With a total of 2,061,528.88 euros in co-financing approved by the provincial board in 2026, the Province of East Flanders enables East Flemish organizations, local authorities, knowledge institutions, and companies to participate more strongly in ambitious projects with European added value. Deputy Joke Schauvliege, responsible for European cooperation, emphasizes that this support strengthens projects offering solutions for today's and tomorrow's challenges, thereby creating tangible added value for residents, businesses, knowledge institutions, and local authorities.
A selection of projects includes initiatives such as ZorgRobotica over grenzen (CareRobotics across borders), developing robotics solutions for the healthcare sector, and PORTAL, aimed at increasing the inflow of technical talent to bottleneck professions in the Flemish-Dutch seaports through targeted awareness campaigns and flexible practice-oriented learning pathways.
In the areas of climate adaptation and circularity, SoilQIT helps farmers of perennial crops improve soil quality, carbon storage, and nature management. AEP-Pulse is developing a circular production system to enable more efficient, sustainable, and locally integrated agricultural and food systems.
Projects focused on livable villages, water recreation, and sustainable tourism include the sustainability of local infrastructure, such as the youth centers in Adegem, the community center De Pit in Buggenhout, and the repurposed church of Zeveren. Furthermore, Zwemmen, Natuurlijk! (Swimming, Naturally!) aims to make open-water swimming more accessible by investing in infrastructure, monitoring water quality, and removing social barriers. Finally, ZwinQuest focuses on the sustainable development of tourism in the cross-border Zwin region.
