Researchers from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, a partner organization of the TWIN4ECO project, were among the key international speakers at the 27th Annual conference of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Sofia University. The well-established annual research event took place from 22nd to 25th November 2024 under the motto ‘Transforming Futures: Sustainability, Innovation, and Governance’, with a focus on important global topics, such as innovations management, energy transformation, sustainable development, policies and regulations, artificial intelligence, etc.

The University of Groningen is a leading research institution and it is ranked in the top 100 universities in the world in all prestigious world rankings. Attracting this partner to the TWIN4ECO, project lead by FEBA and financed under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, allows for the transfer of knowledge and strengthening the research capacity of Bulgarian research institutions. Our Dutch partners were represented at the forum by Prof. Pedro de Faria, Prof. Florian Noseleit and dr. Jitse Duijsters who shared their knowledge and best practices in the field of research management and strategies for achieving high standards in research quality.

Following the official opening of the conference by the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Assoc. Prof. Atanas Georgiev, Prof. Pedro de Faria, head of the Innovation Management and Strategy Department at the Economics Faculty at the University of Groningen, gave an introductory lecture. He presented the topic ‘A Future of Open Innovations’ in which he underlined the importance of joint efforts, cooperation and innovations for the purpose of achieving a sustainable economic development. The lively discussion that followed, moderated by Prof. Vutsova, focused on the importance of cooperation between different research institutions and outlined the key role of the activities under the TWIN4ECO project, which allow for networking and exchange of knowledge between the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, the University of Groningen and the other partner universities from Austria, Germany and Ireland.

The programme of the FEBA conference included plenary lectures, panel discussions, research seminars and practical seminars lead by Prof. Pedro de Faria, Prof. Florian Noseleit and Dr. Jitse Duijsters

• Development of Research Culture seminar - organized as an interactive session in which strategies for building research culture and the significance of supporting structures for high-quality research were discussed.
• Innovation Management and Strategies research seminar – Dutch researchers presented strategies and approaches to managing innovations that support a sustainable economic development;
• Research Management and Administrative Structures workshop – a practical session aimed at developing models for building an effective research infrastructure which facilitates the development of scientific research and its integration in the educational process.

One of the highlights of the event was the special poster session of PhD students who presented their developments to the foreign researchers participating in the conference. Nine doctoral students and young scholars had the opportunity to present the current results from their studies and received recommendations and comments which would support their work.

Over 100 participants took part in the 27th edition of the research forum, among which researchers, business leaders, young scholars and PhD students from a number of European countries, such as Germany, Austria, Latvia, Greece, the Netherlands, etc. The annual conference of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration has yet again affirmed itself as a leading research event providing a platform for interdisciplinary discussions and development of strategies for dealing with global challenges and sustainable development.