Croatian cities to apply for EU urban development funding

As of May, Croatian cities will be able to apply for EU funding for projects in the fields of ecology, building adaptation, preservation of cultural heritage and space repurposing.

The program, which was officially launched last week at the Cities Forum in Turin, is to be co-financed by the European Commission with 450 million euros from the European Urban Initiative.

Interested cities do not need to contact their respective federal governments but can apply directly via the European Urban Initiative website.

This financing possibility for cities across the EU has already attracted interest in Croatia; with representatives from Rijeka, Dubrovnik, Zagreb and Pula attending the meeting in Turin.

After first call for applications was open between October last year and January 2023, 99 projects from 21 countries applied for financing, including only three from Croatia.

The latest set of projects to be co-financed will be known sometime in June.

According to the European Commission, close to 72 percent of Europeans live in cities and urban areas, which are often faced with unemployment, migration, demographic decline and pollution.