rate of employees with degrees. (EC, 1999).
Imre Lengyel (2000) made his "pyramid model" determining competitiveness, using partly the sixth regional report, partly the factors of success of regions and cities.
At the top of the pyramid, the main aim of a country's or region's growth and economic development can be found, that is, the improvement of the "well-being", living standards and the quality of those living there.
The central category of the regional competitiveness in the pyramid model is income, which measures the economic growth of the economy. The productivity of labour and employment also affect the quality of life of the population.
Of particular importance are programming factors with a direct and short-term influence on economic output, profitability, labour productivity and employment rates. Source: Lengyel, 2000 The range of factors necessary for the success, with an indirect, long-term impact on competetiveness, is extremely complex. Lengyel compiled the factors of success based on Enyedi's points of view (Enyedi, 1997), the "labyrinth" of urban competitiveness by Begg (1999) (trends of sectors, characteristics of companies, business environment, innovation and education) and on the sixth report of the EU (EC, 1999). These determinants take shape over a longer period of time and their significance reaches beyond economic policy-making.
The factors serving as a basis of the "pyramid model" were used as a basis for our primary research, and we examined their trans-border aspects. The content of the particular factors are summarised in Table 3.

DETUROPE -THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM Vol.4 Issue 2 2012
ISSN 1821-2506 Table 1 The contents of factors determining success in the long run

Economic structure Innovative activity
Employees mainly in services and the processing industry Products and services of high added value Companies and industries with multiplicating effects Regional economic structure able to adapt easily The competitive advantage depends on business services and the base of knowledge (R+D, university, institutes of innovation) Extensive activities of innovation Effective diffusion of innovations Quick adaptation of new technologies Innovation culture, innovative skills of high level → adaptation strategy to changes Appropriate company capacities Prepared, skilled, innovative small and medium-sized enterprises

Regional accessibility Social structure
Easy accessibility The infrastructure of transport and communication is able to alleviate the effects of geographical endowments Strong and thriving middle-class with high income It meets the demanding needs of the middleclass in the region

Quality of environment Decision centres
High-quality environment of towns and villages Healthy natural environment The population has an active role in preserving the environment The regional headquarters of the companies are in the region Strategic units of companies in the region If the activities of companies do not get embedded in the region → the region is helpless and with weak adaptation ability

Skills of work force Regional identity
The rate of qualified labour force is high Education system meeting to the needs of the labour market The education system prepares and re-trains the participants for creative, innovative activities and business services High-level work ethic and labour discipline Ambitious and demanding employees Successful management of conflicts (may derive from structural changes of economy, economic growth, inequalities within the region) Local authorities endeavour to co-operate and they mutually inform and help each other Strong regional/local identity, local patriotism Active non-profit-making organisations and population Own editing, based on Enyedi, 1997;Lengyel, 2000

RESEARCH MODEL AND METHODS OF EXAMINATION
The aim of our research is to discover the possible fields of trans-border cooperations in  We did a complete survey during the research, getting in touch with 39 municipal authorities. Besides this, as there are municipalities of minorities run in Hungary and Slovenia, we also carried out interviewing 6 Slovenian, 3 German, 15 Gypsy minorities' representatives in Hungary, while 7 Gypsy minority representatives in Slovenia. In that case of a representative being a member of both the municipality's and a minority's representative, they filled in only one questionnaire. Table 2 summarizes the data of the empirical survey.

Source: own research
The total rate of returning of the questionnaires -related to the number of questionnaires posted -was 52%, out of which 80% of those asked in Hungary replied, 35% of those interviewed in Slovenia, while 32% in Austria.  Table 3.

DETUROPE -THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM Vol.4 Issue 2 2012
ISSN 1821-2506 Table 3 The variables of the components of the fields of cooperation  The classified variables, identified after the rotation in the four components, performed with a suitable weight everywhere. Table 4 contains the identified components of the factors of success, as well as the variables related to them. Table 4 The variables of the components of the success factors

Name of the component Name of the variables Social and economic effects
Growing number applied innovations Distribution of innovations gets faster Business headquarters are based in the region. Growing number of esthetical architecture Quality of natural environment improves Efficiency of the education system rises Strong middle class evolves

Marketing
Making strategies Rural development, regional development Management skills Cooperation with opinion-makers Cooperation with enterprises

Regional identity
Local residents hold it important that new values should be created in the region Possibilities of leisure activities broaden

Members of Parliament, EU representatives Government bodies
Source: own research DETUROPE -THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM Vol.4 Issue 2 2012ISSN 1821-2506 According to the results of the component analysis, the components determining the success of trans-border cooperations are categorised into four main components. The component of "social and economic effects" contains the economic and innovation culture resulting in the cooperation, the environment and the skills of workforce, as well as the variables describing the social structure. The component of "management competencies" consists of the professional skills and cooperational abilities expected from the local economic and political elite. The component of "regional identity" includes the variables that describe the attachment to the place of living. The component of "social capital" describes regional participants' attitudes towards building and keeping connections, which can open up new resources to development and renewal.
The factor of success of trans-border cooperation, put in four components, is a result different from the basic model to a great extent. The components of the "management competencies", the "regional identity" and the "social capital" describe the human and social conditions necessary for cooperations, while the component of "social and economic effects" imply such variables that contain the economic, innovation, social-structural and environmental elements vital for a region's success.

