Scientific Support to the Danube Strategy Navigability Czech Republic Germany Irrigation Slovakia Ukraine Bratislava Austria Hungary Moldova Romania Slovenia Croatia Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbia Environmental Montenegro Bulgaria protection Energy production Bratislava 16 May 2013 Programme Joint Research Centre 08:00 – 09:00 Registration and welcome coffee 09:00 – 09:30 Welcome session Co-chairs: Dušan Čaplovič, Minister for Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, and Dominique Ristori, Director-General of the Joint Research Centre, European Commission Opening statement by the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, H.E. Robert Fico Welcome by the Vice President of the European Commission, Maroš Šefčovič 09:30 – 10:20 Opening session Karlheinz Töchterle, Federal Minister for Science and Research, Austria Zoltán Cséfalvay, Minister of State for Economic Strategy, Hungary Mihnea Costoiu, Minister Delegate for Higher Education, Scientific Research and Technological Development, Romania Walter Deffaa, Director-General, Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, European Commission Edit Herczog, Member of the European Parliament 10:20 – 13:00 Session 1: Towards a smartly specialised and innovative Danube region 10:20 Introduction and moderation by Vladimir Šucha, Deputy Director-General, Joint Research Centre, European Commission 10:30 Key note speeches on fostering the innovation in the Danube Region Szabolcs Fazakas, Member of the European Court of Auditors Susanne Burger, Director European Affairs, Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany Barbara Weitgruber, Director-General for Scientific Research and International Relations, Federal Ministry of Science and Research, Austria José Manuel Leceta, Director, European Institute of Innovation and Technology 11:15 – 11:30 Coffee break 11:30 Presentation of the flagship activities and projects for a smartly specialised and innovative Danube Region Smart Specialisation: due to its unique experience, the Joint Research Centre – via its Smart Specialisation Platform – will support the designing and implementation of Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation in the Danube Region, taking into consideration the regional assets and opportunities but also the broader macro-regional dimension Xabier Goenaga Beldarrain, Head of Unit Knowledge for Growth, Joint Research Centre, European Commission Midkel Landabaso Alvarez, Head of Unit Competence Centre Smart and Sustainable Growth, Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, European Commission The Danube Reference Data and Services Infrastructure: this pilot project aims to establish a satellite view on harmonised data sets on various issues related to the Danube Region (such as water and soil quality, population, landscapes…etc.). Thereby, it will provide policy-makers and other stakeholders with comparable data to support evidence-based decision- making in the Danube Region Alessandro Annoni, Head of Unit Digital Earth and Reference Data, Joint Research Centre, European Commission 12:00 Panel discussion Štefan Chudoba, State Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport, Slovakia Michael Mihatsch, Head of Section, Bavarian State Ministry of Sciences, Research and the Arts, Germany Miroslav Vesković, Rector of the University of Novi Sad, Serbia 13:00 – 14:00 Lunch break 14:00 – 17:30 Session 2: Ensuring an efficient and sustainable use of the essential resource of the Danube region 14:00 Introduction and moderation by Martin Gerzabek, Rector of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Austria, and Vice President of the Danube Rectors' Conference 14:15 Key note speeches on the challenges related to the efficient and sustainable use of the essential resources of the Danube Region Nikolina Nikolova, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, Bulgaria Saša Zelenika, Assistant Minister for Ministry for Science, Education and Sports, Croatia Urban Krajcar, Director-General for Higher Education and Science, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, Slovenia Darko Petrušić, Director-General, Ministry of Science, Montenegro 15:00 Presentation of the Danube flagship clusters With the support of its scientific partners of the Danube Region, the JRC has identified flagship clusters aiming to provide policy makers with the appropriate scientific support to tackle interlinked policy issues. These clusters will address some of the main scientific challenges faced by the Danube Region from an integrated and cross-cutting perspective taking into account the interdependencies between various policy priorities and focusing on some of the key resources of the Danube Region, namely water, land and soils, air, and bioenergy. The Danube Water Nexus: Giovanni Bidoglio, Head of Unit Water, Joint Research Centre, European Commission The Danube Land and Soil Nexus: Arwyn Jones, Land Resource Management Unit, Joint Research Centre, European Commission The Danube Air Nexus: Elisabetta Vignati, Head of Unit Air and Climate, Joint Research Centre, European Commission The Danube Bioenergy Nexus: Heinz Ossenbrink, Head of Unit Renewable Energy, Joint Research Centre, European Commission 15:45 – 16:00 Coffee break 16:00 Panel discussion Philip Weller, Executive Secretary, International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) Radivoje Mitrović, State Secretary, Ministry of Education and Science, Serbia Jiří Drahoš, President, Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic Cristian Hera, Vice-President of the Romanian Academy 17:00 – 17:30 Closing session: Conclusions Closing remarks by Dominique Ristori, Director-General, Joint Research Centre, European Commission Closing remarks by Erhard Busek, Chairman of the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe Conclusions by Maroš Šefčovič, Vice President of the European Commission .