The Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, the Managing Authority of the Interreg VI-A Italy-Slovenia Programme and the EGTC GO presented this morning the third call of the GO! 2025 Small Projects Fund (SPF). Speakers included Barbara Zilli, Regional Councillor for Finance of the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Laura Comelli, Managing Authority of the Interreg VI-A Italy-Slovenia Programme, Paolo Petiziol, President of the EGTC GO, and Romina Kocina, Director of the EGTC GO.

The Small Projects Fund, approved in 2022, is one of the tools made available by the Interreg Italy-Slovenia 2021–2027 Programme to support the strategy of GO! 2025 Nova Gorica–Gorizia European Capital of Culture through cultural, tourism and social initiatives. The fund finances short-term, small-budget projects designed to stimulate cooperation between Italy and Slovenia and to leave a legacy beyond 2025. The EGTC GO (European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation of the Municipalities of Gorizia, Nova Gorica and Šempeter-Vrtojba), which supported the successful candidacy of Nova Gorica and Gorizia for the European title, was selected as the sole beneficiary and manager of the fund.

The third SPF call opened yesterday, Monday 8 September, and applications can be submitted until Friday 17 October at 12:00 noon. Projects must last no longer than 12 months and have a budget between €30,000 and €100,000; the financial allocation amounts to €1,026,839.17. As with all Interreg Italy-Slovenia projects, beneficiaries may be based in Friuli Venezia Giulia and the Province of Venice on the Italian side, and in the regions of Osrednjeslovenska, Primorsko-Notranjska, Gorenjska, Obalno-Kraška and Goriška on the Slovenian side.

Projects must focus on four thematic areas. The first concerns initiatives promoting the active inclusion and participation of children and young people under 30 through co-design processes, with the aim of strengthening their skills, improving employability and fostering structured relations with cultural, institutional and territorial stakeholders. The second is dedicated to the enhancement of green areas and aquatic environments, such as rivers, lakes, streams, lagoons and coastal areas, through socio-cultural, artistic and environmental awareness activities. The third focuses on the development of cross-border content aimed at enhancing public-interest infrastructure already present in the Programme area. Finally, the fourth concerns the promotion of wellbeing and social cohesion through sport and physical activity accessible to all.

To present the technical features of the call and provide clarifications to potential applicants, the EGTC GO is organising three info days: Wednesday 10 September at 3:00 p.m. in Gorizia (in Italian and Slovenian) at the EGTC GO headquarters, Friday 12 September at 10:30 a.m. in Ajdovščina (in Slovenian) at the premises of the local Chamber of Commerce – Območna obrtno-podjetniška zbornica, and Wednesday 24 September at 11:00 a.m. in Venice at the Goldoni Theatre (in Italian).

Since 2023, the GO! 2025 SPF has already supported 56 cross-border projects. The first call (SPF 1/2023) financed 44 projects, with over €7.7 million in total funding (€4.5 million from the Interreg VI-A Italy-Slovenia Programme and €3.2 million from the FVG Region), which led to more than 350 events and involved over one thousand people in training activities. The second call (SPF 2/2024) made available about €1.5 million and selected 12 projects focused on multilingualism, sustainable mobility, youth inclusion and sport.

With the third call, the total allocation of the GO! 2025 SPF exceeds €10 million, confirming it as one of the most important instruments to support and stimulate cross-border cooperation in the year of Nova Gorica–Gorizia European Capital of Culture and beyond.

For information and updates: www.euro-go.eu and https://www.ita-slo.eu/it/spf