From 20 to 24 April 2026, all Western Balkan partners of the Erasmus+ NEST4WB project joined the celebration of Green Week 2026, demonstrating how a shared vision can inspire a wide variety of initiatives promoting sustainability, digitalization, and innovation in higher education.
Although united by a common objective—to support the green and digital transition of the energy sector—each partner approached Green Week in its own unique way, reflecting local priorities, institutional strengths, and the needs of its academic and wider community.
Throughout the week, universities across the Western Balkans organized an impressive range of activities that brought together students, academic staff, researchers, industry representatives, secondary school students, public institutions, companies, media, and members of the wider community. Together, these events created a vibrant regional platform for knowledge exchange, collaboration, and the promotion of sustainable development.
Participants explored topics including renewable energy technologies, smart grids, hybrid power systems, artificial intelligence in energy, photovoltaic systems, energy efficiency, digital competencies, and modern laboratory infrastructure. Many institutions complemented lectures with hands-on laboratory demonstrations, practical workshops, STEM activities, creative competitions, robotics sessions, multimedia production, business networking events, and open laboratory days, highlighting the importance of experiential learning and interdisciplinary collaboration.
One of the greatest strengths of Green Week 2026 was the diversity of approaches adopted by project partners. While some universities focused on advanced laboratory demonstrations and renewable energy technologies, others emphasized cooperation with industry, engagement of secondary school students, creative environmental campaigns, or interdisciplinary activities connecting engineering with art, media, and innovation. This diversity reflected the richness of the NEST4WB partnership and demonstrated that there is no single path toward sustainability—innovation grows from different ideas working toward the same vision.
Beyond individual events, Green Week 2026 reinforced the broader mission of the NEST4WB project: modernizing higher education through digital transformation, strengthening cooperation between academia and industry, and preparing future engineers with the knowledge and competencies needed for the energy systems of tomorrow.
More importantly, Green Week showed that the green transition is not solely a technological challenge. It is equally an educational, social, and collaborative process that requires the active participation of universities, students, researchers, businesses, and local communities. By bringing these stakeholders together, the partner institutions demonstrated how higher education can become a driving force for sustainable development across the Western Balkans.
Green Week 2026 successfully showcased the collective impact of the NEST4WB consortium. Different institutions, different ideas, and different activities came together under one common goal—to build a smarter, greener, and more sustainable future.
Partners reports
