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Introduction

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STRATEGY, DEVELOPMENT RULES FOR THE DOCUMENT

The work associated with the creation of the Strategy for Development of Western Poland 2020 (SDWP, Strategy) was initiated by regional self-governments (of Dolnośląskie Voivodeship, Lubuskie Voivodeship, Opolskie Voivodeship, Wielkopolskie Voivodeship and Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship) on the basis of the agreement concluded in August 2010 in Szczecin¹¹. The pillars of cooperation in creating a common strategie vision of development are the elements connecting the regions of Western Poland²¹, including willingness to cooperate in the macro-region, as well as the Oder river basin and the cross-border location. It was stressed that there is a need to focus the SDWP on the development challenges whose naturę and scalę requires supra-regional cooperation, going beyond the boundaries of one voivodeship.

For the purposes of this Strategy, i the macro-region of Western Poland was defined as five voivodeships:    Dolnośląskie,

Lubuskie, Opolskie, Wielkopolskie and Zachodniopomorskie. The macro-region covers 31% of the country (96,065 km²) and connects Central Europę with Western Europę, Southern Europę and Scandinavia. The western and Southern borders of the macro-region are also

Polish State borders. From the !_

west it borders three eastern

German lands (Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Saxony), and from the south it borders the Czech Republic. The element that binds Western Poland together is the Oder river basin, with significant demographic, economic and spatial potential. Oder, which forms part of the State border, is also an important axis of cooperation between Polish voivodeships and with regions of Germany and the Czech Republic. The macro-region is inhabited by over 10 million people, which is approximately 26% of the country's population, and is an area with a population density less than the national average (105 people per square kilometre, compared to the national average of 123).

http://polskazachodnia2020.pl/aktualnosci.html.

In this document the term “region” is synonymous with "voivodeship".

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