The Annual Event of the Interreg Italy–Slovenia Programme took place on Thursday, April 16, and Friday, April 17, 2026, at the Regional Congress Palace in Grado (Italy). The event was organised in collaboration with the OSI projects ADRIONCYCLETOUR, Kras-Carso II, and POSEIDONE. The initiative brought together around 240 participants from 85 projects from various Interreg Programmes, confirming its role as a significant opportunity for discussion and cooperation.
The day on Thursday, April 16, opened with institutional greetings. Following the welcome speech by the Mayor of Grado, Giuseppe Corbatto, the Regional Councillor for Finance of the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Barbara Zilli, highlighted the strategic importance of cooperation between the Region and the Republic of Slovenia. Then, Marko Koprivc, State Secretary responsible for Cohesion Policy of the Republic of Slovenia; Rita Bertocco (Joint Programming Directorate of the Veneto Region); Simona Pohlová (European Commission - DG REGIO Interreg); and Paolo Galletta (Director of the Service for Coordination and Monitoring of ETC Programmes), all reaffirmed the value of European territorial cooperation and the key role of the Interreg model in strengthening integration between territories. In conclusion, Laura Comelli, the Managing Authority of the Programme Italy-Slovenia, wished participants productive work and great success for the two-day event.
The second part of the morning was dedicated to the three OSI projects. During the thematic sessions, 16 projects from other Interreg Programmes presented their activities, while also identifying potential areas for collaboration and synergy. This exchange fostered a concrete sharing of experiences and laid the groundwork for future cooperation among projects and territories.
In the afternoon, following the lunch break, the event continued with a round table focusing on the role of Macro Regional Strategies and Interreg to boost territorial cooperation post-2027. Representatives from EUSAIR, EUSALP, Interact, and several Interreg Programmes took part in the discussion.
Afterwards, participants had the opportunity to explore the local area through three experiential tours organized by the OSI projects, with study visits to Isola della Cona, Valle Cavanata, and the Karst area. The day concluded with a networking dinner held in the foyer of the Congress Palace, offering further opportunities for informal exchange.
The morning of Friday, April 17, was dedicated to discussions on the future Interreg programming period 2028–2034. Simona Pohlová presented the European Commission’s new guidelines, outlining regulations, objectives, and key challenges of the upcoming programming phase. Subsequently, the Managing Authorities of the participating Programmes joined a panel on the future vision of Interreg Programmes, sharing experiences, challenges, and best practices.
This was followed by two round tables exploring links with Mainstream programmes and the Multi-Programme Coordination Mechanism, Mediterranean Platform and other Programme’s synergies. The debate concluded with a panel on youth engagement, emphasizing the importance of fostering new skills and perspectives to strengthen the Interreg model, also through initiatives such as IVY (Interreg Volunteering Youth).
The morning ended with the award ceremony of the “Student4Cooperation” initiative, now in its second edition. The prize was awarded to the VI class of the DIZ/ISIS “Jožef Stefan” institute in Trieste, which presented the MERITO project: an innovative system designed to guide young people into the labour market through targeted internships in the cross-border area.
In the afternoon, participants took part in three parallel workshops focused on developing new synergies and designing future joint projects. The results, later shared with the audience, highlighted a high level of engagement and the quality of the proposals put forward.
The event concluded with highly positive outcomes, recording a high level of participant satisfaction and confirming its importance as a key opportunity for dialogue, exchange, and the creation of new collaborations at the European level.
