Building on shared knowledge of Danube projects

For over 20 years, the Interreg Danube Region Programme has supported organizations across the Danube region in working together to address shared challenges. Through transnational projects, these organizations have fostered professional networks and generated a wealth of valuable knowledge. We are well aware about the expertise within the organizations themselves, and have been working on amplifying its impact by promoting deeper collaboration—between projects, across various Interreg programmes, and with the EU Strategy for the Danube Region. 

To make the most of everyone’s work, we grouped 60 projects from the first call into 12 working groups. Each group focuses on a key topic, making it easier for projects to share ideas, learn from each other, and plan joint activitiesr. Among these topis are sustainable cities and regions; smart technologies and Industry 4.0; sharing technology; circular economy; renewable energy; cleaner transportation; inclusive job markets; adapting to climate change; education and lifelong learning, etc.

The process of collaboration began with a workshop in Belgrade in April 2024, which took place during the implementation seminar for the first call projects. This was followed by online discussions in September. These meetings provided participants with the opportunity to meet each other and discuss their plans.

As a result, 55 organisations participated in the discussions. Ideas for joint events, including conferences and newsletters, are currently being developed. Projects are also continuing to explore ways to collaborate more effectively. Although it's too early to see significant outcomes, these activities have already fostered strong connections between the projects.

We have also started working with the Interreg Central Europe Programme, as the two regions often focus on similar topics and involve similar stakeholders and identified three areas with great potential for collaboration innovation, energy and climate change adaptation. Next year, projects from both regions will meet online to explore how they can cooperate more closely.

Thanks to the support of the Priority Area Coordinators of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) to our capitalization activities, even greater synergies across various topics can be created .