1. Integration of the Western Balkans to the European Research Area – ongoing projects WBC-INCO.NET and SEE-ERA.NET Elke Dall, Centre for Social Innovation March 6-7, 2009 Bucharest (Romania)

2. SEE-ERA.NET (PLUS) … provides funding for research cooperation in South East Europe

3. Joint SEE-ERA.NET funding activities SEE-ERA.NET Pilot Joint Call for RTD Proposals (PJC): –Pilot phase –moderate financial contributions –joint funding strategy (White Paper) –joint project application reviewing system –deadline for project proposals: end of March 2007 –continuous monitoring –booklet with project results to be presented in the next months

4. Launching the SEE-ERA.NET PLUS Call National contributions of €2.675.000,- to the call budget show the national commitment of the consortium members to the SEE-ERA.NET PLUS project Together with the contribution of the EC, the call budget amounts to 3.5 Million Euros. Topics: ICT and Agro food (subgroups to be defined) Provisional launch date: September 1, 2009 2-stage procedure Contact: National Contact Points, coordinator: ZSI, Marion Haberfellner www.see-era.net

5. Partners in SEE-ERA.NET plus ZSI (Austria)- CoordinatorMOES (Albania)MZOS (Croatia) MON-MK (FYR of Macedonia)MPIN (Montenegro)MSCI (Serbia) GSRT (Greece)MHEST (Slovenia)BMWF (Austria) BMBF (Germany)PT-DLR (Germany)MES-CRA (Bulgaria) TUBITAK (Turkey)MVP (BiH)ANCS (Romania) MESR (France)MAE (France)

6. Summary and Objectives

7. Partners in WBC-INCO.NET 1. ZSI (Austria)- Coordinator2. MOES (Albania)3. MZOS (Croatia) 4. MON-MK (FYR of Macedonia) 5. MPIN (Montenegro)6. MSTD (Serbia) 7. SUS BiH (Bosnia and Herzegovina) 8. MPI (Serbia)9. Ivo Pilar (Croatia) 10. KEC (Kosovo/UNMIK)11. CIVET (Albania)12. SBRA (Slovenia) 13. SEERC (Greece)14. UNU-MERIT (Netherlands)15. JRC (Belgium/Spain) 16. PT-DLR (Germany)17. FFG (Austria)18. TÜBITAK (Turkey) 19. GSRT (Greece)20. MHEST (Slovenia)21. BMWF (Austria) 22. BMBF (Germany)23. MES-CRA (Bulgaria)24. TURBO (Belgium/Turkey) 25. APRE (Italy)26. MCA (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

8. Partners in WBC-INCO.NET 1. ZSI (Austria)- Coordinator2. MOES (Albania)3. MZOS (Croatia) 4. MON-MK (FYR of Macedonia) 5. MPIN (Montenegro)6. MSTD (Serbia) 7. SUS BiH (Bosnia and Herzegovina) 8. MPI (Serbia)9. Ivo Pilar (Croatia) 10. KEC (Kosovo/UNMIK)11. CIVET (Albania)12. SBRA (Slovenia) 13. SEERC (Greece)14. UNU-MERIT (Netherlands)15. JRC (Belgium/Spain) 16. PT-DLR (Germany)17. FFG (Austria)18. TÜBITAK (Turkey) 19. GSRT (Greece)20. MHEST (Slovenia)21. BMWF (Austria) 22. BMBF (Germany)23. MES-CRA (Bulgaria)24. TURBO (Belgium/Turkey) 25. APRE (Italy)26. MCA (Bosnia and Herzegovina) WBC-Ministries

9. Partners in WBC-INCO.NET 1. ZSI (Austria)- Coordinator2. MOES (Albania)3. MZOS (Croatia) 4. MON-MK (FYR of Macedonia) 5. MPIN (Montenegro)6. MSTD (Serbia) 7. SUS BiH (Bosnia and Herzegovina) 8. MPI (Serbia)9. Ivo Pilar (Croatia) 10. KEC (Kosovo/UNMIK)11. CIVET (Albania)12. SBRA (Slovenia) 13. SEERC (Greece)14. UNU-MERIT (Netherlands)15. JRC (Belgium/Spain) 16. PT-DLR (Germany)17. FFG (Austria)18. TÜBITAK (Turkey) 19. GSRT (Greece)20. MHEST (Slovenia)21. BMWF (Austria) 22. BMBF (Germany)23. MES-CRA (Bulgaria)24. TURBO (Belgium/Turkey) 25. APRE (Italy)26. MCA (Bosnia and Herzegovina) WBC-MinistriesEU-MS/AC-Ministries

