Organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the first EGTC workshop of 2024 took place on 18-19 June 2024 at the St. Orbán Forest Hotel in Kóspallag. The EGTC workshop was hosted by Pontibus EGTC, which has implemented several innovative developments in the region over the past decade.
The technical programme started with the opening speech by Dr Balázs Loppert, Head of Unit of the Regional and Border Development Department. After a brief introduction of the participants, Attila Polák, Project Manager, presented Pontibus EGTC and its projects, including the RE-START Territorial Action Plan for Employment (TAPE). Zoltán Ujlaky, head of the Szob District Family and Child Welfare Centre, shared with the participants useful experiences gained during the implementation of the action plan.
The workshop programme then continued with two presentations closely related to sustainability issues. Firstly, Irén Márta, Executive Director of BCSDH, gave an informative presentation on the current situation and issues regarding the transformation towards economic circularity. Anita Petrucz, International Project Manager of LENERG Energy Agency Nonprofit Ltd presented the legal policy framework for energy communities.
The afternoon programme continued with a private working session, where the EGTCs had the opportunity to discuss the current activities and opportunities of the associations with Péter Kiss-Parciu, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The first day’s professional programme was closed by a video message from CESCI’s Secretary General Gyula Ocskay on the future of EU cohesion policy. In his message, he drew the attention of the EGTCs to the launch of the European Border Regions Platform, the possibility to join it and the multi-day event on cross-border cooperation in November 2024.
Mónika Simon, Project Manager of CESCI, gave an overview of the different resources available beyond the Interreg programmes.
The first day of the event ended with a team-building dinner, in line with the tradition of the EGTC workshops.
To start the second day of the workshop, Dr Katalin Fekete, CESCI’s legal expert, linked the presentations and information from the first day with the second day’s professional programme. She underlined that EGTCs need to be flexible in their approach to the ever-changing circumstances, open to innovative solutions and looking beyond the familiar framework. She then provided an insight into the world of smart specialisation strategies, starting with an overview of basic EU innovation concepts and moving on to the role that EGTCs can play in such cooperation processes. This was complemented in an organic way by a presentation by Péter Wolf, Project Manager of Pontibus EGTC, in which he outlined the ways and means by which an EGTC can be part of innovative value chains and the benefits that can be derived from this, based on the experiences from Pontibus’ international projects.
The technical programme was closed by Gabriella Solymosi-Dobi, Senior Advisor to the Government, Department for Regional and Border Development, with a summary of coordination information for the EGTCs.
Previous
EGTC-workshops
EGTC-workshop 2024/1 (Kóspallag)
18-19 June 2024
EGTC-Workshop 2023/2 (Nógrádgárdony)
7-8 December 2023.
EGTC-Workshop 2023/1 (Budapest)
29 March 2023
EGTC-Workshop 2022/2 (Ludányhalászi)
10-11 November 2022
Irén Márta’s
document and book
recommendations
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