Nova Gorica, Slovenia – 15–16 October 2025
The Urban Municipality of Nova Gorica hosted an Inspirational Workshop and Transnational Partner Meeting on 15–16 October 2025, organised within the framework of the EnCLOD project – Enhancing governance Capacities of Local authorities using Open Data. The two-day event brought together experts, city representatives, and project partners to discuss how open data can shape smarter and more participatory local governance across Central Europe.
The Inspirational Workshop, held on 15 October at the City Hall of Nova Gorica, opened with a welcome address delivered on behalf of the City of Nova Gorica and an introduction by Tomaž Berčič (University of Ljubljana), framing the event’s themes and context. The morning sessions explored practical applications of open data in smart city development. Representatives from the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) 2025 team presented their experience in urban branding, while Marko Stavrev (University of Ljubljana) and Tadej Hrovat (Municipality of Nova Gorica) discussed the deployment of a traffic and air-quality sensor network connecting Gorizia and Nova Gorica.
Additional interventions included insights from Arctur d.o.o. on the FLOWS platform for advanced data analysis, and Robert Ambrož (Xiris), who shared practical lessons from implementing sustainable smart city services. The session concluded with academic contributions from Andrej Mahovič (University of Ljubljana) showcasing student projects on strategic planning with open data, and David Bárta (CityOne) together with Oldřich Rypl and Jaroslav Burian (Palacký University Olomouc), who presented recent microzoning results and outcomes from previous EnCLOD hackathons.
In the afternoon, the Transnational Partner Meeting provided an opportunity to review project progress, upcoming deliverables, and financial and communication milestones. The discussion focused on the development of Open Data tools, policy briefs, and preparations for future hackathons across partner cities.
The event concluded with EnCLOD’s participation in the SMART CITY HACK, jointly organised with the ECOCNetwork project (GO!2025 Small Projects Fund, Interreg VI-A Italy–Slovenia). Partners attended a keynote by David Bárta (CityOne) on leveraging open data and the Internet of Things for effective territorial management and urban planning.
Over the two days, Nova Gorica became a hub for innovation, dialogue, and collaboration — reaffirming the EnCLOD partnership’s commitment to open data as a driver of smart, transparent, and citizen-centred governance.