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The second AII Committee of Senior Officials under Montenegrin Chairmanship took place in Brussels on February 20 back-to-back with the first session of the 9th EUSAIR Governing Board.
After a brief report on the meeting of AII Troika plus Permanent Secretariat held in Tivat on February 7, AII Senior Officials discussed about the achievements of the Presidency up to now and the planned activities until the end of the Presidency in May.
The Montenegrin Chairmanship presented to the CSO a productive calendar of upcoming activities that foresees:
- Round Table on Transport and Energy Connections;
- Round Table on Environmental Protection;
- Round Table on Tourism and Culture, back-to-back with the meeting of EUSAIR TSG 4;
- Round Table on Inter-University cooperation;
- Regional Conference on prevention of corruption;
- Ministerial Conference on Youth in cooperation with the OSCE Mission to Montenegro;
- 16th Conference of the Speakers of Parliaments in Budva on 18-19 of March;
- Second Joint Conference of the Fora of the Adriatic and Ionian Chambers of Commerce, Cities and Universities to be held in Budva on 6-8 May, organized by the Montenegro Chamber of Commerce;
- III Committee of the AII Senior Officials (Budva, 6-7 May);
- Adriatic and Ionian Council (Budva, 8 May).
Further topics discussed were the next Adriatic and Ionian Council/EUSAIR Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting, which will be held in Budva on 6-8 of May 2019 and the preparation of the Budva Declaration.
The Chairmanship together with AII Secretary General Amb. Castellaneta also informed Senior Officials about the official request by the Republic of San Marino to join the AII.
The agreed minutes of the CSO will follow shortly.
The 9th Meeting of the EUSAIR Governing Board took place in Brussels on 20-21 February 2019.
This meeting was a milestone also because of the invitation of the Republic of North Macedonia, which was warmly welcomed by its neighbouring country Greece.
Regarding the core of the EUSAIR GB, the discussion on a follow-up of the Catania Declaration and the upcoming 4th EUSAIR Forum needs to be highlighted.
Launch of the 2nd ADRION call for Axes 1 and 3 was also announced by ADRION Programme together with the EUSAIR Stakeholder Platform by the Marche Region.
Furthermore, Amb. Castellaneta took the floor to report on the meeting of the CSO held the previous day and on the outcome of the Joint Conference – Fora of the Adriatic and Ionian Chambers of Commerce, Cities and Universities (16-18 October 2018, Split).
Further information regarding the EUSAIR GB can be found at the following link: https://www.adriatic-ionian.eu/2019/02/22/milestones-of-the-9th-eusair-governing-board-meeting/
The first “AII Troika plus AII Permanent Secretariat” meeting took place in Tivat (Montenegro) on February 7, 2019, organized by the AII Montenegrin Chairmanship.
During the working meeting, which saw the participation of representatives of past, present and future AII Chairmanships (Italy, Montenegro, Serbia) the following topics have been discussed:
- Information regarding recent events under the Montenegrin Presidency
- Calendar of the upcoming activities and organization of forthcoming events
- Adriatic and Ionian Council (Budva, 6-8 May)
- Preparation of Budva Declaration
- Ad hoc areas of cooperation (youth, anticorruption, migration)
- Strengthening cooperation with regional initiatives/organizations
Furthermore, the AII Permanent Secretariat together with the Montenegrin Chairmanship had the occasion to meet the Major of Tivat, Prof. Dr. Siniša Kusovac, which expressed his interest for the inclusion of the City of Tivat in the Forum of the Adriatic and Ionian Cities. The second Joint Conference of Civil Society Fora (Chambers of Commerce, Cities and Universities), which will be held in Budva on May 6-8, will be in this regard a great opportunity for the Municipality of Tivat to meet and discuss on the official joining of the Forum.
The Heads of Government of the Central European Initiative (CEI) Member States met in Zagreb on 3-4 December 2018 for their annual Summit - the top political event in the framework of the Initiative. Under the guidance of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Andrej Plenković, they discussed current challenges the region is facing in the context of the topic “Building Security, Boosting Economy, Enabling Prosperity”.
In this context, Heads of Government had the chance to single out their countries’ individual concerns and approaches, but also the necessary common actions aimed at cohesion and solidarity among them while addressing open issues. In a time of crucial challenges such as the migration crisis, tensions in the Balkans, risks for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of a Member State, it was important to "leave the emotions behind and work together for a brighter future”, as expressed by several speakers. Indeed, the problem faced by Italy with the migrants using the Mediterranean route, and also of the Balkans with the routes crossing it, the breaking of the norms and principles of international law regarding Ukraine, but also the brain drain, climate change and so on, were all mentioned as issues requesting a joint approach trough "regional cooperation".
AII Secretary General, Amb. Giovanni Castellaneta was also invited to participate to the meeting as representative of a regional organization, clearly sharing the same objectives as the Central European Initiative, namely to facilitate the integration process and to promote economic growth and prosperity in the region through concrete cooperation activities. In this regard, AII SG highlighted how there is room for synergies and for exchanging information and experiences between our intergovernmental / multilateral initiatives, especially on new issues like migration and unaccompanied children, starting with a process of bottom-up involvement of representatives of Civil Society (Municipalities, Universities, Chambers of Commerce) that the AII has always promoted. He further acknowledged the appointment of Sen. Roberto Antonione as new Secretary General of the CEI-Executive Secretariat as of 1 January 2019 and wished him a successful mandate. Amb. Castellaneta also thanked the outgoing CEI Secretary General Amb. Giovanni Caracciolo di Vietri for the excellent work carried out during his two mandates.
