Project Title:

Project type: cross-border

Duration of project: 1.9. 2017-31. 8. 2020

Financing: The project is implemented under the Operational Program for Cross-border Cooperation Interreg V-A Slovenia-Austria 2014-2020 and is co-financed by the EU under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Head of the project at SRC Bistra Ptuj: Nataša Mršek

Partners:

Die Oststeirische Städtekooperation - a leading partner (Bad Radkersburg, Fehring, Feldbach, Friedberg, Fürstenfeld, Gleisdorf, Hartberg, Weiz)

Scientific Research Centre Bistra Ptuj (Lenart, Ormož, Ptuj)

Development center Murska Sobota (Beltinci, Lendava, Murska Sobota)

PORA Development Agency Gornja Radgona (Gornja Radgona, Ljutomer, Radenci)

Project goals:

The main objective of the project is to strengthen the cities in the cross-border region of Slovenia - Hungary - Austria as the most important drivers of cross - border polycentric development, which is oriented towards growth. This means that the coordination, further development and communication of individual partner cities, which are individually profiled and which are recognized by the lighthouses of the region and the entire cooperation, is pursued. Cities will strengthen the joint development and implementation of innovative, customer-centric systems for customer acquisition and consumption, which is a strategy to overcome the current challenges, including digital change. The cities of polycentric structured regions strive for a completely new interaction between cities, the economy and the public. These interactions lead to more intense networking between groups of actors within the city and between cities. The planned strengthening of cities as well as networking generally have a positive impact on the development of the region.

Results:

Multilayered contributions to a program-specific result (improving cooperation between municipalities and citizens within the cross-border region):

1. The visibility of cities is conditioned by the largest proportion of citizens' participation. The already inaugural conference pursues the goal of presenting internationally relevant expertise to as many stakeholders as possible in all cities. Within the pilot activities, citizens will be included, so that potentially all residents of cities can participate in the activities, thereby increasing the visibility of the cooperation.
2. The acquisition and purchasing instruments increase regional revenue and are aimed at citizens. The role of cities as innovative service providers for businesses and residents will increase.
3. The results of the project will be directly accessible to all residents through communication. A common communication strategy will be based on the available media and will enable sustainable networking.