Initiatives & Impact

From dialogue to delivery
Adria ScaleUp Initiative: A strategic alliance for start-ups and scale-ups with sustainability at their core. Adria ScaleUp connects innovators with mentors, investors, corporate partners, and policy champions, helping to unlock pathways to growth while advancing the region’s sustainable and digital transformation.
NextGen Adria: A platform for empowering the region’s emerging leaders. It connects young innovators with policymakers, business mentors, and international experts to explore ideas, develop skills, and shape the future of leadership.
Women on Boards Adria (WOBA): A regional initiative promoting gender-diverse governance. WOBA offers training, strategic networking, and peer support to increase the number of women in senior leadership and board positions across the region.

Sustainable Adria Awards: An annual celebration of leadership in sustainability and regional cooperation. The awards recognise outstanding businesses, public institutions, young leaders, and community initiatives advancing the green transition.

Adria ScaleUp Initiative

Adria ScaleUp Initiative works with start-ups and scale-ups building in the region, connecting founders with mentors, investors and corporate partners. At the 2026 edition it ran the Innovation Sessions, in partnership with SEE UP, and the AI Hackathon, in partnership with AI Nation.

NextGen Adria

NextGen Adria connects young regional leaders with policymakers, mentors and international experts. The cohort takes part across the full programme, not as observers, through national youth dialogues, recommendations presented at the summit, and cross-country exchange.

Women on Boards Adria (WOBA)

Women on Boards Adria works to increase the number of women in senior leadership and on boards across the region. It has built a network of more than 50 senior women leaders, delivered training and mentoring in eight countries, and pressed for transparency in board nominations and governance.

Sustainable Adria Awards

The Sustainable Adria Awards recognise leadership, innovation and measurable impact across the region, across businesses, public institutions, young leaders and community initiatives. The 2026 awards were presented at the summit in April. Winners and categories are on the Sustainable Adria Awards page.