As part of the first project, dubbed Soča - Isonzo, a network of cycling and walking paths will be built to create a cross-border urban park.

The aim of the park is to boost the attractiveness of the area for visitors and tourists and to improve sustainable mobility of residents of the border cities.

The second project, called Healthcare - Salute, aims at establishing a network of cross-border healthcare services in the border area. The network will be based on the existing services provided in Nova Gorica and Gorizia, taking into account the needs of residents.

The contract has been signed between the European Association for Territorial Cooperation Nova Gorica-Gorizia (EZTS GO) and the body managing the Interreg Slovenia Italy 2014-2020 cross-border programme.

The projects, each worth EUR 5m, will be funded by the European Fund for Regional Development (85%), while Italy will contribute the remaining 15%. They will be implemented in the next four years.

The signing of the contracts marks the beginning of the period in which both projects, which are of great importance for the wider area, will be implemented in practice, the Nova Gorica municipality has said in a press release.

The pilot projects, which are a result of multi-year cross-border work and territorial integration, have been labelled by the European Commission as precedents in the field of European territorial cooperation programmes.

Nova Gorica is a planned town, built after 1947, when the Paris Peace Treaty established a new border between Yugoslavia and Italy, leaving nearby Gorizia outside the borders of Yugoslavia.

The need to better connect the two cities was also emphasised at a recent panel debate in Nova Gorica, with the participants arguing that the city's future was actually in merging with Gorizia and the nearby Slovenian municipality of Šempeter-Vrtojba.

The idea expressed at the debate organised by the regional daily Primorske novice was that the three municipalities create a single cross-border city, connecting them in all segments of life.

The event was held as part of the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of Nova Gorica, which will culminate with a ceremony on 15 September marking the national holiday remembering the unification of what is today the western region of Primorsko with Yugoslavia in 1947.