EU-Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) – People and Skills (2024-2028)

The EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR), which has been in place since 2011, aims to promote the development of the Danube Region – an association of 14 countries. Austria (BMAW and BMBWF), together with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, is coordinating the priority area “Investments in People and Skills”. L&R supports the BMAW in its coordination tasks in the area of labour market.

The overarching goal of the Danube Strategy is to provide all citizens of the Danube Region with better opportunities for education, employment and prosperity in their home region. This goal of the EUSDR is to be achieved through a more efficient use of already existing structures and resources as well as through a harmonised approach in the coordination of policies of different levels, different sectoral strategies and financing instruments.

In addition to Austria, thirteen other countries participate in the EUSDR, namely Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany (Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria), Croatia, the Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Ukraine (western regions) and Hungary. National Coordinators (NC) have been set up in the individual countries (in Austria: BMLRT and BMEIA) for general, horizontal coordination.

Priority area 9 is mainly concerned with (especially pre-university) education, labour market policy and inclusion. The focal points in the area of labour market relate to intensifying labor market policy cooperation, shaping the digital and ecological transformation, promoting the integration of vulnerable groups into the labour market and combating poverty and social inclusion in the Danube region.

Within this framework, regular initiatives (workshops, conferences, webinars, etc.) are launched to network actors from all countries in the Danube Region and to work on the further development and initiation of cross-border cooperation and projects. More information can be found on the PA 9 website.

Find more information about the Priority Area 9 “People and Skills” here.

The project is funded by the Daube Region Programme (DRP).