Good governance and regional development: Challenges not only for the Slovak Republic

Abstract

Good governance of development processes is a precondition for sustainable development. There is also the prerequisite that legal, institutional and policy frameworks as well as competencies (knowledge, skills and attitudes) of the management enable a transparent, participative, effective and efficient development process. Unfortunately in Slovakia, as well as in many other European countries, this assumption is only partly met, and socio-economic progress is directly influenced by this fact. The research, focusing on good governance in the area of regional development, which has been carried out by the Carpathian Development Institute in Slovakia since 2007, has manifested major challenges and their causes in the concerned field. The research findings are based on a formal secondary survey of existing documentation and on a primary survey carried out among regional development actors. The surveys' results were exposed to and verified by an independent expert's testimony. Comparative consultations in other European countries (with a focus on the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland) have discovered that research findings are comparable. The aim of this paper is to present outcomes of the survey and outline a model of good regional governance in the area of regional development. The model is based on principles of good governance referring to the best practices from abroad. The model is expected to be introduced in Slovakia in 2010, simultaneously being made available to countries with a similar socio-economic history (Hungary, Poland Czech Republic) as well as to other countries and regions. © 2009 WIT Press.