Danube-INCO.NET is a FP7 funded coordination and support action for the official EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) in the field of research and innovation. Whereas the EUSDR compiles a wide variety of priority areas (ranging from PA 1A „Mobility/Waterways” to PA 11 „Security“), DANUBE-INCO.NET focuses mainly on two of them: PA 7 „Knowledge Society“ and PA 8 „Competitiveness“. Within these two priority areas the project picks up exactly these social and entrepreneurial challenges, the regions along the Danube river nowadays mostly face – such as weak economic ties related to research and innovation (R&I) cooperation between these regions, the brain drain as such and the loss of human capital or the lack of innovative approaches to social problems. With the help of joined work forces from 19 project partners from 14 countries, Danube-INCO.NET seeks to overcome obstacles hindering the social and economic development of the Danube region. The project duration is 36 months, during which different activities are scheduled. The project will be putting in all effort to ensure that all events, publications and policy recommendations related to R&I cooperation in the Danube Region will reach an audience as broad as possible interested and engaged in the future macro-regional development of the Danube Region.

From 03 to 04 February 2014 the Palais Ferstl in Vienna hosts the kick-off meeting for the project. On these two days the project partners will meet for the first time to celebrate the official launch of the project on January, 1^st 2014, and to have first working sessions about the upcoming project tasks. As the project leader, the Centre for Social Innovation organizes the kick-off meeting and will discuss the roadmap and main goals of Danube-INCO.NET with the project partners during these two days. For a full list of the project partners (which are coming from very different institutional backgrounds and provide a broad field of expertise, such as universities, research centres, ministries and companies), please see: https://www.zsi.at/de/object/project/3015.

More information will be available soon on our website: www.danube-inco.net (scheduled launch in April 2014).

In the meanwhile and if you have any questions, concerns or comments, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.

Contact:

Ms. Elke Dall, Mr. Philipp Brugner

Email: office@danube-inco.net