The Award aims to support the Western Balkans’ economic development by embracing digital transformation and fostering environmental sustainability. The purpose of the Butterfly Innovation Award is to promote innovation culture in the Western Balkans through showcasing successful innovative achievements and empowering sensitive groups such as youth and women. The RCC welcomes applications from innovation teams/individuals from the region for the following categories:

Industry Innovation Award
aims to recognise innovative solutions that are making waves in the industry and may be of interest to European and global markets. It covers any of the following topics:

• Automotive industry,
• Metal-processing,
• Creative industries,
• Agrofood,
• Green & Circular Economy,
• Tourism, and
• Fintech, Edtech, Biotech, Healthtech and similar fields.

Green Innovation Award

aims to raise awareness of sustainable and environmentally-friendly innovative solutions that support the green transition of the Western Balkans. The award targets the following topics:

• Climate action aimed at mitigation and adaptation measures,
• Sustainable energy, mobility & agriculture,
• Fight against pollution,
• Nature and biodiversity protection.

STEM Innovation Award

aims to recognise individuals, informal groups or organisations for outstanding achievements in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields. Its purpose is to shine a light on enthusiastic teams in secondary and higher education that have significantly contributed to promoting the importance of STEM for the Western Balkans’ industry (e.g. innovative STEM education or training programmes designed to encourage high school students – preferably girls or young women – to enroll in higher education STEM courses or enter STEM careers).

Youth Innovation Award

aims to recognise undergraduate university students or high school students’ innovative achievements in any of the above topics.

University Innovation Award

aims to promote entrepreneurial culture at universities for innovative solutions created by university staff or students in any of the above topics.

Women Innovation Award

aims to identify, promote and empower women with innovative solutions that will inspire future women innovators and entrepreneurs in the Western Balkans. (Note: If an applicant is a company, a woman or a group of women should have at least 51% of ownership or hold managing position(s) in the company.)