In the first part of the second workshop at the colloquium ‘Building bridges: towards territorial cohesion in Europe?’ on the contribution of cross-border areas to regional cooperation and European integration, chaired by Birte Wassenberg from the University of Strasbourg, Steffen Rubach from Euregio presents a case study of interactions between the region of Salzburg, the Land of Berchtesgaden and the town of Traunstein. Hartmut Kowalke from the University of Dresden, Christian Preusscher (Euroregion Elbe/Labe) and Milan Jeøábek from the University of Ústi describe the example of the border zone between Saxony and Bohemia. Jörg Scheffer from the University of Passau looks at the case of the cross-border region shared by Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria. Norbert Weixlbaumer from the University of Vienna then considers the possibilities for cross-border cooperation in the south-eastern Alps, describing the experience of an inter-university trip from Vienna to Trieste. Finally, Rob Belemans (FARO, Flämisches Kulturzentrum, Brüssel) discusses cross-border language policy, using the example of Limburgish, which is spoken in Belgium and the Netherlands.