‘The projects presented represent important steps that will contribute to making the European Capital of Culture Nova Gorica-Gorizia 2025 even more attractive and full of events and experiences. But they are also the litmus test of a great commitment that sums up the history of this territory, which has succeeded in exploiting borders as an opportunity; we are thus destined to be a model for the great territorial cooperation capacities that we have demonstrated’.

This was said by the Regional Councillor for Finance, Barbara Zilli, in Gorizia, speaking at the presentation of the ‘Fund for small projects GO!2025: first results and new opportunities for the cross-border territory Interreg Italy-Slovenia Programme 2021-2027’ in the auditorium of the Friulian Culture. This was the first public meeting where the 44 projects financed by the first SPF call GO! 2025, which closed in 2023, were presented.

The projects range from film culture to fairy tales, from passive bilingualism and haute cuisine to wine and theatre, a tangible demonstration of the variety and creativity that will be poured into the area through the more than 350 events, some already underway, others planned. The projects will also contribute to the training of over a thousand people on the proposed topics, thus leaving an imprint on the professionalism of cross-border citizens.

The event was attended, among others, by the president of Gect Go Paolo Petiziol with the mayors of Gorizia and Nova Gorica, Rodolfo Ziberna and Samo Turel respectively.

‘The GO!2025 Small Projects Fund,’ explained the councillor, ’draws on the Interreg VI-A Italy-Slovenia 2021-2027 Programme for about EUR 4.5 million and, for the first call, has received further funding of EUR 3.2 million from the Region. Out of the total resources, amounting to EUR 7.7 million, the Fund can therefore count on substantial regional funding because we are convinced of the importance of investing in cross-border cooperation. We believe this is a significant opportunity, not only to give even more value to the European Capital of Culture through these experiences, but above all to contribute to a strong growth of the area, creating job opportunities for young people who will want to continue living here. The projects presented today are virtuous examples, stable opportunities for development, so much so that we proudly consider them great projects for the cross-border area'.

‘This event is going to be for border people from all over Europe an example of how it is possible to create, even with tesserae of different colours and sizes, a jigsaw puzzle that reproduces the features of a territory that opens up to the challenges of the future, especially through the curious and attentive eyes of the many young people who will visit Gorizia, Nova Gorica and our entire region,’ concluded Zilli.

Culture and territory are the two major thematic areas into which the EGTC GO team has divided the 44 funded projects. Further subcategories revolve around the topics of cinema, film and cartoon production; museums and cultural heritage; theatre, performance and dance; music; language and cultural promotion. The theme of the region, on the other hand, focuses on three sub-categories: food and wine, tourism and sport. More than 350 events are planned, of which about 230 for the culture cluster and about 120 for the territory cluster. The sub-category with the largest number of events planned, 130, is that of theatre, entertainment and dance, while projects with the theme of tourism involve the organisation of almost 100 events. The record for the largest number of people trained, on the other hand, is expected from the category of projects relating to museums and cultural heritage: more than 300.Sono intervenuti raccontando la propria esperienza progettuale anche alcuni diretti interessati, ovvero i rappresentanti dei progetti Borderless Generation Audiovisual Festival, Pre?kanja-Sconfinamenti, Walk2Spirit e GO! Pasta.

The Director of the EGTC GO Romina Kocina and Deputy Director Tomaž Konrad then gave a structural overview of the GO!2025 Small Project Fund: in addition to the first call, which financed the 44 projects covered by today's event, it was the turn of the second call in 2024. On this occasion, 134 project proposals were received, of which 116 passed the administrative checks. The publication of the ranking list with the funded projects is expected next week.