The correlations between the components of the fields of cooperation and the factors of success
While examining the correlations of the trans-border cooperations, we were searching for connections between the fields of cooperation and the components of the factors of success to find out in which fields of trans-border cooperation can be realistic and what factors play a role in the success of a trans-border region.
We examined the existence and nature of the connection between the components of the fields of cooperation and those of the factors of success through linear regression analysis.
The components of the fields of cooperation were used as independent, that is explanatory variables, as these cooperations contribute to a trans-border region's success. In the analysis, the components of the factors of success were the dependent, that is, explained variables, as these components describe the realisable region's success.
We did linear correlation analysis regarding the intensity of the significant correlations (t-test significance Sig. <0,5), and determined the correlation coefficients. The value of the correlation coefficient can change between -1 and +1, and the closer the absolute value of the coefficient to number one, the stronger the connection between the two variables. When judging the intensity of the connection, it is about a weak connection in the case of the value DETUROPE -THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM Vol.4 Issue 2 2012ISSN 1821-2506 89 ±0,3 below"r", a medium one with ±0,3 and ±0,5, while a strong connection appears in the case of a coefficient above ±0,5 (Field, 2005). Table 4 shows the results of the correlation analysis, where the width of the lines represents the closeness of the correlation connections, while the values of the partial correlation coefficients appear on the lines.
According to the results of the regression and correlation analysis, the "social-economic structure" as the component of the factors of success shows a significant correlation with all the three fields of cooperation. The component of the "economic and commercial effects" deriving from the trans-border cooperation -many joint ventures, several service businesses, businesses based on their trans-border location, the increase in the processing level and competitiveness of local products and produces -bears a close correlation to the social-economic structure, so it can be stated that it largely contributes to the change and success of social-economic structure. The social-economic structure bears a medium strong correlation to the tourism components, while a weak connection to "the effects of environmental cooperations" can be shown.

Figure 4
The partial correlation connections among the fields of cooperation and the components of the

factors of success
Source: own research DETUROPE -THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM Vol.4 Issue 2 2012ISSN 1821-2506 90 The component of "management competencies" also bear a correlation to all the three fields of cooperation, a medium strong connection to the "structure of cooperation, "the advantages of tourism development", as well as "the fields of environmental cooperation" can be shown. In setting up and running the trans-border cooperations, the knowledge and skills of the local economic and political elite, especially marketing, strategy planning, experience in regional development and management, as well as the ability to keep in touch with opinion makers and businesses , play a serious role in all the three fields examined.
According to the results of the research, these are the main pillars of building a successful region.
It is surprising that the component of "regional identity" bears a correlation to the environmental components only; a weak connection to the "fields of environmental cooperation" can be shown, while a medium close one to the "effects of environmental cooperations". These connections signal the importance and actuality of the environmental issues, as well as the effects of the current environmental problems when forming an opinion of the region.
The component of the "social capital" represents a significant, however weak, correlation to several components describing the cooperation. These areas are the following: "the structure of cooperation", "the economic and commercial effects", "the advantages of tourism development", and "the fields of environmental cooperations". The connectionsmainly MPs and members of the European Parliament, government bodies -has a direction towards the centre, which also shows that decision-making is centralised in the examined regions, as for the issues of development, and keeping in touch with regional bodies is less intensive.

