From 25th to 28th November 2025, Trieste and Gorizia will host the advanced course ‘Challenges and Perspectives of Science Diplomacy in Central, Eastern and South‑Eastern Europe’, dedicated to an increasingly central theme in the dialogue between science, public policy and international relations.

The initiative, promoted by the Executive Secretariat of the Central European Initiative (CEI) and the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, is co-organised by UniTS Department of Political and Social Sciences (DiSPeS), as part of the joint InCE‑FVG 2024‑2025 work programme. The project is supported by Area Science Park and Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste, in collaboration with the Science and Innovation System of the FVG and the EU Science Diplomacy Alliance.

The course is part of a particularly dynamic international context: in 2025, UNESCO launched the first Global Dialogue on Scientific Diplomacy and, at European level, an EU Council Recommendation for the adoption of a European Framework for Scientific Diplomacy is expected by March 2026. In this context, Trieste and Friuli Venezia Giulia strengthen their role as a platform for scientific cooperation and advanced training towards the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Skills and competences for a strategic region

Scientific diplomacy is now a concrete lever to tackle challenges that go beyond national borders – from research security to energy transitions, from environmental sustainability to the protection of cultural heritage – by translating knowledge into cooperation and evidence-based decisions. The course was created to address the limited focus so far on the topic in the CESEE (Central,Eastern and South‑Eastern Europe) area, which is strategic for the future of Europe and particularly exposed to geopolitical, demographic and technological transformations.

As Professor Simone Arnaldi from UniTS Department of Political and Social Sciences points out, the University’s participation is part of a long-lasting collaboration with the Central European Initiative and the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region: ‘In the context of this collaboration and in line with its vocation, UniTS focuses on training in the field of scientific diplomacy, both through the analysis of training needs and in the design and implementation of courses and seminars at the intersection of science, public policy and international relations. The aim is to disseminate among researchers, diplomats and public and private decision-makers the knowledge and skills necessary to promote scientific cooperation and, through this, international dialogue and collaboration on the major challenges facing our societies.’ 

International participants and faculty of the FVG science system
26 participants were selected through an international call from 11 CEI member countries (Italy, Slovenia, Romania, Albania, Serbia, Poland, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Hungary, North Macedonia, Moldova). The classroom group is multidisciplinary and includes diplomats, public officials, researchers, scientific leaders, private sector professionals, journalists and NGO operators, international relations students.

The faculty brings together experts from the University of Trieste and the main scientific and international institutions active in the area, including ICTP, TWAS, ICGEB, OWSD, OGS, University of Udine, Elettra, Area Science Park, as well as representatives of the European Commission, MAECI, CNR and other partners.

A program divided into lectures, workshops and visits
The course includes 17 taught modules, three interactive workshops, discussions with participants and a study visit to the research infrastructures of the SIS FVG system, with a focus on the role that large laboratories and technology platforms can play in international cooperation. The days will address the fundamentals of scientific diplomacy and its evolution in the European and global context, the skills required of new ‘scientific diplomats’, the thematic perspectives (Agenda 2030, research security, sustainable agriculture, energy, disasters and resilience) and a concluding round table dedicated to the Italian perspective on scientific diplomacy for Eastern and South-Eastern‑Europe.

26th November in Gorizia, in the historical premises of diplomatic sciences
The course takes place on an itinerant basis in the partners’ premises and took place on Wednesday 26th November in UniTS Gorizia Campus. The choice of the Gorizia Campus enhances the vocation of the city and its academic history, which for years has been a national reference for training in diplomatic and international sciences. Hosting a day dedicated to scientific diplomacy here means linking a consolidated patrimony of studies and skills with an emerging field, today decisive for foreign policy and regional cooperation.

With this course, UniTS confirms its commitment to international training and the building of scientific partnerships in the CESEE area, helping to make Trieste and Friuli Venezia Giulia a European hub of expertise on scientific diplomacy aimed, in particular, at Western Balkans and Eastern Europe countries in the process of entering the EU.