It is with great pleasure that I take this opportunity to talk about the "Globus et Locus" association, of which I am chairman, in the "Alexandria" magazine. This is a non-profit association comprising a number of Regions, Chambers of Commerce and Foundations in Northern Italy but to which the Italian Swiss Radio and Television Organization also belongs. But what does "Globus et Locus" do? Above all, it's a think tank and pre-political proponent in the context of new, highly topical relationships where global matters interact with local affairs; these relationships are defined by a new, increasingly used, word: glocal.

Indeed, to uphold an up-to-date territorial function, in our case that for Northern Italy, what is needed is a cultural effort aimed at encouraging a new capacity for political action and new social interests in a position to draw up effective proposals. This means a new form of government in line with the global/local challenge. What I have just said is one of the concrete commitments inherent in our work: an in-depth review of the rapport between society and institutions and the designing of efficacious political proposals for the new mobility.

The effects of globalization, a new form of government and a far-reaching technological and cultural interconnection are - in effect - the two distinctive features of the glocal society. As regards the political proposals, we have attempted to synthesize them, in the five "Globus et Locus" projects: two of them are centered on global topics and the new global institutions par excellence, those of the Untied Nations, and the question of the "Italics" as a global demos hypothesis. The other three (the mobility of things, persons and signs) concentrate on the connection between global and local affairs that is what mobility is. Our association - I feel this should be stressed - intends to interpret this age of ours that presents us with so many needs, unforeseen events, virtual factors and possibilities to which "Globus et Locus" intends to provide answers in the form of reflection and plans. In short, following due reflection and the drawing up of plans, we want to give concrete answers, in practice, to the questions inherent in our time.

I therefore hope that the space granted to us by "Alexandria" will mark the start of a form of cooperation, that is not merely editorial but that may in some way also become political, with an association like "Globus et Locus". The latter typifies an institutional system predominant in the Po Valley but that, indeed because of its declared objective of analyzing the modern world from a global standpoint, cannot fail to not overlook what could be defined as surrounding realities. While the bonds between the association and Northern Italy are mainly put into practice with Northern Europe and the Mediterranean, the opening of the European Union to the East makes a consolidation of connections with that area of primary geopolitical importance - the Balkans -especially topical. Moreover, if the political-economic phenomena are observed from a global standpoint, as called for by serious glocal consideration, it is possible to identify both in the Po Valley and in the Balkans, nodes that can be linked up in a profitable trade network as regards both know-how and goods.

Naturally, handling globalization with glocal sensitivity does not involve the same problems for situations historically, economically and also politically different such as the case of the Po Valley or the Balkans - specifically, the new Serbia and Montenegro federation. However, I am absolutely convinced that links between different realities can and must be increased: indeed, a correct glocal approach rewards the confluence of different experiences and not the application of the same patterns of behaviour.

For example, I feel sure there would be reciprocal interest in cooperation over correct policy to renew the United Nations. One of the "Globus et Locus" projects deals with the Staff College for ONU personnel in Turin - also considering experience in the field - an experience that has not always proved satisfactory (and here I would emphasize the practical requirement raised vis-à-vis the inertia of ONU officials by the famous film "No Man's Land").

Another "Globus et Locus" project that may produce interesting results in an area of heavy immigration like the Balkans is the "Italics" project where the intention is to join from a cultural and economic standpoint Italians, the children of Italian emigrants and all people with an Italian lifestyle scattered throughout the world. A comparison with the methods and times of your emigration and its close or weak relationship with the mother country could be profitable.

At all events, I feel that a strong point on which to base cooperation is logistics. The mobility of goods is one of the primary aspects political powers will have to give attention to in view of the advocated opening up of the European Union to the East. In this context, Italy must try to avoid remaining confined to a peripheral position while the Balkans will want to resume traditional economic relations to both the East and West.

The last topic to be considered together is people mobility. Today we feel it would be shortsighted and misleading to consider an emigrated and relocated brain as being lost, because it no longer counts where one is geographically located but in which network of relations people find themselves. To encourage analysis and the subsequent improvement of this type of relationship, a number of initial practical steps must be taken such as the monitoring of the brain transfer both "leaving" and "entering" the country. The mobility of brains has a heavy impact in at least three areas: it's a development factor in societies where we live: post-industrial, technological, tertiary. It not only affects the economy but also interaction between cultures and traditions, in short by speeding up the ongoing globalization process. It's the object of a state of alarm throughout the media in societies that feel they are being deprived of their intellectual resources.

In conclusion, I would like to again say that I hope this information on "Globus et Locus" and the "Globali e locali!" (Giampiero Casagrande, Lugano, 2002) book containing interviews that in various ways serves as an introduction to this topic, will only be the first step towards profitable cooperation to be developed in the future. We shall surely have an opportunity to meet again, and the first time could be the convention on the role of Trieste in the logistic repositioning of the Balkan area organized this autumn by "Globus et Locus" and the Trieste Chamber of Commerce, a member of our association.

As regards the other "Globus et Locus" initiatives, I would again mention the book of interviews edited by Sergej Roic, a Swiss intellectual of Serb and Croat origin, who is particularly mindful of your reality. The fact that I entrusted a description of our association to an intellectual of Balkan origin with a deep understanding of the problems and opportunies in this region demonstrates the non-sporadic interest of our associaton in your area.