On Thursday, 9 June 2022, at 7.30 p.m. the closing ceremony of the NextGen GO!2025 project activities were held in the Auditorium of the Slovenski šolski centre in Gorizia.

The project is funded by the European education and culture executive agency within the CERV Call for proposals for town-twinning and networks of towns and is implemented by the EGTC GO - the European grouping for territorial cooperation of the municipalities of Gorizia, Nova Gorica and Šempeter-Vrtojba.

As Nova Gorica and Gorizia will be the European Capital of Culture in 2025, the aim of the project is for students from both cities to learn what Europe means, what ECoC is and how they can participate in this important event. In this way, they have the opportunity to get to know their "neighbors" in a cross-border and European spirit.

The project includes threee events, consisting in conferences and workshops about Europe and Nova Gorica-Gorizia European Capital of Culture 2025, for 122 high school students from Gorizia and Nova Gorica. The following schools took part in the project: Gimnazija Nova Gorica, Istituto Statale di Istruzione Secondaria Superiore "G. D’ANNUNZIO - M. FABIANI" Gorizia, Državni izobraževalni zavod Cankar Vega Zois from Gorizia and Državni izobraževalni zavod Gregorčič Trubar from Gorizia.

Yesterday's awards ceremony follows two events that took place on Europe Day.

The first event, entitled "Conference on the future of Europe", was held on the morning of Monday, 9th of May, at the Kulturni dom in Gorizia. The guests were Nataša Šip, from the Communication, Partnerships and Networks office of the European Commission; Tanja Fajon, from the European Parliament, Sandra Sodini, Director of the International Relations and European Planning Service of the Autonomous Region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and Kaja Širok, CEO of Zavod GO! 2025. The conference was set up as an interactive conference, where in addition to introducing guests, students asked questions and participated in discussions.

The second event, entitled “Workshop on the European Capital of Culture 2025” was held in the afternoon, from 13.30 to 16.15 in the spaces of Gimnazija Nova Gorica. In this context, the participating students were able to understand, together with Vesna Humar, responsible for the Bid Book reduction, what European Capital of Culture means and how this title is actually not a prize but a task to be performed in order to improve their city. Together they thought about the important interventions to be completed to make the two Gorizas a better place. Inspired by the three pillars of the Bid-Book, GO! Share, GO! Europe and GO! Green, the students worked in groups to propose their ideas.

The third event, that took place on the 9^th of June, consisted in the award ceremony of the six best works, choosed by the a Committee composed by the team GO!2025 and the Culture Committee of the EGTC GO, whose representatives belong to the three founding cities of the EGTC GO, Gorizia, Nova Gorica and Šempeter-Vrtojba. After the greetings of the Headteacher, Mara Petaros, and the Mayor of Nova Gorica, Klemen Miklavič, the winning students had the opportunity to discuss their ideas for the future of Europe and the activities for the European Capital of Culture 2025.  All the winners were awarded with a gift, handed to them by the coordinator of the culture committee of the EGTC GO, Gabrijel Fišer. The winners of the first prize will be rewarded with a trip to Brussels to discover the European institutions.

The first  prize was awarded to the project "Prijateljstvo senza confini" by students Zala Flospergher (Šolski centre Gorica - S. Gregorčič), Irene Lauto (ISISS D'Annunzio - Liceo Linguistico), Luka Frandolič and Mojca Lipušček (Gimnazija Nova Gorica). Their project aims to promote recreational and educational activities for people of all ages from Italy and Slovenia. It identifies different age groups and envisages a different activity for each (e.g. kindergarten: cross-border summer school; high school: cross-border dance; pensioners: hiking and history lessons). Children, students and young adults will have the opportunity to attend language, literature, history, creative workshops, sports activities, etc. together in order to get to know each other, share their respective cultures and traditions and create new friendships.

The project received the highest score as it was judged by the committee to be most comprehensive and structured. It involves all citizens, from the youngest to the oldest. 

The second classified project is named "GO Park" and was presented by students Janiki Cingeli (Šolski centre Gorica - S. Gregorčič), Alice Scaramuzza (ISIS D'Annunzio - Liceo Linguistico), Timotej Rebek and Matic Simčič (Gimnazija Nova Gorica). The project consists of identifying abandoned or poorly connected areas on the border and converting them into cycle paths. It also envisages the creation of new green areas for events, markets and festivals. The aim is to promote a sustainable way of enjoying the cross-border area, improving health and quality of life.

The commission liked the project because of its green and redevelopment theme.

In third position, the project entitled "The tour of Gorizia and Nova Gorica" that was defined by students Vittoria De Macedo (Šolski Center Gorica I. Cankar), Elena Gregorutti (ISIS D'Annunzio - Liceo Linguistico) and Žan Perat from Gimnazija Nova Gorica. Their project aimed to unite the most representative places of the two cities in a single guided tour to discover secret gardens and lesser-known corners of the area. Food, as a cross-border link, accompanies the tour with recipes of Gulaž and Štrudel.

The committee appreciated the decision to highlight the secret places of our two Gorizias.