On Friday, 14 November 2025, the second territorial Focus Group of the WABIN – Water Balance in the Cross-Border Interconnected Nature project took place in Nova Gorica (SLO). The initiative is co-funded by the Interreg VI-A Italy–Slovenia Programme.
The meeting brought together numerous Slovenian public institutions, companies and territorial stakeholders, supported by the active participation of several Italian actors who shared experiences and good practices in sustainable water management and planning.
An open dialogue on the future of water
The main objective of the Focus Group was to promote cross-border dialogue on the strategies and actions needed to ensure sustainable, integrated and participatory water governance in the Isonzo/Soča river basin, an ecologically sensitive area shared by Italy and Slovenia.
During the morning session, participants worked on:
– sharing good practices and innovative approaches for the protection and monitoring of water resources;
– identifying common needs and cross-border challenges;
– defining priorities to strengthen institutional and territorial cooperation;
– discussing how to improve the active involvement of local communities, businesses and stakeholders in water governance processes.
Towards a shared path
The contributions collected during this second Focus Group represent a key step in the participatory process launched by WABIN and will feed into the upcoming project outputs, helping to consolidate a shared vision for the future of the Isonzo river basin.
