The EGTC GO and the Managing Authority of the Interreg Italy-Slovenia Programme 2021-2027 presented today in Gorizia the results of the Call 1/2023 of the GO! 2025 Small Projects Fund. Closed in April 2023, the European call was created to support cross-border projects in view of Nova Gorica and Gorizia European Capital of Culture 2025.

"If there is one aspect that this initiative has highlighted, it is certainly the great proactiveness of the organisations in the cross-border area," said EGTC GO Director Romina Kocina at the press conference. - Starting from the sell-out of the three infodays organised in the spring, to the 239 project proposals we received with this first call, everything can be said except that the area is not looking to the future with enthusiasm and expertise".

The themes developed are many: tourism, food and wine, music and cinema, but there are also sports, languages, theatre, dance, museum offerings and even astronomy. To enrich the offer and the cultural and touristic revival of the area, there will be musical and theatrical events (e.g. the creation of a cross-border wind orchestra), film productions and screenings for all ages and intended to promote the values of the European Union and active citizenship through art.

The museum offer will also be enriched with new spaces, collections and performances, both digital (such as digital storytelling) and traditional (such as exhibitions or historical re-enactments), without forgetting the renovation of exhibition spaces, in order to promote cross-border historical heritage and stimulate sustainable tourism.

In the area of food and wine, in addition to the valorisation of local specialities, the focus is on all-round culinary experiences, with those who valorise fruit, those who promote a cross-border friendship wine, or those who promote sustainable wine tourism by linking wine to satire, or even those who seek to build intercultural and economic bridges through stuffed pasta.

The first SPF call for proposals (others will follow until 2026) saw the candidature of 239 project proposals from the entire eligible area, which ranges from the province of Venice to Ljubljana and includes the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region and the Slovenian regions of Primorsko-notranjska, Osrednjeslovenksa, Gorenjska, Obalno-kraška and Goriška. Out of the submitted projects, as many as 207 passed the administrative checks and gained access to the quality assessment.

"There were so many applications that also scored very well on content that we have decided to allocate an additional 1.5 million in addition to the available contribution, for a total ceiling of EUR 4.5 million for this first call," added Tomaž Konrad, Deputy Director EGTC GO and Head of the Small Projects Fund GO! 2025.

With this amount it will be possible to finance the 27 cross-border projects that have best addressed the specific objective S.O. 4.6 "Strengthening the role of culture and sustainable tourism in economic development, social inclusion and social innovation" and develop the three general themes Go Share/Go Green/ Go Europe.

Laura Comelli, Managing Authority of the Interreg Italy-Slovenia Programme 2021-2027, pointed out that "Among the eligible subjects for funding there is a general balance between Italian and Slovenian Lead Partners (15 the former, 12 the latter) and a great cooperation between public and private bodies has been seen. In addition, all the funded projects aim not only to attract and develop tourism through culture and inclusion, but also to enrich the cross-border community as a whole by providing new facilities and opportunities to meet, share, grow and preserve the common identity that transcends geographical borders. After all, as one of the winning project proposals points out, the sky, beyond borders, is the same for everyone."

"There is a lot of desire to do and collaborate, we hope that this will also attract private financiers. As far as the EGTC GO is concerned, the next round of Interreg SPF calls is scheduled for early 2024, but in the meantime we will tell you how the numerous projects funded in this first round are developing," Kocina closes."

The complete ranking lists are published at:

https://euro-go.eu/it/spf/bando-spf-go-2025-n-1/ 

Foto: Pierluigi Bumbaca