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On 21 October 2025, Science|Business held its second Southeast Europe Conference, following the successful inaugural edition in Skopje, North Macedonia in 2024. This year’s meeting, hosted by the University of Montenegro in Podgorica, the newest member of the Science|Business Widening Group, symbolised the region´s growing importance and engagement in European research and innovation landscape. The event took place in parallel with the Ministerial Meeting of the Western Balkans Platform on Research and Innovation, creating a unique bridge between political dialogue and expert exchange. Together, both meetings underlined a shared ambition: to deepen partnerships, strengthen collaboration, and align regional policies with European strategies for research, innovation, and higher education.
At a time when European enlargement is regaining strong political momentum – recognised as a geostrategic investment in peace, security, stability, and prosperity – the conference acted as both a strategic platform and a practical forum to explore how the Western Balkans can be more fully integrated into the European Research Area (ERA). Discussions were grounded in real-life examples of successful regional initiatives, showing how collaboration, perseverance, and shared purpose can translate into tangible results and measurable impact.
The event brought together leaders and decision-makers from across Europe: spanning government, academia, industry, and research institutes to debate policy priorities, share good practices, and explore how to maximise the regional impact of EU instruments such as Horizon Europe, COST Actions, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), the POLICY ANSWERS project and more.
POLICY ANSWERS was particularly proud to present two of the recipients of the Western Balkans Innovation Vouchers and the participation of the Work Package Leaders Andrijana Tasevska (INOVA) and Sanja Damjanovic (GSI).
Through these exchanges, the conference highlighted that the Widening agenda remains essential, not only as a funding mechanism, but as a driver of excellence, collaboration, and capacity-building across the region, supporting candidate countries in advancing their enlargement goals through stronger innovation ecosystems. For Science|Business, bringing this community together on the ground is essential: to connect local innovators with European partners, strengthen regional ecosystems, and ensure that voices from Southeast Europe are fully part of Europe’s scientific and innovation future.
The full report can be found below. For more information about the ScienceBusiness Widening Group please refer to this page: The Widening | Science|Business. The POLICY ANSWERS project / Western Balkans Info Hub is part of the ScienceBusiness Widening group.