ARIZONA & MEXICO

mutually beneficial initiatives. In terms of agenda setting, transborder communities help to identify and
frame issues of binational concern, creating a common ground for problem-solving action where the
interests of different individuals and organizations on both sides of the border converge.
Because their membership is organizationally diverse, issue-driven, and often voluntary, transborder
communities are highly adaptable and uniquely positioned to contribute to shared governance. They
establish rules and adopt practices that help to deal with the complexities of the United States-Mexico
bilateral relation, while overcoming institutional rigidities and securing mutually beneficial outcomes.
With time, transborder communities evolve into enablers of change through planning, advocacy, or
targeted actions. Joint implementation of transborder actions might take the form of coordinated
programs across the border or parallel, simultaneous activities on the respective side of the border of
each party involved.
Transborder Communities in Action
Transborder communities are organized in four different ways depending on their goals, membership
composition, and organizational configuration: policy networks, communities of practice, communities
of knowledge, and citizen networks.
Policy Networks
Economic coordination and integration have been the glue that has cemented many transborder policy
communities along the United States-Mexico border for decades. Regional competitiveness,
international trade, transportation infrastructure, and investment flows are issues that have grown in
prominence recently and have induced the formation of transborder networks of public, private, and
sometimes academic actors that join forces to address “policy problems” hampering progress in these
areas. These networks allow their members to cooperate and exchange information, expertise and other
resources to influence the policy-making process and its outcomes (Rhodes, 2008).
Two good examples of such networks in our region are the Arizona-Mexico Commission and the AriSon
Binational Megaregion project. Both engage state and local governments and private sector
organizations in long-term regional planning advancing bold conceptions of integration such as
binational economic corridors or economic megaregions. In particular, the megaregion perspective
makes sense in a space where efforts to attract businesses could be more effective if done jointly
because Sonora and Arizona together create a more diverse and larger economy and their human,
natural and infrastructural assets complement each other. The AriSon Megaregion, for example, is a
concept championed by local leaders on both sides of the border seeking to connect metropolitan areas
in Arizona and Sonora and formalize agreements and economic development actions based on
cooperation rather than in competition. As is the case with other policy networks, the main challenge for
the Arizona-Mexico Commission and the Ari-Son Megaregion Project is the creation of a solid narrative
of change and the expansion of their support base regionally and nationally.
Communities of Practice
Within some professional fields, communities of practice develop based on trust over continued,
frequent interactions and collaborative, peer-to-peer learning across the border. In the area of border
public health, the value of collaborative approaches in addressing infectious diseases and chronic health
issues is exemplified by the community health approach represented by the Binational Health Councils
(BCH/COBINAS). These councils include local health authorities, non-governmental organizations,
social service groups, and professional associations on both sides of the border and illustrate a local and
successful model of a transborder community of practice. Currently there are three binational health
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