The Knowledge Platform is a social innovation that aims to establish an open space for regular dialogue with stakeholders on topical issues and initiatives at the EU level which will fuel further development of the Slovenian Higher Education, Research and Innovation. The initiative differs from similar mechanisms at the national level because it goes beyond one-way transfer of information/opinion, and strives for an active co-design of the Slovenian positions on EU-level initiatives, i.e. participatory co-design of policies.

The initiative is innovative on both levels:

• At the Knowledge Platform level: we are building the initiative together with stakeholders.
• At the Public Administration level: the Directorate for Higher Education and the Directorate for Science share the lead role in organising events and managing the initiative. The alternation of the lead roles ensures a real sense of ownership of the initiative in both areas.

The different activities of the Knowledge Platform are currently in different innovation stages:

• The activity of regular Knowledge Platform meetings/consultations (virtual or physical), which take place 4 times a year is currently in implementation and evaluation stage. We have already organised 3 consultations of the Knowledge Platform this year and we constantly have follow-up evaluation meetings, enabling constant improvements.
• The activity of establishing a Digital Knowledge Platform is currently in the stage of designing solutions and developing proposals. The initial idea for the Digital Knowledge Platform is to offer relevant information (EU acts in the fields of higher education, research and innovation, registration, recordings of consultations of the Knowledge Platform, space for sharing good practices) and enable direct communication between policy makers and stakeholders.

The Knowledge Platform is a joint initiative of different divisions within the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport. Important institutional partners also include the Slovenian Permanent Representation in Brussels, and EIT Climate-KIC which is facilitating further development of the initiative. We also see the stakeholders of the Knowledge Platform as partners, not only as users, because we are actively involving them in the design of the Knowledge Platform.

The main users of the Knowledge Platform are the stakeholders from the so-called Knowledge Triangle, i.e. from the areas of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, (Higher Education Institutions, Research Performing Organisations and Businesses). On the other side the users are also government officials or policy-makers who use the dialogue with the stakeholders to inform their decisions.

The Knowledge Platform has:

• Strengthened dialogue between policy-makers and stakeholders (2 virtual and 1 in-person consultation with around 170 participants)
• Informed the preparation national responses/positions on the following EU initiatives and acts:
  • European Universities initiative;
  • Joint European Degree initiative;
  • Legal status of European Universities;
  • Council conclusions on a European strategy empowering higher education institutions for the future of Europe;
  • Council Recommendation on building bridges for effective European higher education cooperation;
  • Participation of Slovenia in 20 ERA actions;
  • Empowering higher education institutions (ERA Action 13);
  • Bringing science closer to citizens (ERA Action 14);
  • (Draft) Council Conclusions on the New European Innovation Agenda:
• Contributed to the implementation of national strategies in the fields of higher education, research and innovation.
• Facilitated breaking down departmental silos.

The main challenge that we have encountered is connected with the Digital Knowledge Platform that we aim to establish. It is clear that if we wish to make the Digital Knowledge Platform useful it needs to be responsive and regularly updated. For this we need sufficient human resources to manage it, which we currently do not have. We would need to find the human resources either within the Ministry or externally. Another challenge is how to attract and involve the stakeholders more actively in the building of the Knowledge Platform. We aim to try out different strategies (giving the stakeholders a more prominent role in organising the events, co-designing the Digital Knowledge Platform, etc.)

Since this is a social innovation, and one based on co-design and a participatory approach, the most crucial conditions for success are personal values and motivation of those involved in the initiative, but also human and financial resources. Only sufficient human and financial resources allocated to the initiative can ensure that all those involved remain highly motivated. One additional condition for success is staying true to the core values of the Knowledge Platform: building trust between policy-makers and stakeholders with honesty, dialogue, transparency and flexibility. The leadership and guidance of the Knowledge Platform is also crucial for its success, and the initiative has had strong support from the top leadership team of the Ministry. However, the Knowledge Platform team operates in line with participatory leadership approach which depends a lot on personal values and motivation of all involved.

This is a new innovation and has not been replicated yet. If it proves successful it could be replicated in practically all areas of public administration.

An important lesson learned was that in-person events of the Knowledge Platform have quite a different dynamic than online events (the first two events were held online, the third one took place in person). Participants of the in-person event were highly engaged, and the main lesson learned is that we need to allocate more time for discussions with the participants in the future. Networking for promoting synergies between the stakeholders could also be further promoted in the events. We have also learned that it is important to keep the Knowledge Platform flexible and open to improvements and participation of new stakeholders at all times. In order to further develop the initiative, we are cooperating with EIT Climate KIC within the Deep Demonstration Project in Slovenia.

The Knowledge Platform has been shortlisted for the “Premik naprej 2022” Award for the best innovation in Public Administration in Slovenia in 2022.