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Between February 2024 and February 2026, the POLICY ANSWERS project hosted a series of 17 webinars on the EU–Western Balkans Policy Dialogue Stakeholder Platform, bringing together more than 300 participants from research institutions, companies, NGOs, ministries and national funding agencies across the region.
The series aimed to stimulate policy dialogue on how to align Western Balkans priorities with those of the European Union across three key thematic areas: Digital Transformation, Green Deal and Healthy Societies. Topics ranged from state-of-the-art overviews and EU initiative introductions to peer-to-peer learning from national agencies in Türkiye, Malta and Moldova. The webinars proved to be a successful tool for connecting diverse stakeholders and demonstrating cooperation opportunities with the Western Balkans.
You can download the full summary document below and explore each session individually in the overview that follows.
Webinar 1 · 22 February 2024
Overview of the Western Balkans on their Pathway to implement the Digital Agenda – Challenges, Best Practices and Recommendations
Speaker: Bojana Bajic | Organisation: Regional School of Public Affairs (ReSPA), Montenegro
Bojana Bajic from ReSPA outlined how the Western Balkans are advancing their Digital Agenda by prioritising “digitalisation by default”. The webinar reviewed regional strengths — including growing graduate numbers in ICT — alongside key challenges such as low basic digital skills, uneven internet access and gender imbalances in tech. Recommendations covered improved digital literacy programmes, better interoperability and e-ID infrastructure, legislation aligned with the EU digital acquis, accessible online one-stop portals and increased digitalisation of businesses, all to bolster public administration efficiency, citizen services and regional competitiveness.
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Webinar 2 · 28 March 2024
Overview of the Western Balkans on their Pathway towards Modern Health Policy – Challenges, Best Practices and Recommendations
Speaker: Marija Jevtic | Organisation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Serbia
This webinar outlined progress and challenges in modernising health policy across the Western Balkans. Key issues included underfunded systems, workforce shortages and limited digital infrastructure. The presentation highlighted best practices such as Serbia’s e-health initiatives, and stressed the need for EU alignment, regional cooperation and investment in digital and green health reforms to build resilient, equitable healthcare systems across the region.
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Webinar 3 · 25 April 2024
Overview of the Western Balkans on their Pathway to implement the Green Agenda – Challenges, Best Practices and Recommendations
Speaker: Djordje Djatkov | Organisation: Faculty of Technical Science, University of Novi Sad, Serbia
This webinar examined the Western Balkans’ efforts to implement the 2020 Sofia Declaration and Green Agenda in line with the EU’s Green Deal. Core challenges identified included weak governance, limited public financing, administrative capacity gaps, continued reliance on coal and underdeveloped circular economy infrastructure. Best practices and recommendations covered scaling renewable energy (biomass, solar, hydropower), carbon pricing and ETS mechanisms, circular economy and waste management, and strengthening regional cooperation. The presentation also stressed investment in biodiversity aligned with Natura 2000 and called for Smart Specialisation, sustainable innovation and funding via IPA and green finance instruments.
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Webinar 4 · 27 May 2024
Mission-oriented Innovation: Status and Future Opportunities for the Western Balkans
Speakers: Michael Ploder, Christian Hartmann | Organisation: Joanneum Research, Graz, Austria
This webinar explored Missions in Horizon Europe and how mission-oriented innovation can boost growth and resilience in the Western Balkans. It examined the current landscape and outlined future opportunities to better connect the region with EU Missions in areas such as climate adaptation, healthy oceans, smart cities and food security, focusing on the potential of Western Balkans organisations for active participation.
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Webinar 5 · 27 June 2024
Innovating the Food System: Status and Future Opportunities of European Partnerships for the Western Balkans
Speaker: Mirek Raba | Organisation: EIT Food Co-Location Centre North East
This session examined challenges facing the food system — climate change, resource depletion and waste, malnutrition and diet-related diseases — through a mission-based approach with players across the food value chain. It highlighted how the EIT has established communities and interactive training programmes in the Western Balkans, aimed at educating stakeholders on how Research Infrastructures can be leveraged for science–industry collaboration.
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Webinar 6 · 18 July 2024
Challenges and Opportunities for the Mission-oriented Implementation of Climate Adaptation and Sustainable Cities
Speaker: Elena Simion | Organisation: UEFISCDI (Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding)
This webinar analysed how mission-oriented frameworks can accelerate climate adaptation and sustainable urban development. It highlighted uneven understanding of EU Missions across the region, and explored how the HARMONMISSIONS project in the Danube Region builds knowledge, strengthens governance models and fosters cooperation to help cities meet EU Mission goals on climate resilience and smart, green urban transformation.
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Webinar 7 · 31 October 2024
Adding Value to the Biomass in Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans
Speaker: Barna Kovacs | Organisation: BIOEAST — Central-Eastern European Initiative for Knowledge-based Agriculture, Aquaculture and Forestry in the Bioeconomy
The webinar highlighted the untapped potential of biomass in the region and the need to shift from raw exports to local processing that supports rural development and sustainability. It emphasised knowledge transfer, investment in bio-refinery infrastructure and coordinated EU-level policy support. The BIOEAST initiative was presented as a model for building a circular bio-based economy that creates jobs, adds value locally and aligns with environmental goals.
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Webinar 8 · 5 December 2024
Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) on Raw Material
Speaker: Tobias C. Kampmann | Organisation: Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems (VINNOVA)
This webinar introduced the EU’s Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda on Raw Materials — a comprehensive roadmap developed with wide stakeholder involvement to support sustainable, circular and resilient supply chains for primary and secondary raw materials. Key thematic areas included efficient resource design, governance, social benefits and innovation capacity. The session stressed the importance of aligning R&I efforts with the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act and preparing for the EU Partnership on Raw Materials under Horizon Europe.
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Webinar 9 · 30 January 2025
Water4All Partnership: Opportunities for the Western Balkans
Speakers: Ariane Blum (Water4All), Natalia Bolocan (National Agency of Research and Development, NARD)
The goals and structure of the EU’s Water4All Partnership were presented in this webinar. Ariane Blum outlined its Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda, focusing on water security, climate adaptation and circular water use. Natalia Bolocan highlighted concrete pathways for Western Balkans engagement through joint calls, policy dialogue and capacity building, emphasising alignment of regional priorities with EU water research efforts and stronger cross-border collaboration.
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Webinar 10 · 13 March 2025
Smart Specialisation in EU Enlargement Countries
Speakers: Emanuele Fabbri (European Commission – Joint Research Centre), Viktor Nedovic (SAIGE), Lazar Zivkovic (Institute of Economic Sciences, Belgrade), Dijana Strbac (EUSDR Priority Area 7)
This webinar explored how Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) are being developed in EU enlargement countries. Emanuele Fabbri presented the EU’s support for innovation-driven growth through S3, while the other speakers discussed regional progress, challenges and opportunities for cross-border collaboration. The session positioned S3 as a key tool for boosting research, innovation and competitiveness on the path towards EU integration.
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Webinar 11 · 24 April 2025
How to Become Active in EU Partnerships: The Approach of Türkiye
Speaker: Serhat Melik | Organisation: TÜBITAK, Türkiye
This webinar showcased how TÜBITAK actively supports Turkish stakeholders in engaging with EU partnerships under Horizon Europe. Serhat Melik explained TÜBITAK’s role in guiding national organisations through capacity building, matchmaking and advice on responding to partnership calls — funded under both Coordination and Support Actions and Co-fund projects. The presentation emphasised how such engagement boosts Turkey’s research ecosystem, fosters collaboration with the European Research Area and positions national actors more strongly within EU collaborative programmes.
Recording not yet available.
