POLICY ANSWERS Conference and workshops successfully organised
11. Oct. 2023
The "Policy Dialogue on Aligning Priorities in the Western Balkans" conference took place on 13 September 2023 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina at the GreenPark Space. Approximately 100 participants from 19 European countries attended the Conference. The event provided an excellent opportunity to foster dialogue and collaboration between representatives of the Western Balkans Ministries and European Partnerships, resulting in the organisation of 38 bilateral meetings.
The event also presented an opportunity for professionals to participate in constructive and forward-looking dialogues. It delved into crucial aspects of policy making, stakeholder engagement, and policy implementation while centring around the alignment of priorities in the Western Balkans, with a specific focus on the transformative topics of Digital Transformation, Green Deal, and Healthy Societies.
Objectives and outcomes
A key objective of the POLICY ANSWERS project was to bridge the gap between national/regional priorities and EU priorities while supporting the integration of the WB into relevant EU initiatives and platforms. The focus was placed in particular on European Partnerships, but also on the EU Missions, Smart Specialisation platforms, initiatives of the EIT and other key opportunities were addressed - all of which contribute to shaping a digital, green, and healthy future for the WB.
Through fruitful discussions with participants, facilitators, and regional experts, the conference has yielded valuable insights and policy recommendations in the areas of green, digital, and health. These recommendations can be found in detail here.
Join the EU-WB Policy Dialogue Stakeholder Platform!
The "Policy Dialogue on Aligning Priorities in the Western Balkans" Conference was a kick-off event of a newly established EU-WB Policy Dialogue Stakeholder Platform which POLICY ANSWERS will sustain until the end of the project. The primary objective is facilitating interactive exchanges among different actors, providing a "space" where challenges can be addressed and optimal solutions can be offered. The platform will also showcase best practices from within and outside the Western Balkans. Participants of the conference are already registered in the platform, in particular: representatives of governments, and international organisations alongside other essential stakeholders, European Commission representatives, and external experts.
To learn more about the programme and the different sessions, please visit the conference page on the above-mentioned platform and see the articles prepared on the WB Info Hub.
POLICY ANSWERS workshop on Researchers´ Mobility
Back-to-back with the Conference on Aligning Priorities in the Western Balkans and the Workshop on Research Infrastructures, the project POLICY ANSWERS invited experts to discuss on a pilot mobility scheme for early-stage researchers at the workshop “Designing a regional mobility scheme for better access to Research Infrastructures in the Western Balkans”.
More information on the workshop is available here.
POLICY ANSWERS workshop on Research Infrastructures:
Following the POLICY ANSWERS conference and the workshop on Mobility, POLICY ANSWERS co-organised a half-day workshop on Research Infrastructures together with the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC).
More information on the workshop is available here.
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