The gathering also witnessed the adoption of the revised CEI Guidelines and Rules of Procedure and endorsed the Interim Implementation Report 2018 of the CEI Plan of Action 2018-2020.
The meeting concluded with the formal transfer of the CEI Presidency to Italy, to be effective as of 1 January 2019. Represented by the Minister of Regional Affairs and Autonomies, Erika Stefani, Italy reiterated its further commitment and announced some of the priorities of its Presidency, i.e. connectivity, good governance and the rule of law, intercultural cooperation, science diplomacy.
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AII Secretary General Amb. Castellaneta – CEI Summit Statement
The main purpose of the Ecapital Culture – Adriatic Start-up School project is the economic development of cultural tourism in the Adriatic–Ionian Macro Region, throughout the creativity and resourcefulness of young people who want to set up a business.
The project ECAPITAL CULTURE – Adriatic Start up School takes inspiration from ECAPITAL – Business Plan Competition, which since 17 years promotes the creation of innovative enterprises in the Marche region (Italy), involving young university students in the launch of business projects. More than 100 enterprises were born thanks to this project, involving more than 500 young workers.
Ecapital Culture is a training path oriented to the development of innovative start-up working in the cultural tourism field and aimed to enhance the cultural heritage of the Adriatic-Ionian Macro Region. The primary objective of the project is to create the conditions so that the young people, making use of their skills and their creativity, can achieve their own business idea. The project represents a real opportunity to develop the economy of this area and to increase professional employment with start-up creation.
The third edition of the project, promoted and financed by the Marche Foundation, Marche Region, Marche Chamber of Commerce, Marche Polytechnic University and the Municipality of Ancona, is a great opportunity for young future entrepreneurs, who will have the opportunity to attend the School in Ancona for 2 months (from the 6th of May 2019 to the 28th of June 2019); enrolment in the School (for all students) and permanence in Ancona (for non-Marche students) will be totally free, thanks to the scholarships made available by the Marche Foundation and the project partners.
The call for ideas is addressed to 20 young people, especially from the 8 countries of the Adriatic-Ionian Macro Region (including Adriatic Regions in Italy and excluding people coming from the Marche region in Italy, who will be object of a different dedicated Call).
The Calls will be open from the 15th of January 2019 to the 17th of March 2019 while the training will take place at the Mole Vanvitelliana, Ancona from 6th of May to 28th of June 2019.
The selected candidates will attend a 8-weeks training course, aimed at developing the skills for the realization of a Business Plan in the cultural field and the creation of a start-up for the enhancement of the cultural heritage of the Adriatic-Ionian Macro Region area. The training course includes lectures, workshops, case histories and studios on the following areas: development and implementation of the business plan, enhancement techniques for a start-up project, cultural planning and launching a start-up. Tutors will be available to participants on a daily basis to support the development of their business idea, search for data and information and the planning process. For all participants assistance in identifying potential financial partners for the realization of the business projects is also provided.
For detailed information on how to apply check the website www.startupschool.ecapital.it and read carefully the presentation brochure attached.
The Training Workshop on Creative and Cultural industries in the EUSAIR area - “Adriatic Start-up School” model, organized by the Forum of the Adriatic and Ionian Chambers of Commerce in collaboration with Durres Chamber of Commerce, took place on November 21 in Tirana, at Tirana International Conference Centre.
The main aim of the initiative was to support the dialogue in the field of culture by identifying issues of common interest and sharing excellence and best practices to support artistic entrepreneurship, creative start-ups and contemporary art festivals in the EUSAIR Area.
The opening session saw the participation of relevant institutional actors, including Amb. Fabio Pigliapoco, Senior Advisor of the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative, who highlighted the importance of such Initiative and the support given by the AII Permanent Secretariat to disseminate and promote the project “E-capital – Start-up school”, which has great potential to develop competitive and innovative creative and cultural industries, benefiting a wide range of stakeholders in the Adriatic Ionian Region.
A better knowledge of the opportunities offered, together with a reinforced dialogue in the field of culture by identifying issues of common interest and sharing excellence and best practises to support artistic entrepreneurship, creative start-ups and contemporary art festivals, would indeed enable decision and policy-makers to propose better tools for the encouragement of job creation and employment.
The event was attended by more than 70 professionals and students, mainly from Agricultural University of Tirana and Elbasan University, as well as participants from Italy and representatives of the European Institutions.Please find here the final agenda of the event.
The Training workshop took place within a two-day Forum on EU Policies and EU Territorial Cooperation Opportunities focused on Technology, Innovation and Youth in the Adriatic-Ionian area, in the framework of the AI-NURECC initiative. Ms Vana Vojinović, Director of Directorate for Regional and other International Initiatives -Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro – took the floor in the first morning session named “Macro-Regional Strategies: between the Present and the Future of the European Policies” (agenda) describing the state of play and initiatives taken up by the Montenegrin Chairmanship of the Adriatic Ionian Initiative.
For further information, please visit the AIC Forum website: http://www.forumaic.org/creative-and-cultural-industries-in-the-eusair-area-ai-nurecc-training-workshop-on-cci-start-up-adriatic-start-up-school-model/
