[Mili Jercic]

Dear Interreg Euro-MED community members,

We are currently preparing a project proposal for the upcoming Interreg Euro-MED Call (Thematic Test projects) under the Natural and cultural resources mission, focusing on climate resilience, disaster risk prevention, and the protection of natural landscapes and ecosystems.

Our core project idea centers on testing an innovative, technology-driven pilot action:

Smart Early Detection Network: Deployment of thermal/optical cameras and IoT sensors (monitoring soil moisture and temperature) in high-risk Mediterranean landscape interfaces (such as the Kozjak mountain slopes in Kaštela).

Real-time Data & Risk Management: Integrating sensor and camera networks into a unified digital system to detect wildfires at an early stage, mitigate environmental degradation, and support local landscape management.

Transferability & Replication: Developing joint guidelines, protocols, and cross-border methodologies so that other Mediterranean regions and local authorities can adopt similar smart prevention and protection models.

Who we are looking for:
We are building a strong, balanced international consortium and are seeking partners with expertise in:

Research & Technical Development: Institutions, universities, or SMEs specializing in IoT solutions, AI-driven early detection algorithms, or environmental monitoring.

Public Authorities & Agencies: Municipalities, regional bodies, or protected area managers from Mediterranean countries facing similar wildfire and natural heritage risks who wish to act as pilot adopters or transfer partners.

Environmental & Risk Management: Organizations with expertise in disaster risk reduction, forestry, and natural landscape management.

If you are interested in joining our consortium or want to discuss a potential partnership, please reply to this topic or contact us directly. We look forward to collaborating with you!

Best regards,

Mili Jerčić
Senior EU funds advisor
City of Kastela, Croatia
Tel: +38521205 256 Mob : +385998139485
Email: mili.jercic@kastela.hr

[Avelina Onos]

Dear Mili,

At Incubadora CON VALORES, we work on social innovation, capacity building and community-based programmes, supporting local stakeholders through training, mentoring and ecosystem development.

While our expertise is not focused on the technical development of IoT or environmental monitoring solutions, we could contribute to the project’s transferability and community engagement dimension, supporting awareness activities, capacity-building actions, stakeholder involvement and dissemination of results.

On the project side, we’ve been partner in more than 20 EU-funded projects (Erasmus+ KA2, CERV, AMIF, Horizon Europe) around migrant integration, gender equality, inclusive education and social inclusion. We also have a solid communications team and 30,000+ followers on LinkedIn, so we can help give real visibility to whatever we work on together.

Would love to hear more about your project and see where we could collaborate. Feel free to reach me at amanda.ruiz@cvalores.org 🧡

Best regards,
Amanda

[Jerome Casseville]

Dear Mili,

I have received your partnership proposal.

We would be interested in collaborating as we will be conducting a small-scale, low-bandwidth IoT network pilot project within the framework of the Occitanie Region’s ERDF program, with various use cases to be studied, including natural hazards.

The Euro-Med project could allow us to share this work and develop it further in conjunction with other Mediterranean territories.

I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further at your convenience.

Best Regards

Jérôme Casseville
European Project Manager
Conseil départemental de l’Hérault (FR)
jcasseville@herault.fr

[ANDREA GAIFAMI]

Dear Colleagues,

we have been developing a very similar project ideaa, involving IoT for wildfires prevention and management. We would be more than happy to share our effort with anyone pursuing this same objectives.
We are a “Comunità montana” (union of mountain municipalities) from Campania region, in southern Italy.
Looking forward to your kind reaction!

[Patricia Pobric]

Dear Mili,

Greetings from Montenegro. We are an NGO that has much experience in the protection and rescue aspect, works closely with municipalities, local fire departments, volunteer fire organizations and others on wildfire, flood, coastal pollution, volunteer response and training, education, terrain actions and prevention, and have done much on natural heritage protection. We are currently project partner on the IPA Adrion ASAP project with the other countries of the Adriatic working on joint systems and response to sea pollution for oil spills, and have trained volunteers to do so. We feel we would be a great partner on this project and hope you would consider us, as your partner from Montenegro.

