About

That is a story born at the margins—of a Europe built through concrete action, shared vision, and human connection.
It begins with common challenges, grows through the exchange of best practices, and becomes a tangible proposal—reaching from the borders to the heart of the European Union, offering both insight and a call to reflection from its edges.

The DEAR SUBLIME project continues the journey begun by a previous DEAR initiative: Snapshots From the Borders. Over three years, it engaged 35 partners, including border municipalities and civil society organizations. That project helped shift awareness among European, national, and local decision-makers—as well as the public—by bringing to light on the global interdependencies shaping migration flows to Europe’s borders.
It aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDGs 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, and 17.

The voices of border communities travelled from the periphery to the centre—onto national and European stages—informing citizens of the global dimensions of migration. A bottom-up approach rooted in capacity building, advocacy, and networking empowered local actors to define real needs and contribute to the migration and development debate.

From this process emerged the Border Towns and Islands Network (BTIN): a consultative body to the EU, created to carry forward the momentum—offering a space for civic participation, youth engagement, knowledge exchange, and local leadership in change-making.

Today, with SUBLIME, that journey continues. Running from 2024 to 2028, the project supports local authorities in achieving the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, empowering small border municipalities to become ambassadors of sustainable living and transformation.

SUBLIME connects frontier communities across 10 European countries—positioning citizens as leaders in inclusion, mobilization, and empowerment. It promotes active citizenship, raises awareness of the complex challenges of the 2030 Agenda, offers transformative learning experiences, and supports concrete actions advancing climate and gender justice and the value of diversity.

Through dialogue between policymakers and civil society, the project bridges local and global change.

Between Snapshots and SUBLIME runs a red thread—not only in theme but in deepening a shared process: weaving networks among frontier communities that stand as sentinels of global shifts. Communities that don’t simply wait for decisions from the centre—but help shape them through exchange, reflection, and shared solutions. From one project to the next, the path continues—toward the 2030 SDGs, toward a more inclusive and sustainable Europe, starting again from its borders.

This is not a new journey, but the continuation of a longer one: different roads, the same destination. Follow this path and the stories along it—a movement more determined than ever to help shape the change we wish to see.