Cooperation

Balkans: Still many obstacles to regional economic cooperation

23/04/2024 -  Gentiola Madhi

Regional economic cooperation has turned into the headline of EU-Balkans relations in the last months. But what’s the situation today in the Balkans? An interview with Nenad Đurđević, advisor to the President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Head of the Regional Council for Strategic and Policy Initiatives

“Green” airports: the goal of Puglia, Albania and Montenegro

28/02/2024 -  Paola Rosà

An Interreg cross-border cooperation project to reduce CO2 emissions at all levels, from aircraft engines to plastic consumption on the ground, has produced a practical handbook. We interviewed two of the main managers, Anita Maurodinoia and Vito Antonio Antonacci

Italy-Slovenia: the joyful construction of GO!2025

28/06/2023 -  Paola Rosà

In less than two years, Gorizia and Nova Gorica will be together the European Capital of Culture. We met Gorazd Božič, director of GO!2025

Islands in Croatia: Otra, development agency

20/04/2023 -  Nicole CorritoreDavide Sighele Cres

In Cres and nearby Losinj there are many territorial development projects that can be promoted thanks to the support of the European Union. But nothing could be done without those who care about the future of local communities

Greece and Turkey, disaster diplomacy

13/03/2023 -  Mary Drosopoulos Thessaloniki

Relations between Greece and Turkey have deteriorated steadily in recent years, leading to fears of a clash between the two countries. The earthquake that devastated Turkey on February 6, however, has opened up new spaces for solidarity and dialogue

Gorizia-Nova Gorica: the concrete and revolutionary utopia of EGTC GO

29/03/2023 -  Paola Rosà

EGTC GO is a European group of territorial cooperation: a tool shared between municipalities to experience territories, overcoming and transforming borders

The Salute Zdravstvo project, a cross-border story

06/03/2023 -  Paola Rosà

Autism, cross-border CUP, services for pregnant women: healthcare between Italy and Slovenia. An interview

Trieste is beautiful at night

03/03/2023 -  Nicole Corritore

In Trieste, the border between Italy and Slovenia crosses the Carso. For some it is a dream territory, for others a nightmare. Interview with Matteo Calore, Stefano Collizzolli, Andrea Segre – the directors of the documentary "Trieste è bella di notte", premiered at the Trieste Film Festival

European cities, the frontier of cohesion

22/12/2022 -  Gentiola Madhi

How to ensure that cities are places of rights and quality of life and not of division and marginalisation? European institutions, through cohesion policy, are trying to find solutions

Rivers of the Balkans: the Kupa and barbed wire

21/12/2022 -  Giovanni Vale

Second episode of our reportage along the Kupa. The shock of the border in 1991, the shock of barbed wire in 2015. Yet, some are not giving up

Start-ups in Albania: a young but promising ecosystem

29/11/2022 -  Serena Epis

The start-up sector in Albania is relatively young, yet it has big innovation potential, especially in the ICT industry. An interview with Arjan Ymer, director of the business incubator Oficina

Crossing borders with data journalism

14/11/2022 -  OBCT's data team

EDJNet, the European data journalism network coordinated by OBC Transeuropa, turns five. A first assessment of this experience aimed at developing the European public sphere

Fair farming, Emilia Romagna and northern Albania

25/11/2022 -  Davide Sighele

RuralAlbania, a project to support small agricultural producers in northern Albania, started in September. It follows up on strong preexisting relationships, and one of the first initiatives was a study visit

The EU cohesion policy has been allocated 392 billion Euros for 2021-2027: ready to go?

02/09/2022 -  Gentiola Madhi

Over the past year, many EU countries have signed partnership agreements with the European Commission for cohesion. What is it about? How are the countries of Southeast Europe doing?

