Six EU-funded projects from across the bloc were awarded REGIOSTARS prizes in Brussels during the European Week of Regions and Cities.
The awards, organised by the European Commission since 2008, recognise projects backed by EU cohesion policy — the EU’s main investment programme for regions and cities — across five categories, the Commission informed on Thursday.
In the “Competitive and Smart Europe” category, Slovakia’s AI Holopresence project won for a generative AI system that creates photorealistic 3D representations of people for use in immersive extended reality, rather than using avatars or standard video calls.
The work was developed in eastern Slovakia by company MATSUKO with Pavol Jozef Šafárik University and supported with €612,405 from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Germany’s eLiRec — Greener Battery Recycling took the “Green Europe” prize after receiving around €329,000 in ERDF support to develop battery recycling methods designed to recover raw materials more cleanly and efficiently.
Greece’s Alexandroupolis Independent Natural Gas System won the “Connected Europe” category, with more than €178 million in ERDF funding supporting a floating liquefied natural gas terminal near Alexandroupolis in northern Greece.
The project is intended to enable the import, storage and regasification of natural gas and connect with regional gas networks.
Public vote backs Portuguese cancer centre
In the “Social and Inclusive Europe” category, the award went to BROTHERS in Germany, a project focused on preventing violence against women by working with young men, school classes and professionals, the Commission said.
It received more than €193,000 from the European Social Fund (ESF) and uses a peer-to-peer model in which participants help design and lead workshops on women’s rights, respect and gender equality.
The “Europe closer to the citizens” prize was awarded to Together in Žďár in Czechia, after the town of Žďár nad Sázavou used almost €813,000 in EU funding to renovate its public library and expand its role as a community venue.
The library now hosts more than 900 events a year and runs activities ranging from early literacy programmes for toddlers to AI courses for older people.
A separate public vote selected Portugal’s Porto Comprehensive Cancer Center (Porto.CCC — TeamUp4Cancer) as the People’s Choice winner.
The project received almost €15 million in ERDF support and brought together IPO Porto and i3S to establish what it described as the country’s first Precision Oncology Programme, with more than 1,500 patients receiving access to diagnostics and hundreds taking part in clinical trials.
A jury of experts selected 25 finalists from 274 applications across the five categories, with shortlisted projects pitching during the European Week of Regions and Cities in Brussels from 12 to 14 October, 2026.