Warm regards,

Patricia Pobric
NGO Our action
nasaakcija@gmail.com

[Špela Sečnik]

Dear Mili,

At RRA Posavje, we find this topic highly relevant and would be interested in exploring opportunities for cooperation.
As a regional development agency, we work in different fields, from sustainable regional development, climate resilience, natural resource management, rural development, to innovation. We believe our experience and regional stakeholder network could contribute to a strong transnational partnership.

Should you have a project idea currently in development, we would be pleased to discuss potential collaboration and the role RRA Posavje could play within the consortium.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Špela Sečnik
RRA Posavje

[Elda Vladi]

Dear Colleague,

I hope you are well. My name is Elda Vladi, Project Manager at the Albanian Center for Sustainable Development (ACSD), a non-profit organisation based in Albania.

I am reaching out regarding potential opportunities for cooperation under the Interreg Euro-MED Programme. We are currently exploring opportunities to become involved in future Interreg Euro-MED project partnerships and would be very interested in connecting with organisations that are planning to apply under the programme.
ACSD has experience in sustainable development, environmental protection, biodiversity, sustainable tourism, community and youth engagement, research, capacity building, stakeholder cooperation, communication and project implementation. As an Albanian organisation, we would be particularly interested in contributing to projects where activities in Albania and the wider Mediterranean region could benefit from our local experience and expertise.
If your organisation is currently planning, or considering, an application under Interreg Euro-MED, we would be very grateful if you could keep ACSD in consideration as a potential Albanian project partner. We would be happy to explore how our expertise could complement your consortium and contribute to the objectives of a potential project.
I am attaching a brief organisational profile with further information about ACSD, our areas of expertise and relevant experience. We would also be pleased to provide any additional organisational or partner documentation you may require.
For reference, we are also following the Interreg Euro-MED opportunities and partner-search activities through the programme’s official platform: “Interreg Euro-MED – Find Project Partners”
We would be very pleased to establish contact and explore potential opportunities for cooperation, either for an upcoming call or future project proposals.
Thank you very much for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you and hopefully having the opportunity to cooperate.

Kind regards,
Elda Vladi
Project Manager
Albanian Center for Sustainable Development (ACSD)
Tirana, Albania

[Milena Sokolova]

Dear Mili,
Thank you for sharing your proposal. Our team at the University of Basilicata is seeking an Interreg Euro-MED consortium and would be interested in discussing a partnership.

Together with National Research Center of Sassari, we successfully completed the national CRITERIA project, combining ecosystem service mapping and economic valuation with wildfire modelling to assess potential impacts on ecosystem services. We could contribute expertise in ecosystem service valuation, spatial analysis, stakeholder participation and the evaluation of management scenarios.

We would welcome a discussion on how these contributions could fit your consortium and pilot activities.
Best,
Milena and Mario
University of Basilicata
School of Agricultural, Forest, Food, and Environmental Sciences
milena.sokolova@unibas.it (Postdoctoral researcher)
mario.cozzi@unibas.it (Asossiate Professor)

[Denisa Sarajlic]

Dear colleagues,

We are very interested in your Smart Wildfire Prevention and Natural Heritage Protection concept and believe **SKRIPTA, an SME from Bosnia and Herzegovina**, could add a valuable territorial implementation dimension to the consortium.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has faced increasingly serious wildfire pressures, including in smaller and less-developed municipalities where technical solutions for early detection and prevention are often difficult to access or integrate into existing local systems. Our expertise is not in developing wildfire technology itself, but in **bridging the gap between innovative solutions and the municipalities that need to apply them**.

SKRIPTA has strong knowledge of the local-governance landscape and long-standing links with municipalities across Bosnia and Herzegovina. We could help identify suitable high-risk pilot territories, work with local authorities to define their operational challenges and capacities, and support the adaptation, testing and uptake of technologies and methodologies developed by the consortium’s technical partners.

