WORKSHOP: Implementation of Horizontal Principles

Design, preparation and delivery of the workshop

Organisers: Association of the Cities and HKA (Croatian Chamber of Architects)
Funding: Association of the Cities and HKA
Participants: city representatives and designers

The pilot workshop on implementing EU horizontal principles was delivered in cooperation with the Association of Cities and the Croatian Chamber of Architects, hosted at the CCA premises in Zagreb. The workshop was led by Dr. sc. Boris Iharoš and brought together participants from several cities, designers, and a representative of the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds.

The workshop focused on the practical application of horizontal principles in infrastructure and public projects. The programme combined a short theoretical framework with intensive group work involving city representatives and designers, based on real project examples and structured interaction and discussion. The aim was to translate the principles, especially accessibility, non-discrimination, social inclusion and sustainable development, into concrete technical solutions and requirements for project documentation.

The workshop’s EU logic is a shift from compliance criteria to deliverable solutions: horizontal principles are not treated as a declaration in an application, but as enforceable requirements that must be embedded in the project brief and technical documentation, because this is where ineligibility most often occurs.

The programme was structured as a controlled two-round group process (before and after the lecture) so participants could clearly see the difference between an initial approach and an evaluation-ready solution. This strengthened their ability to integrate the principles consistently and on time, and the surveys confirm the high value of the practical work and discussion.