Dear friends of the Danube Region Strategy,

Since our last update in January, the Danube Region Strategy has taken a leap forward in the fields of communication, embedding, evaluation and governance. Read more below on

the new EUSDR smart app,
the invitation to submit an offer for the EUSDR policy evaluation,
progress in embedding the Danube Region Stratey in EU programmes,
ESPON Territorial Scenarios for the Danube and Adriatic Ionian Macro-Regions,
Ukraine preparing for the EUSDR Presidency 2022 and
an overview of upcoming EUSDR meetings and events.

Kind regards
Your DSP Team

Always up to date with the new EUSDR App!

© TierneyMJ on Shutterstock.com

EUSDR – Danube Region Strategy is the name of the smart app that can be downloaded from Google Play or App Store for mobile devices now! This too, without the necessity of creating an account and implicitly without storing user data.

Get an overview of all countries participating in the EUSDR on an animated Danube Region map and receive info in real time by activating the notification button in the latest news section!

Never miss an interesting event - with the EUSDR app you can  add each upcoming event in your personal calendar.

Contacts of the EUSDR core stakeholders are now at hand within the app, too.

And for the bon vivants among us, the app offers a Living along the Danube section! It will take you on a journey through the Danube countries showing beautiful, less known sights of the region, including cultural routes established by the Council of Europe as well as traditional recipes and important personalities born in the Danube Region who, through their contributions, shaped the world we live in today.

EUSDR Policy Evaluation - Invitation to submit an Offer!

© Airdone on Shutterstock.com

The Danube Strategy Point invites interested parties to submit proposals for conducting a policy evaluation of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR).

Interested experts must demonstrate their experience, capacity and suggested approach to carrying out the policy evaluation in view of the specification presented in the Terms of Reference.

The Danube Strategy Point advises to read the Terms of Reference and the EUSDR Evaluation Plan in detail before drafting and submitting their offer. The offers, including all relevant documents, are to be submitted in English, no later than 22 June 2021 at 1:00 pm (CEST) via e-mail to office@eusdr-dsp.eu.

For questions, please address an e-mail to office@eusdr-dsp.eu until 18 June 2021, 1:00 pm.

Annex 1 Terms of Reference for the policy evaluation of the EUSDR
Annex 2 Evaluation Plan of the EUSDR

EUSDR Embedding moving forward!

© Danube Strategy Point

At the 4th meeting of the EUSDR Task Force Embedding on 8 June 2021, the Slovak EUSDR Presidency gave insight into the process of matching the 36 shortlisted EUSDR topics  for embedding with the Slovak draft Partnership Agreement, the Operational Programe Slovakia and the Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialisation. Furthermore, EC/DG REGIO explained how the screening of mainstream national and regional programmes within the European Commission is conducted and how the thematic embedding of MRS should be reflected in the programmes.

Established in the beginning of 2021, the Danube Region network of European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)/Cohesion Fund (CF) MAs met once and the network of authorities responsible for IPA III/NDICI programming in the Danube Region met twice, the most recent meeting taking place on 10 June 2021.

At the IPAIII/NDICI meeting on 10 June representatives of the Cross Border Cooperation Programme Romania-Serbia presented how the specific objective "Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Prevention" of the new Interreg CBC Programme Romania-Serbia is intertwined with the EUSDR Pillars "Protecting the Environment" and "Strengthening the Region".

Members of the two networks shared their knowledge and perspectives in a survey, one for each network, exploring various aspects of the embedding process: the programmes foreseen to be implemented in each country, priorities and objectives within national programming processes, perceived bottlenecks in the embedding process, desired assistance and guidance in the embedding process as well as best opportunities for synchronised calls.

These are just a few examples of experience exchange provided by the EUSDR Task Force Embedding and the two new networks of managing and programming authorities and they show how the EUSDR embedding process is moving in a more and more concrete direction.

EUSDR embedding was also the main point on the agenda of the meeting of EUSDR National Coordinators on 15 June 2021.

The next meetings of the networks are envisaged for September (ERDF/CF) and October (IPAIII/NDICI) 2021.

We will keep you up to date on further developments!

ESPON Territorial Scenarios for the Danube and Adriatic Ionian Macro-Regions

© ESPON 2019

Just after the finalisation of the MRS Monitoring Tool, ESPON recently commissioned Spatial Foresight with conducting the study „Territorial Scenarios for the Danube and Adriatic Ionian Macro-regions (TEVI 2050)”.

The aim of the study is to develop territorial scenarios for 2050, based on demographic trends and GDP with a focus on digitalisation, migration and demographic change as well as climate change and sustainable development.

A Steering Committee has been established in which EUSDR NCs and PACs are participating. Three meetings will be held in order to gather opinions and inputs in relation to the evidence produced and also to actively involve EUSDR stakeholders in the development of the scenarios. The DSP will support the coordination of the process.

Find more information on the study here: https://www.espon.eu/TEVI2050

Ukraine preparing for EUSDR Presidency 2022

© Danube Strategy Point

On 1 November 2021 Ukraine will become the first non-EU country taking on the mandate of the EUSDR Presidency for all 14 participating states of the Danube Region Strategy. As EUSDR chair, Ukraine commits to share the initiatives of former EUSDR Presidencies and take all necessary measures to achieve tangible results, especially the implementation of the revised EUSDR Action Plan.

To support the Ukrainian National Coordinators’ team in preparing Ukraine’s EUSDR Presidency, the Danube Strategy Point, jointly with DG REGIO, the incumbent Slovak EUSDR Presidency and the former Croatian EUSDR Presidency recently organised four capacity building meetings dedicated to the following topics: the EUSDR core governance and its stakeholders; the guiding (political and thematic) role of the EUSDR Presidency; the main milestones of the EUSDR Presidency mandate in reflecting EU and national priorities; the question of embedding the EUSDR into EU-funding programmes as well as the interdependencies between the EUSDR and the Interreg Danube Transnational Programme.

Representatives of the current Slovak EUSDR Presidency and the former Croatian EUSDR Presidency expressed their commitment to support the Ukrainian colleagues in the preparations and implementation of the Presidency programme and Jean-Pierre Halkin, Head of Unit for Macro-regions, Transnational, Interregional, External Cooperation and Enlargement within DG REGIO, underlined the importance of Ukraine’s chairmanship of the Strategy sending a signal of commitment towards good relations within the EUSDR as well as with the European Union.

Upcoming EUSDR Meetings & Events

© Danube Strategy Point

Before the summer break it's time to check the calendar to make the most of what the EUSDR still has on offer in June and to keep important dates in autumn clear:

Meetings organised by the Slovak EUSDR Presidency

EUSDR MAs Network meeting (ERDF+CF) - September 2021
EUSDR MAs Network meeting (IPAIII/NDICI) - October 2021
10th EUSDR Annual Forum - 26-27 October 2021


EUSDR Steering Group Meetings

PA 1a - 22 June 2021
PA 1b - 22 June 2021
PA 2 - 29 June 2021
PA 3 - 30 June 2021
PA 5 - 17 June 2021

Further EUSDR relevant events

PA 9 Stakeholder Conference - 17-18 June 2021
Danube Day 2021 - 29 June 2021
Danube Business Talks - 13 October 2021
Danube Participation Day - 25 October 2021


Get the full picture of EUSDR relevant events in June and in the upcoming months here!

Danube Strategy Point
office@eusdr-dsp.eu
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