Professor Yelena Kalyuzhnova delivers keynote presentation at United Nations Economic Commission for Europe webinar

Professor Kalyuzhnova's presentation was part of the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) gap assessment of the 'Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) Countries: Paving the Way to Action Under the SPECA Innovation Strategy for Sustainable Development'.

The webinar aimed to validate the draft findings of the STI gap assessment of the SPECA countries and to present an initial draft of a UNECE Handbook on Incubators to promote innovation for sustainable development in the SPECA sub-region. Professor Kalyuzhnova shared her findings on the UNECE Handbook on Incubators and proposed and explained central principles for policies, support measures and institutions to enable and promote business incubation.

The handbook is targeted at helping promote innovation for sustainable development in the SPECA sub-region. Professor Kalyuzhnova and the CEAS began working on the handbook back in 2019 as part of a collaboration with Moscow State University of International Relations (MGIMO) and UNECE. It is co-authored by Professor Kalyuzhnova, Dr Olga Khotyasheva (Director of MGIMO), Anastasia Krasenkova (MGIMO Business Incubator Manager) and both Daniyar Medetov and Maxim Slesarev (Henley Business School PhD students in the department of Leadership, Organisations and Behaviour).

The workshop reached more than 67 government officials and experts from the SPECA sub-region, responsible for designing, implementing and evaluating policies on innovation, entrepreneurship and SMEs, as well as business and civil society. For more information about the UNECE's involvement in the SPECA region, visit their website.