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Green transitions
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After a busy week in Brussels, the European Week of Regions and Cities 2025 has come to a close. Now in its 23rd year, the event was full of activity. More than 200 sessions, 300 speakers, and 6,000 participants from across Europe and beyond came together to share ideas and discuss regional development.
During the event we were proud to support three North Sea projects showcasing their activities and work hand in hand with our colleagues at the Transnational Programmes stand in the exhibition area.
This year’s theme, 'Shaping Tomorrow, Together,' captured the essence of the week with discussions focused on cohesion, growth, and the future of Europe’s regions.
As the Minister for Europe and Regional Development of Lower Saxony, Melanie Walter thoughtfully said during a panel discussion:
Europe is as strong as its regions.
Pulling the string of cooperation
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At the Transnational Programmes stand, one symbolic gesture said it all: pull a string, and a connection comes to life. The immersive installation visualised how cooperation weaves together people, regions, and ideas turning shared challenges into joint solutions. Hosted by 13 Interreg transnational programmes, the stand was a popular destintion for visitors.
Check out the joint paper jointly prepared by the 13 transnational programmes. Based on project examples - one per programme - the publication outlines how transnational cooperation builds solidarity and delivers change.
Spinning the wheel with Green Team
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The Green Team stand at #EWRC2025 was a hit, attracting delegates eager to learn more about the project.
Colleagues from the Green Team project stood proudly welcoming visitors to their stand. They did a great job of explaining how their project was making its mark by helping municipalities integrate climate adaptation into their operations. Visitors to the stand were also invited to explore becoming peers within a growing European learning community on climate-resilient governance.
Learn more about Green Team here.
Conversation: a powerful tool!
In the video below, Lenni Mertens, Project Lead for the Green Team from the Province of Antwerp, took time away from the stand to explain how the project's 'conversation starter' tool was helping cities mobilize internal departments to identify quick-win adaptation measures.
STORM_SAFE matters
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Yigal Levin and Natalie Oonk-Abrahams preparing to deliver their STORM_SAFE EURegionsTalk: Digital resilience when failure isn’t an option.
During their EURegionsTalk, the STORM_SAFE project presented how their work was strengthening and future-proofing the digital systems that play a vital role in Europe’s water infrastructure.
Yigal Levin and Natalie Oonk-Abrahams from Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch Agency for Public Works and Water Management gave an engaging presentation explaining how some critical water control systems, such as storm surge barriers, locks, and sluices, were heavily dependant on outdated software at risk of malfunction. They described to the audience how the project’s pilot activities were helping to strengthen the reliability of software for critical infrastructures.
Learn more about STORM_SAFE here.
Building Based on Biobased (BBoBB)
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As part of a panel discussion entittled Cohesion policy: a regional experience, Charlotte Strijbos, Project Manager for Building Based on BioBased (BBoBB) shared insights from the Province of Fryslân.
She presented the BBoBB experience and explained how cohesion policy accelerates the circular transition in Northern Netherlands by:
- Unlocking new opportunities for farmers and SMEs through bio-based construction materials
- Supporting a more sustainable construction sector
- Empowering municipalities and local actors to lead bottom-up change
Learn more about BBoBB here.
REGIOSTARS 2025: AGEO in the spotlight
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Six innovative EU-funded projects were honoured at the 2025 REGIOSTARS Awards held on the final evening of the event. With a record 266 applications from all over Europe, projects were recognized across five thematic categories, plus a Public Choice Award.
The project AGEO (Atlantic Geohazard Risk Management) truly stood out. Supported by Interreg Atlantic Area, AGEO focuses on geohazard risk management in the Atlantic region. The project garnered two awards, including the Public Choice Award with about 2,000 votes.
A huge congratulations to all the winners!
You can read more about the REGIOSTARS awards here.
Connecting the dots
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We found three of our NCPs at the Agora seating area waiting for the STORM_SAFE EURegionsTalk to get started.
Four of the programmes’ National Contact Points (NCPs) were present at #EURegionsWeek. They met with colleagues from other programmes, project partners, and took part in country-based bilateral meetings and sessions. It was wonderful to see familiar faces in Brussels, and as always, we are grateful for their continued support of the North Sea Programme and its projects.
From left to right: Robin Stenström (Sweden), Sandra Vandewiele (Belgium) and Darlène Ngavet (France).
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Connecting the dots with the North Sea Commission - and catching up on all things North Sea!
We also touched base with Safiya von Amsberg, from the North Sea Commission who was attending several sessions as part of #EURegionsWeek. In addition to this she was attending bilateral meetings with the North Sea Commission member regions, meeting with colleagues from the Northern Netherlands about transport and celebrating the opening of the AGDER office (representing the Agder region of Norway) in Brussels.
A week to remember
Whether it was AGEO’s citizen-powered success, the community-driven energy at the joint stand, practical governance tools from the Green Team, circular construction innovations by BBoBB, or digital resilience breakthroughs from STORM_SAFE — #EWRC2025 once again proved that cooperation is not just a principle, but Europe’s engine for future-proof transformation.
A massive thank you to the three North Sea projects who participated with such enthusiasm, and to the participants and colleagues from other programmes whose ideas, energy, and commitment made the event such a success.
Until next year, let’s keep pulling the string of cooperation!
About the authors
Lise Espersen works with Office Management and Stakeholder Relations and Marie Piard Georget is Project and Communications Advisor - both located at the Joint Secretariat in Viborg.
All images: North Sea Programme 2025
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