Given that Montenegro is the initiator of the infrastructure that is aimed at the establishment of the South East Europe International Institute for Sustainable Technologies (SEEIIST), during this thematic session Minister Damjanović informed all those present about the activities on the implementation of the project, indicating the resulting benefits to be enjoyed by the countries involved in the project.

Minister Damjanović stressed that it was the first time the region was using the instrument of science diplomacy to restore the former tradition of technological development that was once enjoyed by the region of South East Europe. This would bring benefits not only to the scientific but also to the political community, as demonstrated by the already successful examples of CERN and the SESAME Institute in Jordan. Damjanović also said that SEEIIST was compliant with all sustainable development goals, including health as one of the most important ones, as well as that the Institute would be one of the best green infrastructure examples.

In addition to Minister Damjanović, those present at the panel were also addressed by Her Royal Highness Sumaya bint El Hassan, President of the Royal Scientific Society of Jordan (RSS), Prof. Herwig Schopper, Former Director General of CERN, Sekazi Mtingwa, Chair of Executive Committee of LAAAMP (Lightsources for Africa, the Americas, Asia and Middle East Project) and Atish Dabholkar, Director of Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP).

This year, the World Science Forum celebrates the 20^th anniversary of the 1999 World Conference of Science, organised by UNESCO in Budapest, as well as the prominent role the World Science Forum has played in bringing together world leaders for science ever since then. The main theme of this year’s forum was a reflection on the theme of the original 1999 conference, entitled “Science, Ethics and Responsibility”.