(ANSA) - UDINE, 17 SET - Eight countries and as many urban areas, divided by national borders but united by common needs and shared prospects for cultural welfare, health, and cross-border cooperation, were at the center of the fourth Meeting of European Cross-Border Cities, held today in Gorizia and organized by the Mitteleuropa Association and Gect Go. Alongside Gorizia (Italy) and Nova Gorica (Slovenia), participants included Cieszyn (Poland) and Českì Těšín (Czech Republic), Valga (Estonia) and Valka (Latvia), as well as Nova Gradiška (Croatia), Bad Radkersburg (Austria) and Gornja Radgona (Slovenia). "Border cities share the same vision on cultural welfare, wellbeing and citizens' quality of life," said Mitteleuropa president Paolo Petiziol. "Our border cities are ready to present themselves together in Brussels, with shared projects and long-term planning to bring to the European table," he added. Cultural welfare was a central theme of the meeting, with a focus on using arts, culture and heritage as tools for prevention, inclusion and the promotion of psychological and social wellbeing. Ezio Benedetti, EU project coordinator at Gect Go, also outlined social-prescribing practices already in use in several European countries. The second part of the meeting focused on the relationship between food, wellbeing and citizenship. Sara Basso, professor at the University of Trieste, presented the Cross-Border Food Atlas, a research project mapping food systems across the Italian-Slovenian border and highlighting links between production, distribution and consumption. (ANSA).