Smart Specialisation Strategy is a place-based EU policy that seeks to enhance regional competitiveness through leveraging and bolstering innovation in the selected priority areas (industries or technologies) in each region. The new iteration of S3 requires developing cross-border collaborations...

Small island developing states (SIDS) are among the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, which is disrupting key economic sectors that SIDS’ undiversified and already fragile economies strongly rely upon. While they are succeeding to contain the health...

This report identifies the opportunities that Islamic finance presents for donors. To achieve these, Arab and OECD Development Assistance Committee donors need to mobilise innovative forms of financing and deliver the call to deepen the transformation of development finance systems. DAC members...

Forced displacement, including refugee flows, is a global phenomenon. As of 2018, 26 million people were refugees. Financing from the international community makes a significant contribution to supporting refugees and host communities. But in order to meet those needs effectively and...

La cooperazione internazionale allo sviluppo sta transitando da un modello tradizionale incentrato sullo scambio unilaterale tra donatore e beneficiario a un approccio fondato sul partenariato, che sempre più spesso coinvolge anche regioni e città. Il Friuli Venezia Giulia, una piccola regione...

This paper shows that climate-related forced displacement is insufficiently addressed in two fundamental commitments made towards the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) between 2015 and 2023: National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Nationally Determined Contributions...

In recent years, international development co-operation has undergone a transition from a conventional donor-recipient model to a partnership-centred approach, including with regions and cities. Friuli Venezia Giulia, a small region in north-eastern Italy with extensive policy autonomy, has been...

This paper examines the role of mobilising political will in establishing the conditions necessary for economic and social inclusion of refugees, internally displaced persons, and formerly displaced persons who achieve durable solutions such as voluntary return. It investigates the role and...

This policy paper aims to improve understanding on how SMEs responded to the COVID-19 crisis and adapted to the new environment, and how different players in their ecosystems are contributing to their digital transition. The first part of the paper sets the scene on the digital transformation of...

Digitalisation has triggered a profound transformation of the retail sector, primarily composed of SMEs. While retail businesses are embracing more hybrid practices of managing online and brick-and-mortar channels, getting more traditional SME retailers fit for the hybrid era could open up new...