Walk of Peace selected the best European project of the year

In April 2020, the Walks of Peace in the Soča Region Foundation together with the Soča Valley Development Centre and its other partners responded to a call for applications issued by the EU, namely by Project Interact as the organiser, for the selection of the best EU project idea to mark the 30th anniversary of the EU Interreg Programmes promoting various EU projects. The applications included as many as 150 project ideas from around Europe. Based on the presentation, an expert commission selected the best 30 projects, including the Walk of Peace, which is being carried out within the V-A Italy–Slovenia Interreg Programme. The project leaders of the best 30 ideas then had a short amount of time to prepare a promotional film about their project.

With the support of their Slovenian and Italian partners, the Walks of Peace in the Soča Region Foundation and the Soča Valley Development Centre made a promotional film entitled the Walk of Peace, which convinced the commission and placed the project among the finalists.

In August and September, all six finalists competed for the most likes on Facebook. The Walk of Peace ranked 2nd with 3,150 likes (the Greek-Italian project CIAK ranked 1st with 3,800 likes), while it reached the most views (42,500) and shares (800). In September, the best six projects faced one last task: the presentation of the project, which only included the employees of the project partners. Within the virtual event of the European Week of Regions and Cities, the Walks of Peace Foundation, in collaboration with the Soča Valley Development Centre and PromoTurismo FVG, gave a five-minute presentation in which three performers enacted the mission and vision of the Walk of Peace idea.

The Walk of Peace project won the vote.

The idea for the project is based on the tragic story of the First World War, which all of Europe (and the world) shares and still connects us today. At the heart of the project lies the conservation and exploration of heritage and memory, the development of cultural tourism and the promotion of peace, friendship and cooperation between nations as a value, now and for future generations.

The Walk of Peace is an idea and a concrete project based on the close cross-border cooperation between Slovenia and Italy throughout the last decade, which has also been connecting representatives and institutions from other countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Germany, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine, etc.) through transnational EU projects and other initiatives in the past few years. It carries and promotes the values of the European Union, whose strength, responsibility and promotion of opportunities the creators of the idea have believed in for 20 years already.