Think Regional. Build European – Serbia's experience in building regional capacities for future EU Cohesion Policy through ITI

For the first time, Serbia will bring its experience in testing Integrated Territorial Investment – an instrument of European Union Cohesion Policy – into the European Week of Regions and Cities dialogue. Officially supported by the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia, the event will show how four Serbian pilot territories have tested integrated, place-based approaches to development and what these experiences can teach us about building institutional and territorial capacities before European Union accession. Bringing together European and national institutions, regional and local development actors and mayors and elected representatives from 19 Western Balkan cities, the dialogue will move beyond presenting results to openly discuss what worked, what remains challenging and what is needed to move from pilots towards wider implementation. Hosted at Kragujevac's historic Military Technical Institute – itself undergoing European Union-supported regeneration – the event will connect policy with practice and demonstrate how stronger local capacities, cooperation across levels of government and locally grounded investment can turn European development priorities into tangible territorial transformation.