The European Union strives for value-based leadership in its initiatives related to science diplomacy and research cooperation with non-EU Member States such as the Western Balkan countries. An important element is the discourse about “Responsible Research and Innovation” (RRI), which revolves around key concepts such as ethics, gender equality, openness, science education and public engagement, integrity, transparency, inclusiveness and academic freedom. In this session, the importance of cooperation involving representatives from the government, business and academic sectors as well as civil society is highlighted. The so-called Western Balkans are one of the geographical areas that highly benefit from the spreading of co-creation and responsible research and innovation principles and dimensions in cooperation with the EU.

The session explores the current state of play of RRI by highlighting good practices and success stories of the inclusion of the countries and their actors into the EU networks, and the steps the region takes to modernize its research and innovation systems and its economies in line with RRI pillars and dimensions