AEBR in the European Week of Regions and Cities 2023
AEBR co-organised various workshops and participated in other CBC-related events during the European Week of Regions and Cities (EWRC) in Brussels on 10-12 October 2023. This year the presence of CBC was very visible.
10 October, 9:30, Committee of the Regions, How to reduce the gap between capital regions and the rest, in collaboration with ORU-FOGAR. With the participation of Satu Sikanen, Regional Mayor of South Karelia (FI), Eleni Marianou, Secretary General of the CPMR; Ignasi Centelles, representative of Catalonia to the EU; and Martín Guillermo, AEBR SG. Moderation: Carles Llorens, Secretary General of ORU-FOGAR. The 2022 EU Regional Competitiveness Index (RCI) shows that, in most European countries, there is a large gap between the capital region and the rest. ORU Fogar wanted to highlight the need to reinforce territorial balance policies within the most centralised states.
10 October, 11:30, Square Conference Centre, AEBR SG moderated a Policy Lab on Small Rural Places Matter, an ESPON/Territorial Agenda (TA2030) initiative to promote sparse-populated rural areas, particularly in border regions, promoted by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development of Norway, with the participation of the German Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building, the consultancy company E40, Spatial Foresight/Radboud University, the Municipality of Ostana (IT), the Municipality of Stanz (AT), the Raudanmaa Village Association (FI), the Norwegian Centre for Rural Development, and the Innlandent County Council (NO).
10 October, 11:30, Square Conference Centre, workshop on Social inclusion of young migrants through sport at local level. This session was led by the Rubí City Council and moderated by Ana Nicolov, Director of the Institute for International and Cross Border Cooperation and Coordinator of AEBR Balkans. Moisés Rodríguez, Deputy Mayor of Rubí, presented its involvement in various EU-funded projects to promote the innovative social inclusion of young migrants and refugees through sport, as well as Bart Porskamp, Deputy Mayor of Oost Gelre (Gelderland, NL). Teodora Pletosu, UEFA representative, presented its innovative social impact investment models, enabling grassroots sports clubs to deliver lasting social benefits. And AEBR discussed the importance of cross-border cooperation and sport as drivers of integration through examples from the Balkans area.
10 October, 14:00, European Parliament, More Europe in Cross-Border Regions Conference, organised by MEP Matjáz Nemec, who invited EU Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmidt, Aleksander Jevsek, Minister for Cohesion and Regional Development of Slovenia, MEP Sandro Gozi (Rapporteur on the BRIDGEU proposal), Themis Christophidou, DG of DG REGIO, Kitti Dubniczki, CESCI Director, and Martín Guillermo, AEBR SG, to discuss main concerns for citizens living in border regions and how to achieve more Europe in cross-border regions.
10 October, 14:30, Committee of the Regions, A cross-border European Capital of Culture: new challenges for cohesion policy. Cinzia Dellagiacoma, Project Administrator at the AEBR, moderated a series of presentations by Romina Kocina, EGTC GO’s CEO, involving the municipalities Gorizia, Nova Gorica and Šempeter-Vrtojba, Barbara Zilli, Administrator at the Friuli Venezia Giulia Autonomous Region, and Aleksander Jevšek, Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development of Slovenia. Nova Gorica (SI) and Gorizia (IT) jointly won the title of ECOC 2025, making it the first time this title is truly cross-border. To meet the joint challenge, EGTC GO was entrusted as the sole beneficiary, and the European Parliament 2021-2027 resources from different funds were combined. Thanks to European regulations, it was possible to build an integrated program for funds. However, there are still administrative barriers that cannot be solved without new regulatory interventions. With b-solutions, among other initiatives, we have worked on a few of them.
10 October, 16:30, Committee of the Regions, Overcoming cross-border obstacles: apprenticeship and recognition of qualifications, in collaboration with Nouvelle Aquitaine- Euskadi-Navarre Euroregion (NAEN). Through this session, Leyre Azcona, Project manager at the EGTC Euroregion Nouvelle-Aquitaine Euskadi Navarra (NAEN), Isabelle Boudineau, Representative at the CoR of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region, and Nuno Almeida, Director of the Galicia Norte Portugal EGTC, moderated by AEBR Secretary General Martín Guillermo Ramírez, exchanged on the solutions to raise those barriers, highlighting the methodology developed for mobility leading to certification in the automotive sector between France and Spain (Interreg Forma NAEN project), as well as the implementation of cross-border dual training between Northern Portugal and Galicia (a b-solutions case).
11 October, 16:30, Square Conference Centre, Thematic Session Breaking barriers to CBC. Jennifer Baker moderated a session with presentations by Martín Guillermo Ramirez, AEBR Secretary-General, Andriy Sadovyi, Mayor of Lviv, Paolo Petiziol, President of EGTC GO, Director Slawomir Tokarski, DG Regio, Renato Reis, Coordinator of the Extrusion, Compounding and Advanced Materials, PIEP (Centre for Innovation in Polymer Engineering) – presenting the Valornature project, and Florian Lochner, EU HealthAcross Project Manager. The session showcased how cooperation across borders removes barriers and unlocks new opportunities for inhabitants living in regions on an EU internal or external border, including neighbouring countries. The speakers demonstrated how cooperation —funded by Interreg— makes the lives of citizens in their territories easier and better. The audience also had the possibility to directly address questions, and two speakers (projects) showed their experiences and perspectives for the future. The conclusions of the sessions were presented at the final Ceremony of the #EURegionsWeek.
11 October, 16:30, Square Conference Centre, Breaking barriers to tourism CBC at EU external borders. The workshop brought Nathalie Verschelde, Deputy head of unit at the European Commission’s DG REGIO, Kristian Futac, Representative of the Interreg VI-A IPA CBC Croatia-Bosnia and Herzegovina-Montenegro Programme, and Eszter Csokasi, Director of the Danube–Criș–Mureș–Tisa (DKMT) Euroregion, moderated by Ana Nikolov, Director of the Institute for International and Cross Border Cooperation in Belgrade and Coordinator of AEBR Balkan. They exchanged views about border regions’ challenges, open possibilities, best practices, and ways to break down barriers to cross-border tourism cooperation at EU external borders with IPA countries.
12 October, 11:30, Square Conference Centre, Cross-border teleworking: challenges, opportunities and impacts. AEBR Secretary General moderated a session with Frédéric Siebenhaar, Project manager at EGTC Eurodistrict Pamina, Annmarie O’Kane, Project manager at the Centre for Cross Border Studies in Armagh, Aurélien Biscaut,
AEBR was also be present with stands on the b-solutions and the Interreg Volunteer Youth initiatives at the SQUARE Brussels Meeting Centre, Agora Village:
Breaking legal barriers to cross-border cooperation with b-solutions. Legal and administrative obstacles hinder cross-border cooperation and impede the territorial development of border regions. The b-solutions initiative addresses such obstacles with the aim of supporting actors of cooperation thanks to tailored advice. Visitors to the b-solutions‘ interactive stand learned about strategies to solve obstacles hindering cooperation across borders and discovered how to receive advice. They could also explore solutions to common obstacles to help their border region better integrate into the Single Marke
Interreg volunteers for regional development. Over 800 people are part of the Interreg Volunteer Youth (IVY) programme. They enthusiastically support and promote European territorial cooperation and its benefits. Visitors can meet volunteers who dedicate time and competence to projects fostering regional development. They can also be inspired by how they connect with people who share their passion and mission and learn how to promote sustainable growth, effective territorial cooperation, and social innovation together with IVY volunteers.
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