Final event of the “Innovation. Media. Minds" Programme

IMM Final event in Montenegro - Directors General Roundtable © Ozren Zogovic

Final event of the “Innovation. Media. Minds: Support to Public Service Journalism in the W. Balkans” Programme highlights trust, cooperation and the future of public service journalism in the Western Balkans

Budva, Montenegro, 13 May 2026 — The final stakeholders event of the “Innovation. Media. Minds: Support to Public Service Journalism in the Western Balkans” took place in Budva, Montenegro, bringing together public service broadcasters, independent media outlets, civil society organisations, journalists, media professionals, European Union representatives and international partners from across the region.

Implemented by Goethe-Institut in partnership with DW Akademie and funded by the European Union, the programme has supported media innovation, professional exchange, regional cooperation and public-interest journalism across the Western Balkans.

Over two days, participants reflected on the achievements of the programme and discussed the future of public service media in the region. The event included impact discussions, thematic panels, exchanges between public service broadcasters and independent media, and an exhibition showcasing the people, projects and ideas supported through IMM.

Innovation. Media. Minds Programme Regional Team Leader, Goethe-Institut - Georgia Trimspioti © Ozren Zogovic

Director General of the Radio and Television of Montenegro - Boris Raonic © Ozren Zogovic

Project Manager at DG ENEST - Clara Sanchez Pastor © Ozren Zogovic

Head of Cooperations and Third-Party Assignments Region Europe I, Goethe-Institut - Marc-André Schmachtel © Ozren Zogovic

Deputy Head of Department, Asia and Europe, DW Akademie - Nadine Jurrat © Ozren Zogovic

Innovation. Media. Minds Programme exhibition space © Ozren Zogovic

Innovation. Media. Minds. Programme exhibition space © Ozren Zogovic

High-level roundtable - Public Service Media in the Western Balkans: Independence, Innovation & the European Path © Ozren Zogovic

Innovation. Media. Minds Programme final event - High-level roundtable moderator Natalija Gorscak, RTV Slovenia © Ozren Zogovic

Panel "Showcasing impact I - From Strategy to Practice: Innovation Inside Public Service Media" participants © Ozren Zogovic

Innovation. Media. Minds Programme - Showcasing impact I panel © Ozren Zogovic

Cross-border cooperation grants panel participants © Ozren Zogovic

Panel "Showcasing Impact II - Independent Media, Co-productions & New Alliances" © Ozren Zogovic

A central message of the event was that the programme was not only about grants, activities or outputs, but about building trust, encouraging experimentation and giving media professionals the space to develop their own ideas.

“IMM was not designed as a traditional programme. It was built on the belief that innovation happens when people are trusted, when professionals are given space, when institutions are encouraged to experiment, and when ownership is shared. In the end, IMM does not belong to the project team. It belongs to the people and institutions who gave it life through their work, creativity and courage,” said Georgia Trismpioti, Team Leader of the Innovation. Media. Minds. Programme. “Its real achievement is not only the activities completed, but the people reached, the partnerships created, the institutions connected, and the ideas that became real.”

During its implementation, IMM awarded 75 grants, including innovation grants, mobility grants, production grants, seed funding grants and cross-border cooperation grants. The programme reached around 680 media professionals, journalists and public service media employees, including 390 women and 290 men, and supported 500 hours of consultancy, 50 mentoring days, 27 study visit participants, two innovation labs with 53 participants, and eight regional events. Grant funding reached almost EUR 1 million, exceeding the originally foreseen amount of EUR 800,000.

One of the programme’s most significant achievements was bringing together all eight public service broadcasters of the Western Balkans within one regional initiative. Discussions in Budva underlined that public service media across the region face different challenges but share common responsibilities: to inform citizens, build trust, innovate, cooperate and serve the public interest.

The panels also highlighted the strong value of cooperation between independent media and public service broadcasters. Independent media representatives and civil society actors acknowledged that public service media can help their work reach broader and more diverse audiences, while adding credibility, legitimacy and public trust. At the same time, speakers stressed the importance of preserving the freedom, creativity and flexibility of independent media, showing that meaningful impact is created when institutional reach and independent voices come together around shared public-interest goals.

Inclusion, diversity and representation were also central themes of the event. Speakers underlined that public service journalism is not only about institutions, strategies and reforms, but also about people: who gets heard, whose stories are told, and how media can help societies understand themselves with more empathy, accuracy and courage. Discussions emphasized that inclusion begins with storytelling, and that media impact depends not only on visibility, but also on dignity, accessibility, human-centred narratives and the ability to connect with diverse audiences.

Following its presentation in Budva, the IMM exhibition will continue its journey in the region. It will be hosted at Europe House in Podgorica from 16 to 23 June, before moving to the headquarters of BHRT — Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina — where it will remain on display for a longer period.

Although the programme is reaching its final stage, the Budva event concluded with a clear message: the relationships, skills, trust and ideas created through IMM should continue to inspire cooperation among public service media, independent media and young professionals across the Western Balkans.

Funded by the European Union, the Innovation. Media. Minds.: Support to Public Service Journalism in the Western Balkans Programme, is managed by the Goethe-Institut on behalf of the European Commission and in collaboration with its implementing partner DW Akademie.