The 17th Coordination Meeting of Regional Organizations took place in Ancona, Italy, on 5 December 2023, hosted by the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative (AII) Permanent Secretariat.

The Conference named “THE ADRIATIC-IONIAN REGION IS YOU(TH)! - Connecting the youth of the Adriatic-lonian Region will take place on 15-16 November 2023 in Split (University of Split, Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism), within the framework of the AII/EUSAIR Croatian Chairmanship.

The conference organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Croatia with the support of the AII Permanent Secretariat and the Split University will give you the opportunity to acquaint yourself with some of the leading youth organizations of the region, members of chambers of commerce, municipal authorities, universities and others stakeholders.

The aim of the Conference is to connect young people and youth organizations. Take a look at the agenda.

The Conference is free of charge and you are welcome to share this information, just bear in mind that the number of participants on site is limited.

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The first AII Committee of Senior Officials under Croatian Chairmanship took place in Dubrovnik and via videoconference on October 11, from 17.00 to 18.00 (CEST), at the end of the first session of the 21st EUSAIR Governing Board.

The Calendar of events and the priorities of the current year (1 June 2023 – 31 May 2024) of the AII Croatian Chairmanship were presented together with a Programme of activities of the Permanent Secretariat.

Senior Officials were also informed about the most recent events organized with the support of the AII Permanent Secretariat.

Amb. Pigliapoco reported to the EUSAIR GB on October 12 on the outcomes of the CSO held the previous day.

The Adriatic-Ionian Initiative Round Table on Development of Green Tourism Products and Balanced Tourism Development took place in Zagreb on October 25, 2023 within the framework of the AII/EUSAIR Croatian Chairmanship organized in cooperation with the Thematic Steering Group (TSG) 4 on Sustainable Tourism and the Ministry of Tourism and Sport of the Republic of Croatia.

Aim of the Round Table (Agenda) is to highlight the importance of developing green tourism products and achieving balanced approach to tourism development. The word balance has a positive significance that should fit in the tourism of the future and both people and the environment would benefit from such development.

Tourism development in the EUSAIR region lacks balance in several aspects: temporal and spatial imbalance of tourism activities, imbalanced distribution of burden between geographical areas, and a very distinct seasonal nature of business operation.

Many EUSAIR member states introduced new strategies and action plans that emphasize the importance of balancing between periods of high and low tourism season and the number of tourists and local residents, encourage new construction and renovating old buildings for tourism purpose. To have balance in life, we need to measure the ingridients. Today, we have different tools for maesuring balanced tourism. There is lots of data helping tourism destination managers, communities, business owners and policy makers to find the right measure for developing sustainable tourism thus society.

One of the priorities of Croatian Presidency of EUSAIR is promotion of the application of measurable indicators of sustainable tourism.

To achieve balanced tourism development EUSAIR region will focus on creating green tourism products defining green as responsible and sustainable.

Responsible management of tourism and tourist destination should remain one of the main priority goals of the Strategy.

We hope this round table will inspire our EUSAIR members in going forward in tourism, respecting the residents needs and protecting the environment for future generations.

The Adriatic Mediterranean Festival - the traditional late summer festival gathering in Ancona musicians, writers and artists coming from all over the Adriatic-Ionian Region and the Mediterranean – took place in Ancona from August 30 to September 3, organised with the support of the AII Permanent Secretariat.


This year's edition was dedicated to the country that holds the current AII Chairmanship, Croatia. Among the various events that recalled the history of the country, a meeting awarded the Adriatic Mediterranean Price to Mr. Joze Thomas, President of the Forum of the Adriatic Ionian Chambers of Commerce, in the acknowledgement of the work done with dedication and passion for the benefits of citizens and companies of the Adriatic and Ionian region.

The event participated by the Presidents and Secretary Generals of the three Fora of Civil Society and by Ms. Pansegrau Hadrović, as Chairman-in-office, shed light on the importance of regional cooperation and raised awareness on AII and EUSAIR among the many participants.