Europe is the continent of cities!
EUSAIR Facility Point participated at the European Week of Regions and Cities on 9 October 2018.
Starting with EURegions talks under the title #cooperationiscentral: Why central Europe needs cooperation more than ever, the challenges of Central Europe were presented, including the acute problem of nearly all cities in central Europe exceeding healty PM10 levels and the need for road transport restrictions. Calls for integrated solutions, cooperation of european cities for better air quality as well as for association in preventing the rise of euroscepticism and individualism in Europe were expressed, followed by a networking session with the most successful projects in this field.
At the Workshop Islands, mountains and sparely populated areas: challenges and opportunities, the added value of macro-regional strategies for areas farther away from political and administrative centers, including Brussels, was highlighted. Myth of the »less advantaged« areas was overthrown, since the next financial period will be more focused on clean energy and these areas have the best potencial and starting points for a quick transition to renewable energy sources, as well as for a complete energy authonomy.
Contrary to the first EURegions talks, the main message of the event Stories about the impact and added value of interregional cooperation was that Europe is full of solutions and good practices, which have to be shared for mutual inspiration. In the Interreg IVC ex post study, 80% of the participants confirmed the importance and a long-term effect of changes brought with interregional and transnational cooperation. As a logical sequence, talks were followed by #policylearningnetworking.
For a better future Interreg programmes even set up a »construction crew« in line with Jean Claude Juncker's famous saying: »We need more Union in our Europe.« This construction #MadeWithInterreg and many other innovative exhibitions and workshops could be visited throughout the whole day.
Last but not least a workshop Macro-regional strategies as innovative cooperation platforms for cities and regions in organisation of Interact presented good examples of linking macro-regional strategies with the local environment and provided a clear picture of mutual benefit from this cooperation. We are proud to annouce that our Facility Point Project Partner Municipality of Izola efficiently represented good example in our strategy as well as the added value of Facility Point strategic project.
