On Friday, 18 October 2024, Rijeka was visited by the head of the European Commission Representations in Croatia Zrinka Ujević with collaborators Andrea Covic Vidovic, Deputy Head and Head of Press Unit and Dijana Kuzman Štaudinger, Partnerships and Networks Coordinator and Communication and Information Officer. The meeting took place in the salon of the City of Rijeka where they were received by the Mayor of Rijeka Marko Filipović the Director of Nenad Antolović as a representative of the Rijeka Development Agency Porin and the Centre EUROPE DIRECT Rijeka.
We talked about the work of our EUROPE DIRECT Rijeka center and about the two-day action of cleaning the seabed and beaches ‘The sea merges – #EUBeachCleanup Rijeka 2024“. The aim of the action is to point out the impact of everyday human habits on the marine ecosystem and raise awareness of the importance of preserving the seas and oceans. Rijeka to this global campaign #EUBeachCleanup joined precisely at the initiative of our center and Mayor Marko Filipović, a member of the network Building Europe with Local Stakeholders. The action, along with the City of Rijeka, is carried out in cooperation with KD Purity, the Association of Special Police of the Homeland War ‘Ajkula’, and with the support of the European Commission Representation in Croatia. The action is additionally supported by Viktor Lenac Shipyard, Adriatic Maritime Service, Eco Kvarner, KD Autotrolej and the Coast of our grandchildren association.
The event is two days long and will take place on Saturday. 19 October starting at 9.30 a.m. on the beach Cramp where the seabed in front of the beach will be cleaned, with the participation of members of the Association of Special Police from the Homeland War ‘Ajkula’, as well as divers from Rijeka, Zagreb, Crikvenica, Kraljevica, Bakar, Duga Resa, Slovenia and Austria. Representatives of the Special and Intervention Police Unit of the Anti-Terrorism Unit Lučko and Rijeka and the Special Police Unit ‘Alfa’, as well as representatives of the voluntary fire brigades Drenova, Čavle and Mali Lošinj, also confirmed their arrival.
The second part of this action was supposed to take place today, but due to the bad weather Transferred to Friday 25th October. Students responded to the cleaning of the beaches on the move from Sablić to Grčevo Waldorf Primary and Secondary Schools and Primary School Pećine, more than a hundred of them, and it will be opened by Mayor Filipović.
Furthermore, during the meeting, Mayor Filipović emphasized that Rijeka, in terms of the amount of funds withdrawn from EU funds, is continuously at the top of Croatia and that with the help of European money, some of the largest infrastructure projects in the whole country have been implemented. He highlighted the project ‘Improvement of water-communal infrastructure in the area of the Rijeka agglomeration’, the project for the renovation of the heating industry in the city of Rijeka, the construction of the Bodulovo Entrepreneurial Zone, the D403 road, the Sinergane project, which will become a hub for the development of new technologies, startups and creative projects. European funds, he recalled, were also used in the energy renovation of kindergarten buildings. Mayor Filipović pointed out that some other projects are important for the development of Rijeka, such as the construction of a new marina in the city center, the construction of a new bus station, but also the modernization of the port of Rijeka, which is crucial for achieving better competitiveness on the world market.
The meeting also discussed the benefits that the City of Rijeka has as a member of the BELC network (Building Europe with Local Stakeholders), one of the most important platforms for cooperation between major European cities. This network brings together urban centres with the aim of jointly addressing the challenges of modern cities, such as sustainable development, social inclusion, innovation in urban planning, and improving the quality of life of citizens.
The Head of the European Commission Representation in Croatia, Zrinka Ujević, pointed out her satisfaction that numerous projects in Rijeka were implemented using funds from European funds. She added that the previous cooperation with our EUROPE DIRECT was successful and that they also cooperated a lot with the University of Rijeka, especially the Faculty of Law. She explained that one of the main focus in the work of the Representation will be on working with young people in order to interest them in projects related to the program offered by the EU. She added that one of the European Commission's guidelines is to cooperate as much as possible with local authorities and local organizations and expressed hope that successful cooperation with the City of Rijeka and EUROPE DIRECT Rijeka will continue in the future.
The meeting continued at the Rijeka Development Agency Porin with a discussion on the future of the EUROPE DIRECT Rijeka Centre, whose activities you can follow at the Official Website.
