On June 23rd, the 2nd Policy Dialogue Workshop of the Danube S3 Cluster project took place online, via ZOOM.

The event was organized by Bioeconomy Cluster - Slovakia, partner within the Danube S3 Cluster project. The meeting is part of a series of events organized within the Danube S3 Cluster project which is coordinated by South Muntenia Regional Development Agency (Romania).

The event brought together 50 participants from the Danube area, namely: project partners, representatives of SMEs, clusters, the research-innovation environment, as well as representatives of EUSDR Priority Areas 7 and 8.

During the meeting, the representatives of South Muntenia RDA presented the project as well as the way in which its results can be used in the elaboration of the Smart Specialization Strategy of the South Muntenia Region and of the Regional Operational Program 2021-2027.

Check out the Photo Gallery for the event: http://dtp.interreg-danube.eu/approved-projects/danube-s3-cluster/gallery?project_gallery=the+2nd+Policy+Dialogue+Workshop+23rd+June+2020 

The event was structured in three sessions, namely an introductory session in which the project was presented, the action plans of EUSDR Priority Areas 7 and 8, as well as a brief introduction of the working groups on clusters and regional development. Related to the strategic priorities of PA 7 of EUSDR, the focus was on the emerging challenges in the Danube region (namely the COVID-19 crisis and its negative consequences). In this regard, one of the proposed activities is the creation of a platform for mapping the effectiveness of measures in the fight against coronavirus in the Danube region.

Speakers at the event included Mr Miroslav VESKOVIC, from the Joint Research Center (JRC), who presented the European Green Deal,  S3 Thematic Platforms related to Green Deal, namely for the Bioeconomy and Agri-food sectors, as well as the new EUSDR action plan which aims to connect the macro-regional actions of the Danube with the new priorities of the Commission.

Antonio Novo, President of the European Cluster Alliance, presented the alliance's work in its fight against the economic effects of the coronavirus. At the same time, aspects related to the elaboration of smart specialization strategies in the Danube region, their strengths and weaknesses as well as their governance, financing, evaluation and monitoring were also discussed.

Gerd MEIER ZU KÖCKER, from WG Clusters and Regional Development, presented the “White Paper on strengthening the capacity of clusters in the Danube region”¸ the differences between clusters in the Danube area and those in the European Union, respectively their funding, composition, visibility and how it can be strengthen their capacity as tool for regional development. The EIT Food Hub Slovakia presented a project funded by Horizon 2020 with the main objective of supporting innovative and sustainable food systems. Another interesting part of the event was the one where the project partners presented some good practice models on how projects funded through Interreg programs can support the shaping of national cluster policies.