During the third meeting of the Cross-Border Cities organized by the Mitteleuropa Association on October 23rd in Gorizia, various concrete aspects of life in border communities were presented.

Aureliano Hoffman, President of the Gorizia Construction Workers’ Welfare Fund, gave a detailed presentation on workplace safety, one of the key topics supported by the Euradria project’s Infodesk services for cross-border workers.

The construction sector involves a large portion of cross-border workers who commute daily across the border. Despite EU regulations being adopted in Slovenia as well, there remains a need to implement shared guidelines and simplified procedures between the supervisory bodies of both countries. In recent years, thanks to Interreg projects, joint training modules have been launched, and efforts have been made toward mutual recognition and the use of a shared technical language through the construction school to support professional mobility. In addition to this already useful tool, among the solutions proposed by President Hoffman during the meeting were the launch of a joint inspection and control system, the creation of a digital file for construction workers, and the implementation of multilingual participatory prevention measures, which are essential for building bridges of trust between the two countries.

The meeting concluded with the approval of the creation of a working group to present concrete proposals to the European Commission on the major topics discussed, not only training and workplace safety but also cross-border healthcare cooperation and university education in border areas. These are all topics on which the Mitteleuropa Association and EGTC GO have involved ambassadors, consuls, mayors, and university delegates from other European cities divided by national borders in 12 countries (Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Croatia, Spain, Bosnia, and France) to share best practices and continue cooperation on shared issues.