Infodays by Fondazione Cariplo and ANCI: two open events to discover new calls, programs and support initiatives on European projects.
Co-financing European projects: an initiative for the environment and culture
Once again this year Fondazione Cariplo is organizing an information and training meeting on its “Co-financing of European Projects” tool: an initiative that for more than 10 years has been supporting organizations in Lombardy and Eastern Piedmont in their approach to and development of European projects, with information, training, design accompaniment and tutoring activities, and of course with the possibility of accessing a share of co-financing. A tool that accompanies the building of partnerships, develops local organisations’ design capacities and supports the concrete implementation of projects in the environmental field.
We talked about this in an interview that chronicles the paths to European projects of those involved in the environment and culture: different, but complementary paths with many commonalities.
And therein lies this year’s main novelty: the 2025 call for proposals for the “Cofinancing of European Projects” instrument expands the application possibilities for cultural organizations, which will be able to participate in partnership with environmental organizations, with a view to cross-sectoral and targeted planning to address at least one of the dimensions (digital, environmental and social) of the so-called Triple Transition.
The initiative this year will therefore support projects under the LIFE, Interreg and Alpine Space programs, but also under Erasmus+, Creative Europe and DEAR-without, of course, excluding other European programs in the areas of interest.
The presentation event will be held on Friday, May 16 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Participation (online) is open to all, especially to organizations based in the local organisations in Fondazione Cariplo’s area of operation (Lombardy and the provinces of Novara and Verbano-Cusio-Ossola).
Information about the initiative can be found here for the Environment Area and the Culture Area, respectively.
Here you can find the video of the meeting and the presentations of all the speeches.
The first two interventions were dedicated to Fondazione Cariplo‘s European Project Cofinancing Facility: since 2010, with 5.2 million in cofinancing and various support activities, it has enabled the implementation of 21 European projects, with a success rate close to 50 percent and a total project value of 113 million euros. A tool that from this year opens its scope of activity to cultural organizations, promoting transversality in European planning and the implementation of actions aimed at addressing the triple digital, environmental and social transition.
Three speeches were specifically dedicated to the LIFE program: a presentation of the program by the National Contact Point, which emphasized the important Italian participation in the program and the new features of the Work Program and LIFE 2025-2027 calls, which will be presented again in the June LIFE InfoDay; an interesting review of the characteristics of successful LIFE projects, with suggestions from a LIFE Monitor to overcome the growing competition on the program; and finally, the experience of the LIFE SALVAGuARDiA project, supported by the Fondazione Cariplo support facility and dedicated to sustainable environmental management in Lake Garda. A talk was devoted to the presentation of the DEAR development education and awareness program (a program that addresses global challenges with a cross-cutting perspective) and the experience of the NOPLANETB project.
Finally, a space was dedicated to Europe Direct Lombardia, which presented the new priorities of the European Commission 2025-2029 and illustrated how the concept of transversality, promoted by Fondazione Cariplo, applies effectively and “naturally” to many European programs, providing several concrete examples within Erasmus+, the European Solidarity Corps and Interreg. Finally, we presented the new structure of our Guide, its contents, functions and a preview of the future “look” of the new platform, on which we are currently working.
European projects for municipalities and the URBACT program: the ANCI Infoday
ANCI, the National Association of Italian Municipalities, in collaboration with ANCI Piemonte, the Municipality of Borgomanero and the Ecomuseum of Lake Orta and Mottarone, are organizing an Infoday on Monday, May 19, to explain the URBACT IV program , the open call for the creation of Good Practice Transfer Networks, and the opportunities for Italian municipalities under European programs.
The meeting will be attended by representatives from ANCI Piemonte and ANCI nazionale, also acting as the National URBACT Point, who will introduce the work and explain the features of the new URBACT IV call for proposals. The call for proposals expires on June 30 and is aimed at transferring URBACT Good Practices submitted in 2024 by municipalities participating in the program, including in particular the cities of Alessandria and Borgomanero, which are among the ten Italian municipalities awarded the prestigious European “URBACT Good Practice” award.
The goal of the event is to learn more about how to participate in the call, better understand the role of municipalities in transfer networks, engage with experts and administrators who have already taken part in URBACT projects, and receive operational support for submitting applications.
The event will also be an opportunity to present the Guide to EU Projects and Funding which, through the collaboration with ANCI Piemonte, is getting closer and closer to the information and support needs of municipalities: we have already dedicated some articles to the experiences, opportunities and tools for municipalities and Local Authorities, and we have anticipated here the successful experiences of Alessandria and Borgomanero. This event will be an opportunity to learn more and to talk directly with the protagonists of the calls for municipalities.
ANCI’s Infoday will be held on Monday, May 19, starting at 10 a.m. at the San Rocco Hotel in Orta San Giulio, in the province of Novara, but it is also possible to participate online.
On this page all the information about the event.
A summary and short video of the event can be found here.
For other opportunities dedicated to European planning for municipalities, we recommend staying updated on the ANCI website: a new training meeting dedicated to community programs is scheduled for May 22, with a special focus on CERV (Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values) and planning techniques.
The meeting will be held in Naples on May 22, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and it will be possible to attend online.
A description of the meeting, the day’s program and a link to registration are on these pages.
Fondazione Cariplo’s presentation event and ANCI’s URBACT Infoday are two important opportunities to learn more about European programs on support initiatives available to Italian organizations.
Participate in large numbers!
