Between October 11th and 13th , the final Open Dialogue and Mutual Learning Event of our WBC-RRI.NET project was organized by Co-PLAN, Institute for Habitat Development and Albanian Ministry of Tourism and Environment, with the support of Polis University in Tirana, Albania. The event saw actors from academia, industry and civil society come together in a discussion on the common challenges the Western Balkans face in directing innovation and responsible research towards the promotion of sustainability and the implementation of the Green agenda, especially in view of the fact that Smart Specialization is in its infancy across many WB regions.
The first day of the event was dedicated to introducing and discussing the core pillars of the EU Green agenda, what challenges Western Balkan countries face in implementing it and how we can strive for and secure a ‘just’ Green agenda in a sustainable and inclusive manner. Best practices from Horizon and other EU-funded projects were shared, culminating in a lively and thought-provoking discussion on the following questions regarding the integration of RRI principles in the Green transition:
- What methods and tools can facilitate stakeholder involvement in Green Transition research?
- Do we face any challenges in ethics / open access / gender dimensions / etc?
- Citizen science: what are the opportunities and challenges?
The second day picked up on the discussions of the previous day with a special emphasis on S3 and how the Western Balkans can move from S3 to S4+, exploring what place-based innovation would look like in the Western Balkans. The day ended with a workshop where participants representing different parts of the quadruple helix came up with ideas on how RRI could help inform S4+ in the region with a focus on inclusivity and sustainability.
The final day of the event was dedicated to a networking side-event with the the International Conference “Issues of Housing, Planning, and Resilient Development of the Territory “, organized by Polis University and the Albanian Science Academy.
