In the cultural capital of Europe for 2015 in Pilsen (Pilsen), Czech Republic, from 27 to 29 March 2019 the work of the International Conference of the Interregional Project EPICAH “Effectiveness of policy tools for the cross-border promotion of heritage” was successfully carried out, with the participation of the Greek side executives of the Regional Development Fund of Western Macedonia regarding the promotion, protection and management of cultural and environmental resources, for the sustainable development of cross-border tourism.
Specifically:
- 27 March 2019, parallel meetings of the steering committee and project experts were initially held to discuss communication, experience sharing and project management, while the program continued with the main conference proceedings. The first section of the conference included presentations by invited special experts from the Czech Republic and Bavaria, while in the second part the main topic was “Cooperation and personal relations, presentation of common good practices between the Czech Republic and visitors from foreign countries”.
- During the second day, on 28 March 2019, study visits took place in the Czech–Bavarian cross-border area, specifically in Tachov and Pilsen (CZ), and Bärnau and Schönsee (DE).
- On Tuesday 29 March 2019, the 2nd study visit took place at the Bavarian-Czech information center in Pilsen. The program concluded with the joint meeting of the steering committee and the expert group at the headquarters of the Regional Development Agency of the Pilsen region, where the need for a cross-border tourism policy in the European Union was discussed
The three-day work in Pilsen, Czech Republic was an important experience and a pleasant surprise for all the participants, since they had the opportunity to see closely successful examples of project implementation in the Czech-Bavarian cross-border area, which are now good practices in the fields of management, development and promotion of natural and cultural heritage in the direction of increasing tourism.
