KICK-OFF MEETING IN MANTOVA

Mantova, Italy

BhENEFIT’s Project Partners met to kick-off the project in Mantova (Italy) last 10th of July.

Mantova is a mid-size city of around 50.000 inhabitants, located in the Nothern Italian region of Lombardy. The city is listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2008 and it is famous for its Renaissance richness. Palazzo Ducale, home of the then ruling house of the Gonzagas, and Palazzo Te, their countryside residence, together with the many frescoes, paintings, loggias and sculptures, are only few of the many gems that make Mantova famous.

In this very picturesque urban landscape gathered the 13 project partners, coming from 7 different countries from Central Europe: Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia.

The agenda of this 3-days meeting was rather intense.

On day 1, the hall of the Municipality of Mantova, hosted the official greetings by Adriana Nepote, Councillor for research and Innovation, University and European Projects – Comune di Mantova, followed by Zane Bondare, of the Interreg Central Europe – Joint Secretariat.

Then all the partners had the chance to present themselves, the institution they represent and explain their role in the project. MUK and REGEA from Croatia, ICRA and UIRS from Slovenia, SZRDA and KEK from Hungary, BOKU from Austria, SPECTRA from Slovakia, IURS from Czech Republic and finally Politecnica, Regione Emilia-Romagna and Comune di Mantova, took in turn the podium of the city hall.

The morning session was close by Emanuela Medeghini, from Mantova Municipality, and Maria Cristina Fregni, from Politecnica, to go through every working package in more detail, with a specific focus on expected outputs and results.

The afternoon session was dedicated to the most technical aspects of the projects, during which Medeghini and Bondare discssed with the project partners the management, communication and financial issues related to the project.

Day 1 works were closed with a visit to the magnificent Palazzo Te, unique example of Italy’s Renaissance Mannerism style.

Day 2 opened with a body wake session on the Ocno’s archipelago, some floating platforms on Mantova’s river Mincio, where activities of various kinds are carried out during the summer season.

Fregni from Politecnica opened the morning session, ‘Historic Built Areas and Governance Issues’, introducing and explaining the monitoring, the methodological approach and the protocols and tools the project will develop through Work-package 1.

Following Fregni’s contribution, the partners split in groups and worked proactively on how to create and work with their respective Local Support Group. Post-its and whiteboard took over the whole room!

Sebastiano Sali (Mantova Municipality) together with Jožica Lazar and Tadeja Pavsic (ICRA), addressed the Communication Work Package, introducing the communication strategy and discussing with the other partners how to deal with communication deliveries, deadlines and outputs.

The afternoon session, and the meeting, were closed with the Steering Committee session that, amongst the other things, prepared the following meetings in Poprad, Slovakia.