Science Policy
UNESCO assists its Member States in formulating their S&T policies, strategies and plans as well as in the reform of their S&T systems by bringing to light policy options for the governance of S&T systems in the new context, supporting participatory policy formulation and/or reviews to improve the management of S&T effort at the national level.
This is done by means of providing guidelines and methodologies, technical advice and guidance on formulation, implementation, monitoring, and a review of policies and plans concerning national S&T activities.
Reconstructing the Science Systems in SEE
For the past decade, the ‘Venice process’ has been rebuilding scientific cooperation among Southeast European countries. Named after the Italian city which hosts UNESCO’s Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, the Venice Process has dual aims: on the one hand, it sets out to heal some of the wounds inflicted by the violent break-up in the 1990s of the former Yugoslavia, once a major player in European science; in parallel, the Venice Process sets out to build scientific cooperation between the sub-region and the rest of Europe, in order to prepare countries for integration into the European Research Area. - More
Ministerial conferences on science and research in Southeastern Europe
Since 2001, the following ministerial conferences have been held :
- 2010 (Tirana, Albania) High-level Round Table and Expert Meeting on Strengthening Research and Higher Education in South Eastern Europe. From Bilateral to Pan-European Cooperation
- 2008 (Budva, Montenegro) High-level Round Table at the Science, Higher Education and Innovation Policy Forum
- 2007 (Bucharest and Tulcea, Romania) Science Policy Forum on Science for the Future, Science for Society. The Parliamentary Perspective
- 2007 (Chisinau, Republic of Moldova) International Conference on Global Science and National Policies. The Role of Academies
- 2006 (Ljubljana, Slovenia) High-level Round Table and International Conference on Why Invest in Science in South Eastern Europe?
- 2001 (UNESCO, Paris) Round Table of Ministers of Science
Science Policy Studies series
In recent years, the Venice Office has published a series of monographs on science in South East Europe within UNESCO’s Science Policy Studies series.
- Science and Education Policies in Central and Eastern Europe, Balkans, Caucasus and Baltic Countries (2010)
- Academies of Sciences and the Transition to Knowledge Societies (2008)
- Women and Science, Italy and the International Context (2008)
- Why Invest in Science in South Eastern Europe? (2007)
- Enhancing Science Policy and Management in South Eastern Europe (2007)
- Accessing and Disseminating Scientific Information in South Eastern Europe (2006)
- Guidelines for a Science and Research Policy in Bosnia & Herzegovina (2006)
- Science, Technology and Economic Development in South-Eastern Europe (2005)


