by InTrieste
Over the past six years, a cross-border collaboration between Italy and Slovenia has quietly transformed local economies and environmental policies along their shared frontier. Funded by the European Union’s Interreg Slovenia 2014-2020 program, the initiative allocated €92 million to projects promoting sustainability, mobility, and innovation in the region.
Regional Councillor for Finance Barbara Zilli, in a statement to the Regional Council, underscored the program’s success in fostering “a virtuous cross-border cooperation, repeatedly recognized at the European level.” The initiative, she added, lays the foundation for future strategic planning, with lessons learned from its ambitious cultural and environmental projects, including the upcoming GO!2025 European Capital of Culture event in Nova Gorica and Gorizia.
The program supported 63 projects benefiting 367 organizations, nearly evenly split between Italy (190) and Slovenia (177). The projects focused on four main areas: innovation and competitiveness, mobility and carbon emissions reduction, environmental and cultural preservation, and cross-border governance. While public institutions absorbed 84% of the funds, 55 small and medium-sized enterprises also played a significant role in shaping the program’s impact.
“The strength of this program,” Zilli noted, “lies in its ability to elevate grassroots initiatives—ideas born in local communities—which have evolved into development models for various border regions.”
The initiative’s outreach extended beyond policy, engaging more than 116,000 people in over 2,000 public events from 2014 to 2020. Notable among these were a high-profile workshop at EuRegionsWeek in Brussels, the “From the Alps to the Adriatic” photography contest, and the European Cooperation Day held in Trieste in September 2022, which drew 400 participants. The latter event served as a milestone, bridging past projects with the next iteration of the EU-funded initiative, Interreg VI-A 2021-2027.
Interreg’s impact has not gone unnoticed. Among its successes, the “Crossmoby” project—an effort to enhance sustainable mobility—earned recognition in 2021 for its contributions to cross-border transportation networks.
As Europe moves toward its next phase of regional development, officials say the lessons learned from Interreg Slovenia 2014-2020 will guide future investments in sustainable innovation and cooperation. With new funding rounds on the horizon, both Italy and Slovenia are poised to build upon a decade of collaboration, reinforcing the shared economic and environmental ties that bind them.
