COST Connect, Sustainable Energy in the Danube Region was held in Belgrade, Serbia on October 10th, 2018. Representatives from 15 COST Actions who are working within the Danube region met with key stakeholders and policy makers to encourage greater collaboration and alignment of resources.
The initiative for organisation of this workshop came from EUSDR Priority Area 7 and Danube-INCO.NET partnership.
COST Connect events are a series of highly interactive workshops that provide open spaces for attendees to grow their ideas and build stronger research networks. This thematic approach encourages networking and dialogue between stakeholders, which reduces duplication of activities. This COST Connect workshop had the aim to:
– support the cooperation of COST Actions with relevant stakeholders in the field of sustainable energy research and innovation in the Danube region;
– encourage collaborations between relevant stakeholders and trigger alignment of resources to develop research and innovation on sustainable energy;
– promote synergies between activities funded through other EU programmes;
– provide networking opportunities for all partners involved.
The participants were welcomed by Dr Ronald de Bruin, Director of COST Association and Prof. dr Viktor Nedović, State Secretary at Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia and PA7 Co-coordinator. Mr Viktor Nedović underlined that COST is an important tool for researchers in Serbia and in the Danube region, and expressed his hope that collaboration with COST Association will continue in the future – in other scientific fields and new activities. The event was also attended by Mr Filip Šin, EUSDR PA2 Co-coordinator (Office of the Government of the Czech Republic). In his speech, he introduced the EUSDR and PA2 activities.
The methodology of the workshop was based on the concept of the “Pro Action Café”, which is a methodology for creative and inspirational conversations. Participants were invited to share their questions regarding the following topics: Renewable energy technology deployment, Photovoltaic power systems, Energy efficient end-use equipment, Clean energy education and empowerment, Bio-energy. After sharing questions and grouping them, participants formed 8 tables. Each table had a host who organised three discussion rounds in order to explore: the quest behind the question, what is missing and what is next.