We could also contribute through **human-centred design, stakeholder engagement and institutional capacity support**, ensuring that pilots are not only technically successful but realistically embedded in local decision-making, emergency-management and maintenance arrangements.

This could bring the consortium additional Western Balkan territorial representation while demonstrating how advanced wildfire-prevention solutions can be transferred to municipalities with more limited technical and administrative capacities.

We would be very interested in exploring whether this role could complement the partnership currently taking shape.

Best regards,
SKRIPTA
info@skripta.ba
nedo@skripta.ba

[Nina Prelog]

Hello Mili,
your project idea caught our attention, especially the link between technology, preparedness and practical use at local level.

We are Development and Research Center RRC Ormož, a public regional development institution from eastern Slovenia, and we would be interested in joining the project as a Project Partner from Slovenia.

Our team has many years of experience in preparing, leading and implementing EU-funded and transnational cooperation projects. RRC Ormož has worked both as a Project Partner and as a Lead Partner, including in regional and LEADER/CLLD (LAS) projects, and we are currently leading the URBACT ReDAN network. Through this work, we have built a strong network of municipalities, development agencies, public authorities, universities and other organisations across Europe.

At the same time, we work very closely with municipalities and local stakeholders, especially in rural and small-town areas. This gives us a strong practical understanding of how new tools and approaches can actually be introduced and used at local level.

In your project, we could contribute to pilot implementation, cooperation with municipalities, stakeholder involvement, capacity building and transfer of results into local and regional practice.
We believe our combination of EU project experience, leadership experience, a well-established European network and strong links with local authorities could bring real value to the partnership.
We would be happy to hear more about the project and explore how RRC Ormož could contribute.

Nina Prelog: nina@rrc-ormoz.si
Development and Research Center RRC Ormož
Slovenia
https://www.rrc-ormoz.si/

[Center for Development of Pelagonija Planning Region CDPPR]

Postovani G-din Jercic,

Dear Mr. Jercic,

I am writing on behalf of the Center for Development of the Pelagonija Planning Region (CDPPR), from Bitola, Macedonia, to express our interest in establishing cooperation with organisations looking for reliable and experienced partners for Interreg Euro-MED projects.
CDPPR is a public institution for regional development, established by the nine units of local self-government comprising the Pelagonija Planning Region. As a regional development institution, we work closely with municipalities, public institutions, local stakeholders, businesses and civil society organisations to identify and address regional development needs and translate them into concrete projects and actions. Our responsibilities include preparation and implementation of development projects, coordination of regional development activities, support to local communities, promotion of tourism and cultural heritage, and activities related to civil protection, resilience and sustainable territorial development.

CDPPR has substantial experience in project development, partnership building and project implementation under various national and international funding instruments. While Euro-MED would be a new programme framework for our institution, we have practical experience with Interreg cross-border cooperation, including project preparation, partnership coordination, financial and administrative management, implementation of activities, communication and reporting. Our experience also includes projects and initiatives related to sustainable and rural tourism, cultural and natural heritage, local economic development, environmental protection, climate resilience and capacity building of local stakeholders. Through our institutional position, we can also facilitate access to the municipalities and relevant stakeholders across the Pelagonija region and support the testing, adaptation and territorial transfer of innovative solutions and good practices.
For the upcoming Interreg Euro-MED opportunities, we are particularly interested in joining partnerships where our regional expertise, territorial network and capacity to implement pilot actions can provide concrete added value.

If you are looking for a reliable partner from North Macedonia with extensive experience in project for civil protection, disaster risk prevention, protection of natural landscapes and ecosystems, with strong links to local and regional authorities and practical experience in project implementation and territorial development, we would be pleased to discuss potential cooperation.
Please feel free to contact us at info@pelagonijaregion.mk to exchange information about your project ideas, partnership needs and potential areas of cooperation.
We look forward to establishing successful cooperation.

Kind regards,
Jasmina Matevska
Center for Development of Pelagonija Planning Region (CDPPR)
Bitola, Macedonia
info@pelagonijaregion.mk

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