Vojvodina at the OPEN DAYS 2015
The 13th edition of the OPEN DAYS – European Week of Regions and Cities, organised by the Committee of the Regions and DG Regio, was held under the slogan “Europe’s regions and cities: partners for investment and growth” in Brussels from 12th to 15th October 2015, gathering over 5,800 participants. The programme was structured around three thematic priorities: (1) Modernising Europe: The regions in the energy Union and the single digital market; (2) Regions open for business: SME development, innovation and job creation; (3) Places and spaces: Urban and rural development; urban-rural integration.
Workshop “Responsible Research and Innovation as a Part of Regional Innovation Eco-system”
Within the OPEN DAYS 2015, AP Vojvodina was, through the European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina, a part of the consortium “Regions 4 Innovation” with the following regions: Lodzkie Region (Poland, Lead Partner), Extremadura and Andalusia (Spain), Alentejo and Algarve (Portugal), West Slovenia (Slovenia), Osijek-Baranja County (Croatia), Vysocina Region (Czech Republic) and East Wales (UK), and participated at the workshop “Responsible Research and Innovation as a Part of Regional Innovation Eco-system” at the Lodzkie House on 13th October 2015.
The workshop was organised within the ‘Regions open for business’ category and aimed at universities, institutions of higher education, innovation centres, civil society organisations (CSOs), business and policy-makers at all levels. After the plenary session, in which the participants comprised representatives of the European Commission and other experts, the topic of discussion of the thematic workshop was improvement of regional innovation capacities. The objective of the workshop was to promote research and innovation as sources of renewed growth and jobs necessary to tackle the grand societal challenges. Aligning research and innovation to the values, needs and expectations of society was fundamental towards the European Union agenda for jobs, growth, with outcomes contributing to long-term prosperity and well-being of citizens. The workshop provided room to exchange knowledge and good practices on how regions can ensure that research and innovation deliver smart, inclusive and sustainable solutions to our societal challenges, with the goal of supporting research and innovation. The participants agreed that responsible research and innovation (RRI) promoted shared values between European research and industry towards products and services and that there were three main reasons why science and society had to work hand in hand. Firstly, technology acceptance should not be pursued by means of solely economic sustainability. Secondly, diversity in research and innovation was vital for enhancing creativity and improving scientific quality. Thirdly, early and continuous engagement of all stakeholders was essential for sustainable, desirable and acceptable innovation. Partner regions raised a discussion on the role of regional and local authorities in fostering innovative capacities of regions.
The speakers at the workshop were renowned experts in several fields, such as Prof. Elżbieta Jung Ph.D., Vice-Dean for Research, Faculty of Philosophy and History, University of Łódź, Dr. Philippe Galiay, DG Research and Innovation, Dr Maurizio Salvi, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Zbigniew Matyjas
Ph.D., Associate Professor at the University of Lodz, Prof. Martin Čopić Ph.D., Full professor of physics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of the University of Ljubljana. On behalf of AP Vojvodina, the speaker at the workshop was Prof. Dr. Vladimir Crnojević, Professor at the University of Novi Sad, Head of Department for Power, Electronics and Communications and founder and director of BioSense Institute.
Round Table “Understanding Vojvodina“
The round table “Understanding Vojvodina“, organised by the European Parliament, under the auspices of Eduard Kukan, Provincial Secretariat for Culture and Public Information, Vojvodina Slovak Cultural Institute, in cooperation with the European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina, was held at the European Parliament on 13th October 2015.
The mediator of the round table was Franc Bogovič, MEP, whereas the other participants in the discussion were Ivan Jakovčić and Andor Deli, MEPs, and a number of other guests, who came to attend the presentation of the cultural institutes of Vojvodina national communities. The participants of the round table were greeted by Bojan Pajtić SJD, Presidents of the Provincial Government, and the opening remarks were given by Slaviša Grujić, Provincial Secretary for Culture and Public Information. The presentation was also attended by Branislav Bugarski, Provincial Secretary for Interregional Cooperation and Local Self-government, and Vladimir Pavlov, Provincial Secretary for Science and Technological Development.
The goal of presenting Vojvodina at the round table was to show the multiculturalism of Vojvodina, through the prism of preservation and enhancement, as well as permeation of cultural heritage and creativity of 20 nations residing there, by presenting the work of six professional cultural institutions of Serbs, being the majority population, and traditional minority communities of Slovaks, Hungarians, Romanians, Ruthenians and Croats, whose language and script were officially used in AP Vojvodina. The representatives of the Cultural Institutes, of Vojvodina Croats, Tomislav Žigmanov, of Vojvodina Hungarians, Martina Gondi, of Vojvodina Romanians, Todor Ursu, of Vojvodina Ruthenians, Sergej Tamaš, of Vojvodina Slovaks, Milina Sklabinski presented the activities and work of their institutes talking about the plans and projects being planned, as well as about the problems they faced. The activities of the Vojvodina Institute for Culture were presented by Dragan Ilić, Project Manager and Officer for Interregional Cooperation.
Marking Vojvodina Day in Brussels – exhibition of placards and publications, representing the multicultural heritage and creativity in AP Vojvodina
Marking Vojvodina Day in Brussels, the exhibition “OBLIQUE STRATEGIES – Architecture in Vojvodina at the beginning of the 21st century”, comprising placards of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina, publications of the cultural institutes of Vojvodina national minorities and Vojvodina Institute for Culture, accompanied by the presentation of a short film on the topic, representing the multicultural heritage and creativity in AP Vojvodina, as well as a performance, i.e. solo-viola improvisation based on Vojvodina ethno and folk heritage by Szilárd Mezei, was opened at the Mission of the Republic of Serbia to the European Union on 14th October 2015. It was jointly organised by the Provincial Secretariat for Culture and Public Information, cultural institutes of Vojvodina national minorities, Vojvodina Institute for Culture and European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, with the aim of presenting the multiculturalism of Vojvodina in Brussels through the activities of the cultural institutes of Vojvodina Hungarians, Croats, Slovaks, Ruthenians and Romanians and of the Vojvodina Institute for Culture.
The participants at the event were addressed by Bojan Pajtić SJD, President of the Provincial Government, Slaviša Grujić, Provincial Secretary for Culture and Public Information, and Predrag Novikov, Officer at the Vojvodina European Office in Brussels.
The exhibition “OBLIQUE STRATEGIES – Architecture in Vojvodina at the beginning of the 21st century” represents the first step in mapping contemporary architects and architectural design studios that defined the first decade of the new millennium and gaining a detailed insight into their built works in Vojvodina. The participating architects are: Dubravka Đukanović, Milan Kovačević, Lazar Kuzmanov, Dragan Marinčić, Aleksandra Marinčić, Ilja Mikitišin, Dušan Miladinović, Leonid Nešić, Aleksandar Rackov, Nemanja Radusinović, Vilmos Toth, Zoltán Valkay.
In addition, during the OPEN DAYS 2015, the delegation of AP Vojvodina had a number of meetings with the officials of EU institutions, regions and cities, among whom were Catherine Wendt, Head of Unit for Serbia in the European Commission’s Directorate General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Markku Markkula, President of the Committee of Regions (CoR) and his associates, members of the European Parliament, among whom were the members of the parliamentary group “Friends of Serbia”, and Pavol Frešo, President of the Bratislava Self-Governing Region.
