SMILE Incubator

The SMILE Incubator project responds to key challenges faced by the Danube Region’s remote rural areas, including high emigration rates, brain drain, ageing populations, and a growing gap between urban and rural territories. At the same time, digitalisation and the evolving media landscape are reshaping how individuals communicate, access information, and participate in public discourse—especially via social networks.

To address these developments,the project establishes a transnational Social Media Leadership Incubator that will empower rural youth with essential skills, competences, and tools for civic participation and leadership. By enhancing social media literacy and leadership capabilities, the project promotes active citizenship and supports the development of sustainable democracies across the Danube Region.

SMILE Incubator builds institutional capacities through three interlinked components:

  • comprehensive assessment of youth participation and leadership in rural areas, including position papers and policy recommendations;
  • The development of a transnational stakeholder cooperation network to strengthen rural youth leadership;
  • Tailored capacity-building activities and toolkits to support social media-based leadership and civic engagement among youth.

 

The project will produce concrete and transferable outputs such as strategic guidelines, policy recommendation guides, action plans, training materials, and the SMILE Incubator badge awarded to active youth participants. These activities will be carried out by a balanced consortium of 20 organisations from all 14 Danube Region countries, representing higher education, NGOs, public institutions, and civil society.

Main data of the project:

Project Name: Social Media Leadership Incubator for Danube Region

Project Code: DRP0301090

Partners: 20 organisations (1 Lead Partner, 15 Project Partners, 4 Associated Strategic Partners) from 14 countries

Lead Partner: School of Advanced Social Studies in Nova Gorica – Slovenia

Project Partners:

  • Faculty of Information Studies in Novo mesto (FIS) – Slovenia
  • Rudolfovo – Science and Technology Centre Novo mesto (RUDOLFOVO) – Slovenia
  • Foster Europe, Foundation for strong European regions (FOSTER EUROPE) – Austria
  • Center for Civil Society Promotion (CPCD) – Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Research Centre “Regional and Global Development” (REGLO) – Bulgaria
  • Rochester Institute of Technology Zagreb (RIT) – Croatia
  • Metropolitan University Prague (MUP) – Czech Republic
  • Steinbeis 2i GmbH (SEZ) – Germany
  • South Transdanubian Regional Innovation Agency (STRIA) – Hungary
  • NGO OIKUMENA (OIKUMENA) – Moldova
  • Association for Responsible and Sustainable Development (UZOR) – Montenegro
  • Babeș-Bolyai University (UBB) – Romania
  • Danube Area Research Center (DAREC) – Serbia
  • University of Economics in Bratislava (EUBA) – Slovakia
  • International Institute for Regional Media and Information (IRMI) – Ukraine

 

Project Budget: EUR 1 980 000

Funding programme:: Danube Region Programme

Project Duration: 01.04.2025 – 30.09.2027