Periodic Reporting for period 2 - GreenFORCE (Foster Research Excellence for Green Transition in the Western Balkans)
Reporting period: 2023-10-01 to 2025-06-30
The Western Balkans continue to face significant challenges in aligning their research and innovation systems with EU standards, particularly in the field of the Green Transition. Institutional capacity remains limited, research agendas fragmented, and links between research and policy weak, while access to EU research networks is constrained. At the same time, the region’s exposure to climate risks, dependence on fossil fuels, and socio-political transition legacies underline the urgency of building strong, evidence-based research capacities to inform sustainable, just, and resilient development in line with the European Green Deal and the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans.
GreenFORCE responds to these challenges by fostering excellence in scientific research and innovation on the green transition. Through a twinning partnership between Co-PLAN (Albania), CEA (North Macedonia), and UB-GEF (Serbia) with POLITO (Italy) and Nordregio (Sweden), the project has enhanced research agendas, strengthened management and administrative systems, and enabled Western Balkan organisations to integrate into European research ecosystems. Its activities have focused on four interlinked goals: advancing shared research agendas on just green transition; building institutional capacities through collaboration, exchanges, and joint teaching; generating new comparative and exploratory research on policies, costs, and impacts; and amplifying knowledge through stakeholder engagement and open dissemination. Together, these outcomes contribute directly to bridging the gap between Western Balkan and EU research performance and to supporting policy frameworks for a just and inclusive green transition.
GreenFORCE responds to these challenges by fostering excellence in scientific research and innovation on the green transition. Through a twinning partnership between Co-PLAN (Albania), CEA (North Macedonia), and UB-GEF (Serbia) with POLITO (Italy) and Nordregio (Sweden), the project has enhanced research agendas, strengthened management and administrative systems, and enabled Western Balkan organisations to integrate into European research ecosystems. Its activities have focused on four interlinked goals: advancing shared research agendas on just green transition; building institutional capacities through collaboration, exchanges, and joint teaching; generating new comparative and exploratory research on policies, costs, and impacts; and amplifying knowledge through stakeholder engagement and open dissemination. Together, these outcomes contribute directly to bridging the gap between Western Balkan and EU research performance and to supporting policy frameworks for a just and inclusive green transition.
Over its 36 months, GreenFORCE successfully delivered on its four objectives, generating significant technical and scientific outcomes. Under Objective 1, a Shared Strategic Research Agenda on Just Green Transition (13 themes) was finalised through workshops and RAB consultations. Major outputs include the forthcoming open-access Palgrave Handbook on Just Green Transitions in the Western Balkans and Beyond, a special issue in EUROPA XXI with 10 papers, and five policy briefs translated into local languages. All results are openly accessible in Zenodo, GERY, and the project website. For Objective 2, the RAB provided guidance through three meetings, while capacity-building included 15 teaching exchanges, 12 secondments, and three stand-alone teaching events in Turin, Belgrade, and Tirana, engaging 27 WB researchers and over 700 students. Three Summer/Winter Schools were also organised, and research units at Co-PLAN, CEA, and UB-GEF were consolidated. Under Objective 3, GreenFORCE developed a conceptual framework for JGT validated with 77 stakeholders, delivered five country mapping reports plus a regional synthesis, and completed five national research cases with datasets and cost–benefit analyses. Two comparative studies on governance and monitoring frameworks were produced, while co-assessment workshops with 90 stakeholders informed the Framework for Monitoring JGT in the WB. Finally, Objective 4 was achieved through strong dissemination, with findings presented at over 10 major international conferences (AESOP, RSA, European Week of Regions and Cities), and regional networking strengthened via TG-WeB, RCC, NALAS, and Nordic partners. These exchanges resulted in the Macro-Regional Pathways Report, reinforcing WB institutions as contributors to EU-level transition debates.
Following the four specific objectives, GreenFORCE has achieved significant results over 36 months. A Shared Strategic Research Agenda on Just Green Transitions was developed, covering 13 themes, while a forthcoming Palgrave Handbook (27 chapters, open access, 2025) and a special issue in EUROPA XXI (10 scientific papers, 1 published) consolidate the consortium as a scientific reference. Five country research cases on JGT policies and impacts were completed, with datasets openly available, and a Framework for Monitoring JGT was co-designed with stakeholders. Knowledge exchange included 15 teaching exchanges, 12 secondments, and three stand-alone teaching events, engaging over 700 students and 27 WB researchers. Five policy briefs and a Macro-Regional Pathways Report were produced, strengthening research–policy uptake and positioning WB institutions in regional and EU debates.The project has generated strong scientific impact through open-access outputs, policy impact via evidence for decision-making, educational impact by embedding JGT topics into curricula, societal impact through quadruple helix engagement, and regional integration impact by reinforcing WB–EU cooperation. For further uptake, key needs include sustained research on JGT implementation, continued access to EU and regional funding, embedding monitoring frameworks in national systems, internationalisation of WB research networks, continuity of strengthened research units.