Pannon EGTC

The first Interregional Partner Workshop of the UPSCALE-DDS project took place in Osijek, Croatia, on 4-5 November 2024.

The meeting was hosted by the Josip Juraj Strossmayer University in the old town of Osijek, Tvrđa district. During the two-day event, the participants discussed challenges and opportunities in the Danube-Drava-Sava (DDS) region, with a focus on international cooperation.

The first day opened with a welcome speech by Prof. Sonja Vila, Vice Rector of the University of Osijek. This was followed by a presentation on the city and university by project manager Martina Šuto. The objectives of the Interreg Danube Region Seed Money Facility programme were presented by Dr. Péter Merza, Director of the Pannon EGTC and Judit Kis-Pongrácz, Project Manager. Partners and experts presented their own border regions, highlighting the gaps and opportunities that the project addresses. The day closed with a presentation by Steffen Rubach, Executive Director of EUREGIO, on best practices in cross-border cooperation.

On the second day, an online stakeholder workshop took place, during which participants engaged in a lively discussion on the challenges and opportunities in the DDS region. The day also included a detailed presentation of the administrative and financial framework of the project, in preparation for the next thematic activities.

The workshop was complemented by a number of supporting documents, including agendas, presentations and recordings of the stakeholder meeting. As a result of the meeting, the Lead Partner (LP) of the project set a number of important tasks, including summarising the stakeholder discourse and completing the first level analysis of the DDS region.

The source of the news is available at this link.