As the countdown continues toward the festive closing ceremony (5 December 2025), a conference is scheduled for Tuesday, 2 December, to present the first impacts of the European Capital of Culture on the territory and to focus on the next steps for the future of the cross-border area. Promoted by the EGTC GO and hosted in the new cross-border space EPIC, the event will offer an opportunity to highlight the first data on the “effect” generated by the European Capital of Culture on the cross-border territory, and to outline actions that can strengthen the synergies and initiatives launched during an intense and extraordinary year for the cities and the entire bordering area between Friuli Venezia Giulia and Slovenia. Among the tools developed for GO! 2025, particularly significant is the success of the go2025.eu Platform (Borderless Wireless project), the official digital infrastructure of the year: since January 2025, it has registered more than 3 million views related to cultural and tourist information.

The meeting will provide an opportunity to present a report on the main communication activities carried out for GO! 2025 and the first results of the analyses on the economic and cultural impacts of the European Capital of Culture. The next steps in the evaluation process will also be outlined, with particular attention to citizen involvement, the continuation of the analyses, and the future organisation of a citizens’ assembly dedicated to the cross-border legacy.

The event, introduced by contributions from institutional promoters, will involve partners and stakeholders from the territory and will be divided into two parts: a first session, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., focusing on data, impacts, and tools to understand the transformation of the territory with GO! 2025; and a second session, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., featuring testimonies from local stakeholders who collaborated on the projects—particularly those who contributed to the Borderless Wireless platform, developed by EGTC GO as the official digital infostructure of GO! 2025.
“This is,” explains EGTC GO Director Romina Kocina, “one of the most advanced models of a tourism-cultural observatory in a cross-border context. The result of a participatory design process involving more than 20 stakeholders from Italy and Slovenia, the platform has registered nearly 3 million views since January 2025 for its cultural, informational, and digital content: a unified architecture capable of providing a coherent vision of the interests and dynamics of use across the entire Borderless Area during the European Capital of Culture, and a source of new perspectives and benefits for the territory in future seasons.”

In detail, the conference will open at 11 a.m. with the morning session “GO! 2025 in numbers: impacts and perspectives”, introduced by institutional greetings from representatives of the cross-border bodies. The panel dedicated to impact data and future perspectives, coordinated and introduced by EGTC GO Director Romina Kocina, will feature contributions from Giulio Selvazzo, curator of the GO! 2025 Borderless Wireless Platform; Guido Guerzoni from Bocconi University in Milan; Salvatore Amaduzzi from the University of Udine; and Lorenzo De Sabbata from ISIG (International Sociology Institute of Gorizia).
In the afternoon, from 2 p.m. onwards, the floor will be given to the First Level Stakeholders, with the participation of businesses, institutions, and cultural operators from both countries involved in developing the borderless Capital of Culture. Among the local testimonies will be Antica Contea & Reservoir Dogs, creators of the Borderless Beer and long-standing collaborators in organising joint cross-border events; as well as Maks Café in Nova Gorica and Qudulibri in Gorizia, new cultural players in the cross-border area.
Additionally, for the analysis connected to the initiatives undertaken during GO! 2025, there will be some testimonies from the group of local stakeholders. Among these are PromoTurismo FVG, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Gorizia, Confcommercio Gorizia, Fondazione Aquileia, the Culture and Sport Directorate of the Autonomous Region Friuli Venezia Giulia, Camera di Commercio Venezia Giulia Trieste Gorizia (Chamber of Commerce Venezia Giulia), Euradria 24-26 programma EaSI - Unione Europea, Fundacija Poti miru v Posočju, Območna Razvojna Agencija Krasa in Brkinov, Zavod za turizem, kulturo, mladino in šport Brda, Javni zavod za turizem Nova Gorica in Vipavska dolina, Turizem Dolina Soče, Zavod za turizem Idrija, Zavod za Turizem Miren - Kostanjevica, DMO Turismo Benečija, Fondazione Palazzo Coronini Cronberg, Let’sGO - Comune di Gorizia, G. I.T. Grado Impianti Turistici S.p.A and Goriški muzej Kromberk - Nova Gorica.