To bring the Danube S3 Cluster results closer to decision makers, a set of activities has been implemented within policy recommendations work package of the project. These include the organization of 3 policy dialogue workshops, which managed to bring together more than 130 participants from almost all Danube region counties and also beyond. The discussions within these events supported the coordination between the activities of EUSDR PA7 (Knowledge society) and PA8 (Competitiveness of enterprises) and Danube S3 Cluster project. Numerous regional, national and European initiatives were presented and discussed, which led to new and consolidated contacts and networks between project partners and other relevant stakeholders, which in turn strengthened the local innovation ecosystems and cluster and regional development policies. New proposals for projects have been initiated by the policy learning dialogues and insights from the discussions were included in various strategic documents for regional development.

In addition, the project provided an overview of national programs to support clusters in the Danube region in the period 2021 – 2027. Based on all the information gathered during the project implementation, policy recommendations were formulated at the level of each Danube S3 Cluster partner country as well as for the Danube region as such, taking into account the diverse situation in individual regions regarding cluster policies and cluster support. Specifically, the recommendations were provided for agri-food clusters, which are the primary focus of Danube S3 Cluster project, and which may play an important role in green transition. These recommendations are linked directly to the priorities defined in Danube S3 Cluster Strategy and their fulfilment should lead to achieving the project's vision, which is a sustainable, resource efficient agri-food sector in the Danube region that is able to meet the challenges of increased productivity, sustainability, resilience and innovation, in which the role of clusters is acknowledged and realised resulting in increased efficiency and visibility on the market, advanced level of cooperation and access to a broader spectrum of market opportunities and financial resources.

Finally, the situation of clusters in agri-food in the context of RIS3 in the Danube region as analysed in the project was benchmarked with the prospects and outlooks of EU-level and Danube region strategic documents. The project partners have identified a direct match between developing a sustainable, resource efficient agri-food sector in the Danube region and relevant EU strategies as well as between strengthening the role and market efficiency of clusters and relevant Danube region strategies. However, to strengthen the role of clusters in the Danube region, it will be necessary to focus on transnational cooperation and networking and on building the critical mass, thus expanding the range and number of actors involved in clusters and creating competitive clusters.