Cyprus: halloumi diplomacy

16/08/2022 -  Mary Drosopoulos Nicosia

In Cyprus, cooperating across the lines that divide Greeks and Turks is always complicated. Also thanks to EU intervention, however, halloumi cheese – one of the symbols of the island – is once again a heritage shared by the two communities

Cohesion policies in Europe: 31.5 billion Euros for Romania

25/08/2022 -  Laura Girardi

18 EU countries, including Romania, have already signed a partnership agreement with the European Commission for cohesion funds. Now the country can work on individual programmes

Montana174: stories of mountains and cooperation

31/05/2022 -  Pietro Casa

The Montana174 project shared a series of video testimonials on how the support of the European Union through cohesion policies has made a difference for many who live in the mountains

Cycling in the Amazon of Europe

24/05/2022 -  Marco Ranocchiari

The Amazon of Europe bike trail makes it possible to cycle over 1000 km along a cycle path that winds between rivers and forests, from Austria to Serbia

Wood for heating: REGEA's challenge, between ecological transition and regional development

24/05/2022 -  Nicola Zordan

The Croatian Regional Energy Agency (REGEA) has been working for several years along the cross-border area between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the dual objective of decarbonising the region and creating a competitive local market. “Environmental issues know no border”, says REGEA's Tamara Lisnjic Lang

Cohesion funds: what do they do for migrants and refugees?

21/04/2022 -  Klaudijo Klaser

With the EU facing the challenge of giving shelter to millions of displaced people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine, it is useful to see what, in the context of cohesion policies, has been done on the issue of reception and development in recent years

European macro-regions: digitalisation and data sharing for safer and more sustainable maritime transport

17/03/2022 -  Serena Epis

Digitalisation and technological innovation are key to the development of the European maritime industry. Digital services for communicating data and information are increasingly essential to ensure better connectivity and safer, more sustainable navigation in European waters

Water, a common plan for the two shores of the Adriatic

22/03/2022 -  Marco Ranocchiari

"The Adriatic is the final common destination of the waters of the whole region, and therefore must be safeguarded with a common method and as a common good". The CrossWater project looks to the two Adriatic shores and the sustainable management of water services

Adriatic-Ionian Region: in search of ecological corridors

27/01/2022 -  Maria Francesca Rita

Green infrastructure, ecological corridors. What are they and how could they contribute to improving the environment in the Adriatic-Ionian region? We talked about it with Senad Oprasic, head of the environmental protection department of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina and coordinator of one of the thematic areas of EUSAIR

Early childhood in Kosovo: learning from food

18/01/2022 -  Davide Sighele

Food is culture, memory but also chemistry, anthropology, mathematics. And kitchens can – and should – be the focus of the educational project of preschools. We interviewed Paola Cavazzoni, managing director of Pause Atelier dei Sapori, after her experience in Kosovo

EU cohesion: the great erasure of gender equality

11/01/2022 -  Gentiola Madhi

The pandemic has accentuated the gender inequalities existing in the EU member states. Things were never great, but an analysis of the last financial period 2014-2020 of cohesion policies highlights how little has been done in this field

Cooperation between territories to relaunch enlargement to the Western Balkans

04/01/2022 -  Serena Epis

How can the macro-regional strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR) facilitate enlargement to the Western Balkans? This was discussed in a webinar last October

Sharing knowledge to protect the Adriatic and the Ionian Sea

13/12/2021 -  Serena Epis

"Candidate countries for EU accession work really hard and they have the knowledge, but the experience of partner institutions from EU members is invaluable". When transnational networks help European integration. An interview

Solidarity with Bihac and the importance of transnational ties

28/09/2021 -  Chiara Martini*

Since 2018, many associations, international grassroots movements, and informal groups have taken action to support people in transit along the Balkan route. They stress the need for networking to counter the increasingly widespread criminalisation of organisations in solidarity with migrants

Serbia: the government's hypocritical dialogue with civil society

14/09/2021 -  Vukašin Obradović

"It makes no sense for civil society to spend time helping the state devise a strategy that will never be applied. In a country where the rule of law does not exist, there is no point in adopting new laws and strategies". A meeting with Maja Stojanovic, director of Građanske inicijative

From Sicily to Greece, a dream on pedals

09/08/2021 -  Maria Francesca Rita

The EUSAIR macro-regional strategy has approved a project for the construction of a bike route that will cross all the countries bordering the Adriatic-Ionian basin. It will be called Adrioncycletour and will integrate the bike paths of nine European countries into a single network