Izola, September 4, 2024 – The kick-off meeting of the project partnership and the press conference of project with the acronym DANTE – Sustainable and flexible cultural practices for an innovative and integrated offer of literary tourism, co-financed by the European Union under the Interreg VI-A Italy - Slovenia 2021–2027 Programme, were held in Izola today.
The kick-off meeting was attended by representatives of the six project partners. In addition to the Lead partner, Municipality of Isola, Tolmin Museum, the IRRIS Institute for Research, Development and Strategies of Society, Culture and Environment, and representatives of three Italian partners – the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, the Municipality of Tolmezzo, and the Municipality of Ceggia. The representatives of two associated partners – the Slovene Writers' Association and the cultural institution Fondazione de Claricini Dornpacher were also present. The third associated partner is the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation Gorizia-Nova Gorica, as the project will also be potentially involved in activities in the scope of European Capital of Culture.
Milan Bogatič, Mayor of the Municipality of Isola, gave a welcome speech and pointed out that "Still to this day, Dante Alighieri, a great name in medieval literature, continues to inspire us with his work. His presence in the area where the Slovenian and Italian languages meet was the foundation for the conception of this project. The original of the first manuscript, which was produced in Izola between 1398 and 1399 and was calligraphically completed in 1400 in Portobuffolé, is kept in Venice, while the second (copied in Isola in 1395) is in Paris. Acquiring reproductions of these manuscripts has been of crucial importance for the cultural heritage of the local area. A certain part of the Palace of the Chief Magistrate (Podestà Palace in Italian) will be completely renovated for the purposes of preserving cultural heritage and be funded by the project”. Deputy Mayor of Municipality of Isola, Agnese Babič who works on project implementation, agreed with The Mayor.
The main topics of the meeting were establishing project management structure (which is overseen by Public agency for promotion of entrepreneurship and developing projects of Municipality of Izola), activities planned, deliverables in each work package and progress reporting. Andreja Grom, a representative of the Joint Secretariat of Interreg VI-A Italy-Slovenia Programme 2021–2027 also actively participated at the meeting, explained to the partner institutions the role of the Joint Secretariat and the support it provides in project implementation, reporting, and drawing on the European funds.
New Opportunities for Cross-Border Cooperation Announced at the Press Conference
At the press conference, the project content was presented by the Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Isola, Agnese Babič. Andreja Grom announced a new call: "It will be published in October 2024. There will be in excess of 10 million euros available for funding projects addressing climate change adaptation and strengthening public administration efficiency. So far, almost 71 million euros have been allocated from the Programme, for 58 cross-border cooperation projects and 44 small projects under the EGTC GO fund, which is also the associated partner in this project. The press conference also featured contributions from Elena Mengotti, Head of the Organizational Unit of the Central Directorate for Culture and Sport of the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Tadej Koren, Director of the Tolmin Museum; Laura D’Orlando, Councillor for Culture at the Municipality of Tolmezzo; Darko Darovec, Director of the IRRIS Institute for Research, Development, and Strategies of Society, Culture, and Environmen, Mirko Marin, Mayor of the Municipality of Ceggia as well as Oldino Cernoia, President of the associated partner institution Fondazione de Claricini Dornpacher.
DANTE Project Outputs
As part of the project, a cross-border literary trail DANTE will be created. They will be based on five interactive interpretative cultural trails that will form a cohesive whole and connect with existing routes in Tuscany and Veneto, through "Dante Points" in Friuli Venezia Giulia Region in Italy and Primorska Region in Slovenia. Three visitor centres will be established; one in Izola, one in Tolmin and one Ceggia. With the aim of promoting shared literary and cultural heritage and the connected literary trails, cross-border events will be jointly organized in Izola, Tolmin, Trieste, Tolmezzo, in Friuli Venezia Giulia Region and in Municipality of Ceggia in Veneto. A marketing plan will be developed as well as joint promotional activities that will be designed for these purposes. Events will be organized as part of the major literary festivals Pordenonelegge and Vilenica, contributing to the creation of a more ethically-oriented and socially responsible niche tourism offering. By creating DANTE trail, the project partners will seek inclusion in the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe. To find out more, visit https://www.gov.si/novice/2020-07-10-kulturne-poti-sveta-evrope/.
For more information please contact: jzp@izola.si
More about the project is available at: www.ita-slo.eu/dante
