THE “LOWER DANUBE” EUROREGION: DEVELOPMENT EMERGENCE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT CLUSTER FORMS

Abstract

Enlargement of the European Union within the context of structural priorities transformation and globalization of the international economy makes it necessary to find the approaches to adapt the “Lower Danube” Euroregion to new challenges, particularly as regards the ecological safety in the Danube delta. In the authors’ opinion, it is the trans-border cluster nature that is nowadays one of the most advantageous processes to deliver against goals in regard to restructuring of the Danube region environmental complex. In the article, the theoretical approach to the development of the mechanism of environmental management is presented, taking into account the possible clusterization of environmental management system of the “Lower Danube” Euroregion. The essence of the concept “trans-border environmental cluster” is explained. The main directions for the development of the eco-economic management mechanism are singled out with reference to environmental clusters formation, which will make it possible to solve not only economic, but the environmental problems of periphery territories. Target setting is determined by the increasing role of the development emergence of trans-border cluster systems of environmental management under conditions of the transition of the Ukrainian border territories to the integration into the EU common environmental area. The purpose of the study is to investigate the scientific approaches to trans-border clusterization of the environmental management in terms of urgent need to prevent pollution of the Danube delta by the sewage waters, by means of self-organization of trans-border environmental cluster – institute of network environmental cooperation over administrative boundaries, which will become the point of environmental risks reduction and of industrial disasters prevention in the “Lower Danube” Euroregion. The research methodology is the categorization of the approaches to the implementation of the innovative technologies and to the introduction of the environmental management innovations by means of cluster forms of industrial organization, which explicitly or implicitly facilitate the reduction of ecologically destructive effect of production and consumption on the environment and help solve environmental problems in the Euroregion. Results. The eventual outcome of the clusterization of environmental activity management in the “Lower Danube” Euroregion is the beneficial socio-ecological and economic effect providing balanced sustainable development of the Euroregion and the country in particular. Thus, the formation of new forms of trans-border cooperation based on the cluster genesis has become the accelerator of the environmental strategy intensification, encouraged the self-development and restoration of natural resources, innovations generation in the sphere of the Lower Danube ecology, implementation of eco-technologies providing the balance between economic and ecological potential of the European region. All this determines the direction, key features and emergence of the cluster forms development of the environmental management – the Danube synergy.