The Municipality of Sežana, as the lead partner of KRAS-CARSO II, participated in the Participatory Laboratory “Stronger Together: Turning Cross-Border Synergies into Future Growth”, organized by the Interreg Italy–Slovenia Programme and the Friuli Venezia Giulia Autonomous Region ERDF Regional Programme 2021–2027, as part of the EURegionsWeek CloseToYou Edition held in October in Brussels.
Together with other participants, we took part in facilitated roundtable discussions, sharing experiences and developing solutions to common challenges related to sustainable tourism and culture and creative industries.
We began by exploring best practices that illustrated existing synergies and integration, including:
• The Adriatic Ionian Cycle Route experience
• The Walk of Peace experience
• Cultural and creative enterprises: an opportunity between present and future
The workshop brought together representatives from 15 selected projects funded by various Interreg Programmes, officials from the Directorates of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Autonomous Region (responsible for the ERDF Regional Programme 2021–2027 and Macroregional Strategies), as well as representatives of Interreg Programmes participating in the Mediterranean Multi-Programme Mechanism (MMM).
Participants were divided into two thematic groups — Sustainable Tourism and Culture & Creative Industries — each guided by three facilitators who supported the discussions and exchanges.
During the workshops, we introduced our project and partners, and through creative and dynamic interaction, we explored mutual synergies and opportunities for cooperation and the preparation of new projects. We identified concrete areas for collaboration, exchanged contacts, and look forward to continuing and strengthening our future cooperation.
