Elisa Ferreira, Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, and Vasco Alves Cordeiro, President of the European Committee of the Regions, announced the winners of this year’s REGIOSTARS awards on 9 October at a ceremony in Brussels, Belgium.
The REGIOSTARS awards recognise Cohesion Policy-funded projects across Europe that encapsulate the impact and inclusiveness of regional development and have found solutions to common challenges that European regions and cities are facing. These projects show how the EU, through Cohesion Policy, delivers change on the ground and strengthens economic and social progress in the EU.
The 2024 edition received a record-breaking number of submissions, with 262 applications to compete for the top prize in five different categories. These categories reflect the objectives of the Policy including the political priorities of the 2021–2027 Cohesion Policy programming period. There is also a public choice award, where 25 finalists were shortlisted.
Discover all the winners
- A Competitive and Smart Europe: An Interreg Italy-Malta project referred to as ‘Bythos'. The project recycles and reuses by-products or waste materials from the fish processing industry to create new ingredients for animal and human consumption.
- A Green Europe: The ‘Biogreenfinery' project from Spain was recognised for being an innovative platform detailing the technical and economic feasibility of producing alternative fuels such as green hydrogen and other synthetic fuels.
- A Connected Europe: The Interreg North Sea Region project, ‘BITS: Bicycles and Intelligent Transport Systems', makes use of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) with over thirty innovative pilot schemes aimed at improving the safety and comfort of cyclists in the North Sea Region.
- A Social and Inclusive Europe: A project in Hungary, ‘Health Development Programme - Telemedicine for the Most Deprived Settlements', won the award for its technological and software solutions to ensure the roll-out of telemedicine in emerging settlements.
- A Europe Closer to Citizens: The ‘Gdynia OdNowa' revitalisation project in Poland. The project covers three degraded districts, and actively involves residents in decision-making processes and overall encompasses civic participation.
The public favourite, gathering the highest online votes and winning the Public Choice award, was the Interreg Italy-Malta project ‘Bythos'.
Winners across the six categories will be highlighted in a series of communication campaigns aiming to promote the awarded projects within their respective regions, amplifying their impact and visibility.
