As part of the #EURegionsWeek, this workshop will address cooperation for sustainability with a double approach, covering the implementation of green mobility between neighbouring Italy and Slovenia and the challenge of conserving biodiversity faced by five different cross-border projects.   One approach focuses on the contribution of CROSSMOBY and FORTIS, projects under the Interreg V-A Italy-Slovenia programme, to greening mobility between Italy and Slovenia.

Boosting cross-border regions through better transport systems is the aim of the initiatives being implemented, and the results can also be seen in terms of their concrete impact on citizens and tourists. The workshop will discuss the pilot actions and synergies of the two projects by sharing their main achievements and best practices for sustainable urban development at the cross-border level. One example is the new Udine-Trieste-Ljubljana passenger rail service and its role in bike-train intermodality; a new approach to mobility planning linked to the improvement of public transport and a strategic vision of cross-border connectivity.

The other approach will address the challenge of conserving and restoring biotic diversity for future generations and raising awareness of the impact nature has on the wellbeing of humans, by presenting 5 different cross-border projects that have an innovative and inclusive approach to biodiversity and geodiversity conservation. Practical and efficient actions being undertaken to improve cross-border cooperation for protecting biodiversity and raising people's awareness will be presented. Biodiversity loss and the climate crisis are interdependent and do not stop at Member States' borders. Restoring forests, soils and wetlands and creating green spaces in cities is essential to achieving the climate change mitigation needed by 2030.

These five projects showcase new opportunities for society to change its attitude gradually but permanently to nature protection and conservation. It is time to fix our broken relationship with nature. Climate change, loss of biodiversity, and the spread of devastating pandemics demand nothing less.