Project description
EU agenda for the Western Balkans digital transformation
The EU and the Western Balkans are closer than ever. EU Member States and the Western Balkans launched the ‘Western Balkans Agenda on Innovation, Research, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport’, in October 2022. This is described as a holistic, long-term cooperation strategy. The EU-funded POLICY ANSWERS project will assist the policy dialogue through formal meetings, monitoring, agenda setting, tailored and targeted capacity building activities in the Western Balkans, and regional alignment concerning the digital transformation. The project will implement regional pilot activities and upgrade an information hub based on the wbc-rti.info platform, continuing services such as regular newsletters, media relations, and infographics and multimedia content production. POLICY ANSWERS will focus on the inclusion of under-represented groups.
Objective
The project supports the policy dialogue including formal meetings, monitoring and agenda setting, capacity building and implementation of the EU's Western Balkan Agenda, as well as the aligning of thematic priorities. It implements regional pilot activities and upgrades an information hub based on the wbc-rti.info platform.
14 partner organisations, representing network nodes in the region and EU expert organisation, support policy dialogue through ministerial meetings, Steering Platform meetings and ad-hoc policy meetings. They provide analytical evidence via monitoring and mapping activities (of the stakeholder ecosystem, implementation of the Western Balkans Agenda and integration to the European Research Area) and foresight. POLICY ANSWERS also allows for tailored and targeted capacity building activities in the Western Balkans as well as regional alignment in relation to the digital transformation, the green agenda and towards healthy societies. Pilot activities provide learning opportunities on policy and programme level and reach out to final beneficiaries related to improved academia-industry cooperation, researcher mobility, youth, promotion of research infrastructures and increased innovation skills in all areas.
The project builds on existing information hubs (for example, wbc-rti.info) and continues services such as regular newsletters, media relations, production of infographics and multimedia content. Special emphasis will be put on the inclusion of underrepresented groups and the coordination with key stakeholders and international organisations.
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-CSA - HORIZON Coordination and Support ActionsCoordinator
1150 Wien
Austria