Evaluating the results of the research
By means of component analysis, we determined the fields of trans-border economic cooperations, as well as the factors specifying the success of the trans-border region.
According to the results of the analyses carried out, it can be ascertained that the possible fields of cooperation of the trans-border cooperations are joint tourism development, the development of the economy and commerce and environmental protection.
The results of the research and the experience affirmed that the projects of environmental protection, tourism development and those supporting the improvement of competitiveness, included in the priorities of the Regional Operative Programmes, are viable initiatives -DETUROPE -THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM Vol.4 Issue 2 2012ISSN 1821-2506 accepted also by the shareholders and those concerned -to develop the trans-border cooperations.
According to the variables making up the components, the meeting of cultures, national and ethnic traditions, unique natural heritage and common historical past serve as ground for trans-border cooperations.
The component of the "structure of cooperation" also points out that co-operating has to be a controlled and managed activity on a daily basis determined by common goals, because it is the only way to get beyond cultural exchange programmes and sports events, which are otherwise important. If we expect a real economic, social and territorially trans-border region as a result of cooperation, it is necessary for decision-makers and organizations set up and financed by them to work out a policy directly based on the region's endowments and endogenous resources and ensure a favourable business environment. To run the system efficiently and continually, it is necessary to build international and trans-border networks of sectors, which can be realised through the cooperation of the governmental, business and non-governmental spheres only.
According to the drawn-up results, it can be established that the key to cooperation can be the trans-border development of tourism, as all the three regions are planning to get involved in tourism, and it became apparent to them at the same time that they -on their own -are not able to offer an appropriate tourism experience chain to tourists, while, making the border -as an object -a joint tourist destination will give the region a chance to promote the positioning of the destination.
The identified component of tourism prove that decision-makers are aware of the importance of tourism planning and find it more important to exploit the positive effects and avoid the negative ones, but at least manage to handle them than set up a concrete range of choice.
Out of the fields of environmental cooperation, the variables involved in the components are in harmony with the endowments, deficiencies of the region (air protection, waste management, building sewage system, the protection of the natural environment, renewable resources), and the preference of the environmentally clean investments acting for sustainability. According to econometric analyses, the factors determining the success of trans-border regions make up four components. The results prove that -as for their structures -the elements determining the success of the trans-border region structurally differ from the factors supposed in the research model; connection-oriented variables are more emphasised than in the model. Figure 5 shows what difference appears between the factors supposed in the model and those represented by the analyses. answer-givers hold innovation in a region provided with hardly any innovation infrastructure.
The presence of the innovation milieu may mean the key to renewing the region, which assumes that the success of the trans-border region manifests itself in a quicker adaptation and forming a unique, territorial -specific type of development. In our opinion, expanding cooperation to many areas basically involves the diffusion of innovations, as getting acquainted with the models of technology, organization and process applied in every single country and taking over certain elements already mean innovation for the concerned country. The answer-givers think it an element of success that the headquarters of businesses are in the region, which can be interpreted only if such small and medium enterprises are set up and develop of which existence and successful operation are not determined by a multinational company's existence and success in the first place. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to create such joint ventures that build upon the region's internal resources, have disposal of the opportunity of unique market positioning, and are able to renew continually. It is in harmony with the above mentioned that for the sake of success it is vital to establish such an efficient system of education which is able to provide the participants with such knowledge that ensures reaching individual, organization and regional goals. As long as workplaces adjusting to the education system are set up, it can be expected that the migration / outflow of young and qualified professionals slows down and such a middle class can evolve that also contributes to the successful region's development with their high income and high-quality demands.
The other three components describing the success of the trans-border region -"the management competencies", "the regional identity", and "the social capital" -belong to the "soft" indicators of success, as these factors will make up the region's unique features.
These endogenous factors may originate in the region's historical development, social endowments, cultural values, community systems and environmental effects (Somogyi Ritz, 2011).
The gaining ground of the "soft" elements -determining the trans-border region's success to a great extent -can be explained with that the examined Hungarian-Austrian-Slovenian borderland region belonged to one administration unit before the border setting of the Trianon Treaty, besides the fact that all the three small region are their own country's peripheral areas, so people living there have a sort of feeling of "we are similar". DETUROPE -THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM Vol.4 Issue 2 2012ISSN 1821-2506 94 Thanks to this, they hold the relation factors of the cooperations, leaders with adequate competencies, and joint initiatives more efficient than the individual development of certain factor of success.
Revealing the connections between fields of cooperation and the factors of success has proved that the joint development of tourism and environmental cooperations have an important effect on the way to success; they determine not only the social-economic structure of a successful region, but also the management competencies, the regional identity and the social capital.
Summing it all up, we can say that trans-border cooperations can be realised by both the concerned and the governmental participants in the areas of economy, trade, tourism and environmental protection.
According to the results, we suggest that a professional organization be set up with experts from all the three countries. It is important that the work of the group should not be influenced by election cycles and a stable finance system ensure the efficient work. In the situation analysis, the primary task of the team is to find the breakout points that can offer competitive advantages to the trans-border region. It is a highlighted task for the concerned not to lose their motivation in the cooperation and get acquainted with the "lessons" of cooperation more effectively. The professional organization can also help encourage qualified young people to return home by ensuring jobs for them.
Besides the social-economic effects, relationship-factors contribute to the success of the trans-border region, such as management competencies, regional identity, and social capital.
The role of these elements of relationships seems to be gaining ground and becoming determinant besides the economic, innovation and human factors of the regional development.