The work of the GO! 2025 Citizens’ Assembly began yesterday.

The first meeting took place at the Municipality of Nova Gorica, where citizens from Gorizia, Nova Gorica and Šempeter-Vrtojba exchanged views on the experiences, changes and perspectives linked to GO! 2025, launching a process of listening and participation dedicated to the future of the cross-border area.

Through working groups focused on culture and creativity, economy and tourism, civil society and community, and cross-border cooperation, participants shared opinions, critiques and visions aimed at building together a legacy capable of lasting over time.

The reflections that emerged yesterday provide the foundation for the process, which will continue during the next meetings in September: 10 September at the EGTC GO headquarters in Gorizia and 21 September at the EPICenter in Nova Gorica. During these sessions, the findings collected will be examined in greater depth and concrete recommendations for the future of the cross-border area will be developed.

The Citizens’ Assembly is part of the activities for monitoring and evaluating the impacts of the European Capital of Culture Nova Gorica–Gorizia 2025, as required by the European framework governing the initiative. Commissioned by EGTC GO, in collaboration with Zavod GO! 2025, and implemented by ISIG, the Assembly serves as a participatory tool for evaluation and legacy-building, aimed at complementing technical and quantitative analyses with the perspective of the local community. Through this process, perceptions, assessments and recommendations from across the territory will be collected in order to better understand the effects generated by GO! 2025 and identify possible directions for the future development of the cross-border area. Once analysed and systematised, the outcomes of the Assembly’s work will contribute to the broader evaluation process and will be included in the report submitted to the European Commission.