The high level of participation shows once again the dynamism of the Adriatic-Ionian area, a region comprised of a wide range of stakeholders aiming at building synergies and working together to increase regional development.

The overall call budget is of ca. EUR 34,3 million, out of which EUR 29,2 million of ERDF fund and EUR 5,1 million of IPA II fund. The allocated resources will be distributed across two specific objectives under the Priority Axis 2 “Sustainable Region” covering cultural and natural heritage, environmental sustainability linked to tourism, disaster risk reduction and nature conservation.

The specific objective 2.1 on the promotion of natural and cultural heritage proved to be a topic of great interest with 125 applications received, whereas 61 project proposals were addressed to the specific objective 2.2 dedicated to environmental vulnerability and prevention to natural hazards. As lead partner, Italy stands out in terms of interest shown with overall 96 project proposals submitted, followed by Greece with 50 applications, Slovenia with 24 and Croatia with 16 project proposals presented.

The submitted applications will undergo eligibility checks and full assessment in the next months, further to that the best transnational projects will be approved for funding by the Monitoring Committee and start to implement their activities.

The Adrion Programme launched the opening of the 2nd Call for Proposals on 26 March through two main events held in Tirana and Zagreb as well as Info Days organized by National Contact Points in each Partner State. Interested parties had also the opportunity to search for partners through dedicated on line forums.

Since its start, the Programme has already funded 34 projects in the frame of the 1st Call for Proposals for an overall contribution of MEUR 36,9 EU co-financing. The selected projects are currently implementing their activities in the sector of blue growth, innovation and sustainability in the field of tourism and agro-food, clean environmental technologies and innovative products and processes. Moreover, ADRION has also approved the strategic project EUSAIR Facility Point to support the governance of the Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Region (EUSAIR) for a total amount of 9,7 MEUR EU co-financing.

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