It was presented in Piazza San Marco, at the headquarters of the Council of Europe and as part of the National Festival of Sustainable Development 2023, the Adriatic Europe project that starts from Venice and includes the cities of Rovinj, Pula, Lussinpiccolo, Zadar, Rijeka and Nova Gorica/Gorizia. The sailing ship Nerezinac will act as the symbolic boat of the project, oriented by the objectives of Agenda 2030 UN, to create a cross-border programme of sustainability initiatives and events to create contemporary culture towards Nova Gorica and Gorizia European Capital of Culture 2025.

The 2023/2025 activity plan is guided by four key themes: A. Culture, Art and History (focus Central Europe Venice, Carso, Istria and Dalmatia); B. Education and Training (promotion of twinning schools in Italy, Slovenia, Croatia); C. Research and Engineering (focus on climate change/high water impacts in coastal cities); D. Quality Trade and Tourism (focus on promoting local excellence).

Among the activities characterizing the project there is the grand tour of the sea “muda adriatica”. As in the times of the Serenissima the trade convoy was organised, in our times the maritime caravan will be formed by boats of cultures in various expressive forms which will result in sailing exhibitions with creativity incubators dedicated to young people and the less young, events with music and light shows at sea. The aim will also be to promote and exchange excellent local products, quality tourism and twinning between high schools with young students in the role of creators. The water demonstration will start from Venice in June 2025 and will stop in the cities of Rovinj, Pula, Lussinpiccolo, Zadar and Rijeka. Online registrations for public and private boats are already open with membership proposals addressed to clubs and marinas in the Adriatic www.adriaticeurope.org/membership. A first meeting is planned soon in Lussinpiccolo sustainability study on a serious problem caused by the climate changesThe city of 7000 inhabitants is increasingly subject to the phenomenon of high waters.

Among the objectives of the project is the creation of a Sea Festival with focus on ports and climate change and also a ad hoc recipe book for a cross-border menu with exclusively local raw materials at km zero. All the contents produced with the project will then be summarized, exhibited, played and tasted in an ad hoc event that will be organized in Nova Gorica and Gorizia for the European Capital of Culture 2025.

The following people spoke at the project presentation:

• Luisella Pavan-Woolfe Director of the Italian office of the Council of Europe “The Adriatic Europe project is a fascinating journey to discover a sea that unites and regions and peoples that are an integral part of the construction of modern Europe, as a continent of exchanges, dialogue and rights, objectives for which the Council of Europe - an organisation that I have the honour of representing in Italy through its office in Venice - has been working on our continent for more than seventy years”;
• Victor Baroni author of the project with his father and grandparents exiled from Zadar "since January 900st of this year there are no more borders between Venice, the Carso, Istria and Dalmatia, we all have a single currency and our generations have the task of valorising the great Roman and Venetian Adriatic history, but also of healing the socio-cultural wounds of the XNUMXth century and of building bridges for a new future of European peace and prosperity";
• Massimiliano De Martin the Councilor of the Municipality of Venice “It is a 360-degree initiative, with many events that will not only retrace and strengthen the historic relationships between Venice and cities such as Rovinj, Pola, Lussinpiccolo, Zadar, Fiume and Gorizia, but will touch on various cultural, economic and environmental aspects, linked to them and to a common denominator, namely our Adriatic Sea. A sea that must be protected, together with its first inhabitants, namely the fish fauna, with clear, incisive environmental policies, in the name of sustainability”;
• Sanjin Zoretic President of the Italian Community of Lussinpiccolo and representing Ana Kučić Mayor of Lussinpiccolo “Venice and Lussinpiccolo are linked by centuries-old ties. This project connects three neighboring countries, three neighboring peoples who have lived together for centuries. Especially now that the idea of ​​a united Europe, without borders, has almost fully come to life, it is an opportunity for Italy, Slovenia and Croatia”;
• Maurizio Pozzato Vice President of the Order of Engineers of Venice “We joined the project because the history of Venetian engineering is physically and culturally linked to the cities and territories of the project, just think of the arsenals, the defensive and urban planning systems built on the model of Venice”;
• Andrea Rizzo Vice President of Ascom Confcommercio Venezia “Our association of Venetian businesses adheres to the project with the aim of bringing the proposal to the Chamber of Commerce in order to promote quality tourism with our excellent local and the exchange of typical products between the cities involved”.

Europa Adriatica is a cross-border project under the aegis of the Council of Europe, the collaboration of Nova Gorica and Gorizia European Capital of Culture 2025 and the Municipality of Venice. The Italian Union, the Order of Engineers of the Metropolitan City of Venice, Confcommercio Ascom Venezia, the Vittorio Cini Archive Foundation, the Municipality of Lussinpiccolo with the Italian Community, the Lussinpiccolo Tourist Board, the Rovinj High School, the Pula High School “Dante Alighieri”, the Technical Institute “Marinelli Fonte” Engim Veneto, the Laguna Cultural Center, the Triveneta Chiavi d'Oro Association have joined. Canella Bellini is the partner of taste. The adhesion of other important partners is being formalized.

Project site: https://adriaticeurope.org