DANUBE ALLIANCE

Phase I: Danube Alliance – Flagship Project of PA8 (2021-2022)

The Danube Alliance sprang to life to strengthen the competitiveness of SMEs in the Danube region with a goal to increase the resilience of the supply chains. The project of Priority Area 8 of the European Danube Region strategy (EUSDR), which ran from 2021 to 2022, offered intelligent services and sustainable supply chains development activities based on the experience and knowledge from other Danube projects, namely GoDanuBio and DanuBioValNet.

The Alliance was formed as a response to the still-ongoing Covid-19 pandemic situation, which revealed the economy’s weak points. Global value chains were shown to be vulnerable in extreme situations, not being able to function effectively when the suppliers were compromised due to the pandemic lockdowns, geopolitical conflicts, extreme weather, and other events.

Value chain disruptions are now very commonplace due to current and recent events, and they seem to be getting worse. Therefore, active risk management for value chains is essential. Value chains should not grow organically, but should be actively managed. This is why the Danube Alliance focuses on understanding, analysing and resilience promotion of selected value chains in the Danube region (Bioeconomy as pilot application area) to support SMEs’ inclusion into more sustainable and resilient value chains. These goals shall be achieved by using a multi-method approach, based on a 3-steps to safeguard supply chains.

Phase II: Danube Alliance Network (as of 2023)

The Danube Alliance is a new approach that is still at the beginning of its life cycle. Thus, the first two years from 2020-2022 can be understood as an inception phase. During this phase, first experiences and tangible results were gained and interested partners identified and encouraged to join.

A continuation as a new flagship project is planned, called The Danube Alliance Network. This project develops the Danube Alliance further and integrates a Value Chain Generator (VCG), a digital company matching solution based on the principles of circular economy tool. Such efforts will lead to a well integrated and recognised approach for resilient value chain development in the Danube Region and contribute to SME internationalisation. The Danube Alliance Network shall help to integrate more Danube Region partners into the network and to jointly develop and strengthening more identified value chain with focus on circular Bioeconomy.

The project will be implemented through a four-step approach:

The innovations of the project are manifold. For the project, proprietary tools/methods will be applied and specifically focused on the development and renewal of value chains. In addition, the knowledge from the previous DA will be passed on and expanded. It is not about a pure optimization of supply chains, but about the development of holistic value chains taking into account social and local conditions. Thus, the project will empower actors, companies and policy makers and have a positive impact on governance and resilient regions for a strong, unified Europe.

News & Studies

Impacts and Potentials of the Ukraine Crisis on Supply Chains Development for the Danube Region
Working Paper

Danube Region’s value chains have a significant bioeconomic potential. Countries from the Danube Region could provide substitute supplies to the loss of imports from Ukraine for several agrifood products.

Read more in our newest publication:

This report was produced within the framework of the Danube Alliance, the flagship initiative of Priority Area 8 of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region.

The report was published in July 2022 by Anteja ECG and VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH.