Session 1.1
Smart Specialisation Strategies in the Western Balkans
This session examines the role of Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) in shaping innovation-driven development across the Western Balkans. As several countries in the region advance along the EU accession path, S3 frameworks are becoming a central tool for aligning national innovation systems with EU cohesion policy principles and regional development priorities. The discussion will explore how governments, universities, businesses, and regional authorities are identifying strategic sectors where competitive advantages can be built through targeted investments in research, technology, and skills. Particular attention will be given to the process of entrepreneurial discovery, stakeholder engagement, and the creation of innovation ecosystems capable of supporting long-term economic transformation. Participants will reflect on the challenges faced by Western Balkan economies when implementing S3, including institutional capacity constraints, fragmented innovation systems, limited industry–academia collaboration, and uneven territorial development.
Smart Specialisation
Innovation ecosystems
EU Accession
Entrepreneurial discovery
Time & Room:
TBA ·
Speakers: TBA
Session 1.2
Data Governance (DO-AIR)
The rapid expansion of digital technologies has transformed the way data is generated, shared, and used in economic and policy decision-making. This session focuses on emerging models of data governance and their implications for innovation, regional development, and institutional cooperation, with particular reference to the DO-AIR initiative. The discussion will address how open data frameworks, data-sharing infrastructures, and interoperable governance mechanisms can support evidence-based policymaking, research collaboration, and digital innovation. Participants will explore how regional platforms for data exchange can strengthen cooperation between public institutions, research organisations, and private-sector actors.
Data governance
DO-AIR
Open data
Digital policy
Time & Room:
TBA ·
Speakers: TBA
Session 1.3
Youth Empowerment and Skills Development
Young people represent one of the most important drivers of economic and social transformation in the Adriatic–Ionian and Western Balkan regions. Yet many countries continue to face significant challenges related to youth unemployment, skills mismatches, brain drain, and limited opportunities for meaningful participation in economic life. This session explores how education systems, labour market policies, and innovation ecosystems can be redesigned to empower young people and better align skills development with emerging economic opportunities.
Youth unemployment
Skills development
Brain drain
Labour markets
Time & Room:
TBA ·
Speakers: TBA
Session 1.4
EU Macro-Regional Strategies as Geopolitical and Institutional Laboratories
EU Macro-Regional Strategies (MRS) are among the most innovative governance frameworks developed by the European Union to address shared challenges across transnational functional areas. Operating without new legislation or dedicated funding, MRS relies on coordination, policy alignment, and multilevel cooperation among Member States, non-EU countries, regions, and stakeholders. In an era of increasing geopolitical fragmentation, they function as soft yet strategic arenas that positively affect regional stability, European integration, and cross-border cohesion.
Macro-regional strategies
EUSAIR
EU governance
Geopolitics
Europeanisation
Time & Room:
TBA ·
Speakers: TBA