Parenzana II
Project title: Revitalisation of the Route of Health and Friendship
Acronym: PARENZANA II
Priority: Economic and Social Development
The PARENZANA II Project „Revitalisation of the Route of Health and Friendship“ is directly related and the continuation of the PARENZANA I Project "The Route of Health and Friendship, which was proposed and approved within the INTERREG IIIA Neighbourhood Programme Slovenia-Hungary-Croatia 2004-2006.
On the hundredth anniversary of Parenzana, in 2002, the idea emerged to revitalise the route of the former narrow-gauge railway for recreational and tourism purposes, under the slogan of “Parenzana – The Route of Health and Friendship. All towns and municipalities in the area where the railway used to run signed a Letter of Intent to support the Parenzana Project.
The implementation of the PARENZANA I Project started on 3 April 2006 and concluded on 3 June 2008. The primary objective of the project was to revive 80 kilometres of the old Parenzana railway route through the integration of Croatian and Slovene tourist resources, long-term cross-border cooperation, promotion of sporting events and raising public awareness of the significance of Parenzana.
On the basis of informal partnership agreement, the project partners (Istria County, Town of Poreč, Municipality of Vižinada, Municipality of Oprtalj, Town of Buje, Municipality of Izola, Municipality of Piran and Municipality of Koper) took all the necessary steps to ensure the implementation of the PARENZANA II Project. For the attainment of the set goals, all partner institutions participated in project development, setting the common objectives, adoption of time schedule, determination of expected results, drawing up of the budget and in the allocation of responsibilities and tasks. The partners participated in the project development with their specific knowledge and skills. Through joint implementation of the assigned tasks, all partners contribute to the achievement of the project goals and results. The Project has a joint budget with funding allocated to partners according to the activities they are carrying out.
The Istria County is responsible for the overall implementation of the project, while the partners assume the responsibility for particular parts of the project’s implementation. In the case of eventual problems in the implementation of the project, the Project Management Committee resolves the difficulties by joint decisions and actions.