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Cross-border
economic
development 21
Practical guide : building partnerships
Overcoming cultural barriers
Cultural barriers such as language, managerial culture and business practices
may be reduced, but this is a continuous process and not a one-off activity.
Awareness raising
and coaching on cultural
differences. This may be done
through training, such as the
courses provided by the Kehl
Euro-Institute on the French-
German-Swiss border, or
through publications.
Strengthening language
skills among institutional
players, but also economic
players and workers.
E x a m p l e s :
The Saarland’s “Stratégie
France” has the ambitious aim of
making this region a fully-fledged
multilingual space by 2043 and
teaching all inhabitants of Saarland
to speak French. The main interest
of this strategy lies in taking full
advantage of economic cooperation
opportunities with France and of
the region’s position as an interface
between two of the largest markets
in the European Union.
In June 2013, the members of
the Upper Rhine Conference
signed a Charter for multilingualism
in the Upper Rhine. The charter
makes recommendations for
language instruction from
nursery up to secondary school
and the CFA (Apprenticeship
Training Centre). It also makes
recommendations for training
teachers and financing this policy of
multilingualism.