First cross-border conference on social inclusion organised by EGTC GO on 13 May

First cross-border conference on social inclusion organised by EGTC GO on 13 May

The title of the first cross-border conference on social inclusion is "Solidarity has only one face" and it is organised by EGTC GO in cooperation with the municipalities of Gorizia, Nova Gorica and Šempeter-Vrtojba. This is the first meeting of Slovenian and Italian organisations operating in the area of the three municipalities, which represents a first step towards connecting local stakeholders working in favour of disadvantaged groups.

The event falls within the pilot action »social inclusion« of the project Salute-Zdravstvo "Construction of a network of cross-border health services" financed under the Interreg V-A Italy-Slovenia 2014-2020 programme. This action—carried out in cooperation with the three founding municipalities of the EGTC GO—provides for the construction of a network of cross-border social services for the inhabitants of the municipalities of Gorizia, Nova Gorica and Šempeter-Vrtojba, especially for disadvantaged groups. The result will be a cross-border protocol between the three municipalities laying down the joint delivery of social services by involving all service providers and private associations. Under this project, conferences and training courses will be organised for social service operators from these municipalities. Three info points will also be created to provide the inhabitants at large with information on existing services in the entire area and the possibilities for their use. By setting up a network of cross-border social services, Slovenians and Italians will be able to make use of these services in all three municipalities.

On 13 May, representatives of the three municipalities of EGTC GO, members of the Permanent Cross-Border Working Table established as part of the project, presented the social services in their territory to encourage the stakeholders to be actively involved in the joint cross-border project activities. After the conference, whose objective was also to gather information on the participants and any interest they might have in the cross-border cooperation, three thematic workshops will be held to set out the cooperation activities, as well as critical issues and possible solutions.

In 2018, the Cross-Border Working Table coordinated by EGTC GO prepared an analysis of social welfare services and programmes in the three municipalities and it is summarised in a booklet for the stakeholders, which was presented at the conference.