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The annual conference Bled Forum on Europe, organised by GFS Institute and CeGD with its partners and was co-financed by Slovenia's International Development Assistance, aimed to establish synergies between existing knowledge and capacities. Mr. Blaž Golob, Chairman of Bled Forum exposed: "This year is the 100th Anniversary of the Western Balkan Wars, the reason of which was the diversity of Western Balkan countries. The Region should turn its diversity into opportunity, similar to Turkey 2023 strategy, where the diversity is not understood as the reason for war, but for cooperation." Mr. Jose Cordeiro, Director of Venezuela Node of The Millennium Project, confronted the audience with the fact that Europe is lagging behind the rest of the world. "We cannot look only at the danger, but we have to focus on the opportunities that can and will arise from the crisis. Therefore it is important to use positive foresight and foresight methodology for successful future development," he stressed. Innovation, creation of new methods and models of future development, alongside with greater regional cohesion, and creating an understanding of the diversity were presented during the conference as crucial elements for success. "To inspire, to envision Europe 2049 and to act on a constant and immediate basis," was presented by Ms. Selma Prodanović, CEO Brainswork, President of IndrediblEurope, as a successful approach towards future development. Ms. Violeta Bulc, Director of Vibacom, exposed that we need to create a successful approach to mass innovation in order to promote innovative culture and at the same time "we need to allow cultural diversity to come forward", she said. "For successful future development of the Danube Region it is important to establish the Danube Cohesion Macro region," was highlighted by Mr. Miran Gajšek, Head of the Department of Spatial Planning of Municipality of Ljubljana. Ms. Sanja Vlahović, Minister of Science of Government of Montenegro, stressed the need for building networks that create synergies and highlighted the importance of cooperatively building future visions of the Balkans. The session on Future of Turkey highlighted that Turkey will be an added value and not a burden to the EU and can offer solid and lasting solutions to the variety of challenges of the 21st century. Mr. Thomas Kunert, Senior Director Federal & State Government EMEA, SAP, presented how the advantages that IT services and cloud computing have to offer can greatly assist in improving governance in Europe throughout eGovernance development. The conference conclusions are gathered in the XIII Bled Forum Declaration.
For more information please visit www.bled-forum.org, www.cegd.eu

Stakeholders of Bled Forum on Europe
• Scientists
• Futurists
• Policy makers
• Researchers
• Lawyers

The Main Themes of the 13th Bled Forum on Europe
• Europe beyond Smart, Inclusive and Sustainable through the Cloud Computing Decade
• Enabling Prosperity for Balkans
• Contribution of Turkey to the Future of Europe
• Danube Region Development