10. Partners in WBC-INCO.NET 1. ZSI (Austria)- Coordinator2. MOES (Albania)3. MZOS (Croatia) 4. MON-MK (FYR of Macedonia) 5. MPIN (Montenegro)6. MSTD (Serbia) 7. SUS BiH (Bosnia and Herzegovina) 8. MPI (Serbia)9. Ivo Pilar (Croatia) 10. KEC (Kosovo/UNMIK)11. CIVET (Albania)12. SBRA (Slovenia) 13. SEERC (Greece)14. UNU-MERIT (Netherlands)15. JRC (Belgium/Spain) 16. PT-DLR (Germany)17. FFG (Austria)18. TÜBITAK (Turkey) 19. GSRT (Greece)20. MHEST (Slovenia)21. BMWF (Austria) 22. BMBF (Germany)23. MES-CRA (Bulgaria)24. TURBO (Belgium/Turkey) 25. APRE (Italy)26. MCA (Bosnia and Herzegovina) WBC-MinistriesWBC- Support InstitutesEU-MS/AC-Ministries

11. Partners in WBC-INCO.NET 1. ZSI (Austria)- Coordinator2. MOES (Albania)3. MZOS (Croatia) 4. MON-MK (FYR of Macedonia) 5. MPIN (Montenegro)6. MSTD (Serbia) 7. SUS BiH (Bosnia and Herzegovina) 8. MPI (Serbia)9. Ivo Pilar (Croatia) 10. KEC (Kosovo/UNMIK)11. CIVET (Albania)12. SBRA (Slovenia) 13. SEERC (Greece)14. UNU-MERIT (Netherlands)15. JRC (Belgium/Spain) 16. PT-DLR (Germany)17. FFG (Austria)18. TÜBITAK (Turkey) 19. GSRT (Greece)20. MHEST (Slovenia)21. BMWF (Austria) 22. BMBF (Germany)23. MES-CRA (Bulgaria)24. TURBO (Belgium/Turkey) 25. APRE (Italy)26. MCA (Bosnia and Herzegovina) WBC-MinistriesWBC- Support InstitutesEU-MS/AC Support Inst.EU-MS/AC-Ministries

12. Dialogue activities WBC-INCO.NET supports the bi-regional dialogue on Science and Technology

13. Steering Platform on Research Regular meetings conveyed by –European Commission –Council Presidency –Western Balkan countries Current co-chairs are EC, Czech Republic, Albania Members: EC + EU27 + AC with responsibility for S&T Launched during Austrian presidency in May 2006 Adopted Guidelines during the SP meeting in Thessaloniki October 2007 Meets regularly during each presidency

14. Results Platform Conclusions

15. Other dialogue activities Supporting regional dialogue (e.g. on IPA and Research, Regional Research Strategy) Dialogue with EC Cooperation DGs (on priorities) Coordination of activities with other policies in the European Commission: DG Enlargement, DG Enterprise, DG Education Close cooperation with SEE-ERA.NET (PLUS) Established contacts with several thematic ERA-NETs Cooperation with other INCO-NETs e.g. in the field of research to tackle global issues Contacts with COST, RCC, etc. established Dialogue with OECD, EUROSTAT, UNESCO

16. Priority setting activities WBC-INCO.NET identifies RTD potentials and priorities

17. Priority setting activities Objectives: Input to the workprogrammes of FP7 in selected themes Organisational learning, identifying suitable processes for stakeholder involvement SEE-ERA.NET PLUS call to be launched in autumn 2009 Regional Research Strategy: Generic activities to be implemented at regional level

18. Organisation of consultation process ICT in Serbia on December 10, 2008 cooperation: Agriculture, Food, Biotechnology in Montenegro on January 15-16, 2009 cooperation: Health in Albania on May 12 and 13, 2009 (confirmed) Transport in Bosnia-Herzegovina on May 19 and 20, 2009 (confirmed) Environment in the FYR of Macedonia on June 16 and 17, 2009 (confirmed) First phase Second phase

19. Capacity building and networking activities WBC-INCO.NET enhances participation of researchers from the region in European projects

20. Outlook support activities Benchmarking and supporting NCPs Supporting statistical offices to gather reliable S&T statistics Study barriers to cooperation Evaluate access to infrastructure Survey cooperation patterns Training for research managers on FP7 and financial issues Brokerage events Representation of WBC at major research conferences

21. Dissemination Activities WBC-INCO.NET website: news, documents, event calendar, organisation database, who-is-who, regular newsletters

22. Information exchange www.wbc-inco.net office@wbc-inco.net

23. Thank you for your attention! Elke Dall Centre for Social Innovation (ZSI) Linke Wienzeile 246 A-1150 Wien dall@zsi.at +43-1-4950442-62