Webinar 12 · 22 May 2025
The Role of HPC and e-Infrastructures in Montenegro’s Development
Speaker: Luka Filipović | Organisation: University of Donja Gorica, Montenegro
This webinar examined Montenegro’s progress in deploying High-Performance Computing (HPC) and e-infrastructures to accelerate digital transformation and align with EU research standards. The speaker traced Montenegro’s trajectory from past projects to its current role leading the National Competence Centre under EuroCC2. Concrete HPC use cases were showcased — including AI-driven solutions for agriculture, finance and healthcare — highlighting how coordinated efforts between public bodies, universities and businesses are unlocking advanced computational capabilities for regional innovation and integration into the European Research Area.
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Webinar 13 · 17 July 2025
PRIMA and the Western Balkans: Advancing Sustainable Innovation through Euro-Mediterranean Collaboration
Speaker: Antonella Autino | Organisation: PRIMA Partnership (The Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area)
PRIMA programme coordinator Antonella Autino showcased how PRIMA fosters resilient, sustainable innovation across the water–energy–food–ecosystem (WEFE) nexus by engaging the Western Balkans through targeted Euro-Mediterranean partnerships. The session highlighted funding opportunities, regional case studies and PRIMA’s strategic alignment with the EU Growth Plan for the region, leveraging integrated approaches to strengthen sustainability, resilience and regional cooperation.
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Webinar 14 · 13 November 2025
Malta’s Experience in EU Partnerships: Contributions and Added Value
Speaker: Annalisa Cartabia | Organisation: Xjenza Malta
Xjenza Malta — Malta’s national funding agency for Research and Innovation — presented how its Internationalisation Unit has expanded participation in EU Partnerships. The session highlighted Malta’s contributions and the benefits of active involvement in these initiatives. Annalisa Cartabia also introduced the A2P Scheme, an innovative funding mechanism that enables Malta-based researchers to participate in transnational Horizon Europe calls across more than 50 initiatives in various thematic areas.
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Webinar 15 · 11 December 2025
EIT Communities as Drivers of EU-wide R&I Integration
Speaker: Branka Žižić | Organisation: EIT Community Montenegro
Branka Žižić provided an overview of how EIT (European Institute of Innovation and Technology) Communities function as drivers of EU-wide R&I integration. She outlined the position of the EIT within Horizon Europe, explained how Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) operate, and presented data on Western Balkans participation compared to other regions. Drawing on the experience of one of the first EIT Community Hubs in the region, the presentation highlighted both the opportunities created by a local presence and the challenges for effective implementation, illustrated with successful examples of gradual integration from Montenegro and the wider international context.
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Webinar 16 · 29 January 2026
Research and Technology Infrastructures: Policy, Practice and Recent Developments in Europe – Emerging Opportunities for the Western Balkans
Speakers: Lisa Cowey (The Technology Transfer Interface), Damir Medved (Regional Cooperation Council), Sinisa Marcic (Western Balkans Knowledge Transfer Toolkit Initiative)
This webinar introduced the definitions of Research Infrastructure (RI) and Technology Infrastructure (TI) through European developments and examples. It covered key strategic documents and recent policy changes — including the European Strategy on Research and Technology Infrastructure and the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy — and addressed regional opportunities by mapping the Western Balkans ecosystem across Deep Tech, scale-ups, start-ups and regional hubs to identify cross-sectoral opportunities.
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Webinar 17 · 24 February 2026
Looking Back, Moving Forward: Integrated Policy Insights on Digital Transformation, Health and the Green Deal
Speakers: Marija Jevtic (Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad), Djordje Djatkov (Faculty of Technical Science, University of Novi Sad), Bojana Bajic (ReSPA Montenegro)
In this closing webinar, the three regional experts who launched the series in early 2024 returned to provide an integrated overview of progress on Digital Transformation, Health and the Green Deal in the Western Balkans. The three presentations focused on remaining challenges, key actions and targets needed — including foresight perspectives — and pointed to recent reports and policies that will frame these three priority areas going forward.