On Monday, June 20, 2022, the INITIAL CONFERENCE of the cross-border project "Improving the quality of cooperation and partnership of the emergency services of Krapinsko-Zagorska county and Savinjska Region - CRO-SI-SAFE" was held in Strmol castle in Rogatac.
The CRO-SI-SAFE project is implemented within the Interreg V-A Slovenia-Croatia 2014-2020 cooperation program, and its main goal is to improve the cross-border partnership of emergency rescue services by establishing a common protocol for cross-border cooperation of the CRO-SI-SAFE team in order to improve the civil protection system and increase resistance to accidents in the Krapinsko-Zagorska county and the Savinjska region. The total value of the project is EUR 739,612.25, and it was co-financed by the European Fund for Regional Development in the amount of EUR 628,670.40.
Representatives of the project partners who spoke at the conference:
- Bojana Žaberl, director of the Sotla Development Agency-organizers, praised the cooperation of partners on earlier successful Interreg projects and hailed this project as very useful for the local and wider community, since it connects the stakeholders of emergency services, civil protection, fire services and the police for the establishment of a unique CRO-SI-SAFE team for timely reaction in different situations.
- Karolina Barilar, , director of the Zagorje Development Agency - the leading partner, presented the goals, key activities and results of the project that will be implemented in the next 12 months , ie until May 31, 2023. She also emphasized the actuality of the project's topic, considering the increasingly frequent weather disasters and recent earthquakes in Croatia, and praised the cooperation with Slovenian partners.
- Martin Mikolič, Prefect of Rogatec Municipality, emphasized the importance of establishing an experience room in Rogatec and Krapisko-Zagorska county and the procurement of equipment, as well as conducting education through the project for timely reactions in possible natural disasters such as floods, fires and earthquakes.
- Željko Kolar, Prefect of Krapina-Zagorje County, emphasized the good cooperation between Croatian and Slovenian stakeholders. Since Slovenia has been a full member of the European Union for about 10 years longer than Croatia, and as an example of good practice in cooperation with Slovenian partners, today we are ready to be the leading partner of such projects. He also emphasized the importance of education for emergency service stakeholders and the wider public, and at the end thanked the hosts for their warm welcome and announced the final conference that will be held in Krapinsko-Zagorska county in a year.
In addition to the partners' representatives, the conference was also attended by other interested stakeholders and representatives of 8 associated partners.
- Department of Emergency Medicine of Krapina-Zagorje County
- Krapina-Zagorje County Fire Brigade
- Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia – Krapina-Zagorsk Police Department
- Croatian Mountain Rescue Service - Station Zlatar Bistrica
- Health center Celje
- Health center Šmarje near Jelšah
- Firefighters Association of Slovenia
- Development Agency of the Savinj Region.
Everyone agreed that this project is very necessary and we wish them successful cooperation and implementation of the planned activities!
