25 Jun 2025
SteelCityZen is a transnational cooperation project funded by the Danube Region Programme, bringing together 11 partners from 9 countries, to address a common challenge across the Danube region: the vulnerability of (mono)industrial cities with an upcoming economic transformation. These cities, often dependent on a single, resource-intensive industry, are particularly exposed to employment risks related to structural changes, such as the green and digital transitions. Project name: Diversifying labour markets in industrial cities of the Danube region through enhanced cooperation between stakeholders, improving skills in finding partners to support local transitions and promoting long-term sustainable development
Main objectives
• Supporting the transition of industrial cities towards more diverse and sustainable labour markets;
• Strengthening local capacity to manage retraining, upskilling and employment services;
• Improving cooperation between municipalities, employers and public employment institutions;
• Promoting social inclusion by addressing the needs of vulnerable groups in the labour market.
Main activities
• Pilot actions in 8 cities to test and validate new models of labour market interventions, including:
Digital platform for assessing local skills needs and job matching;
Public spaces for dialogue and co-creation of the labour market;
Long-term cooperation between local authorities and employers.
• Developing joint strategies and action plans to guide future labour market policies.
• Capacity-building events for civil servants, employment experts and local stakeholders.
• Transnational knowledge exchange to ensure replicability across the region.
A two-day kick-off meeting was held on 17-18 June 2025 in Silesian Ostrava, Czech Republic.
The partners agreed on their goals and planned specific activities within the project. The team from the Investments, Energy Efficiency and Green Transition Department of the Municipality of Stara Zagora was represented by Mariana Perchemlieva and Ivelina Nikolova, experts from the Investments, Energy Efficiency and Green Transition Department, and Georgi Gyokov, Director of the Labor Office Directorate, who introduced Stara Zagora and the local labor market to the partners.
This project is supported by the Interreg Danube Region program, co-financed by the European Union.
