Overcoming Grant Dependency: How RCOH Is Building Long-Term Regional Resilience—Summary from the NARA-SK Session at the Economic Forum
The traditional approach to regional transformation in Central and Eastern European countries is running up against systemic limits. Although regions are able to successfully implement individual projects, they often fail to sustain their results over the long term. Once grant funding ends, regional ecosystems usually revert to their starting point—a cycle of dependency rather than sustainable development.
Today at the Economic Forum, the National Recycling Agency of Slovakia (NARA-SK) organized a panel discussion on the sustainable transformation of regions as part of the "Europe of the Carpathians" session.
The RCOH Methodology and Panel Discussion
The program opened with a brief presentation on practical experiences from pilot activities using the RCOH methodology (Maria Kytaieva, NARA-SK). The methodology presents RCOH not as just another subproject, but as a management architecture that connects isolated initiatives into a single, continuous system.
This was followed by a panel discussion titled "Regional Resilience Architecture: Regional Circular Economy Hubs as Catalysts for Sustainable Transformation," moderated by Andriy Kytaiev (NARA-SK).
Key takeaways from the discussion:
1. RCOH as a management framework, not a one-off project
Regional Circular Economy Hubs (RCOHs) are designed to function as systemic focal points. Rather than replacing existing initiatives, RCOHs provide the necessary infrastructure to connect local resources, assess regional needs, and ensure that completed projects serve as a foundation for further growth.
The traditional approach to regional transformation in Central and Eastern European countries is running up against systemic limits. Although regions are able to successfully implement individual projects, they often fail to sustain their results over the long term. Once grant funding ends, regional ecosystems usually revert to their starting point—a cycle of dependency rather than sustainable development.
Today at the Economic Forum, the National Recycling Agency of Slovakia (NARA-SK) organized a panel discussion on the sustainable transformation of regions as part of the "Europe of the Carpathians" session.
2. Balancing the Three Dimensions of Regional Capital
True resilience cannot be achieved in isolated sectors:
* Social Elevator: A shift from passive support to developing local leaders and retaining talent, which directly addresses the problem of brain drain from the regions.
* Economic Elevator: Creating a self-sustaining core that attracts external private investment based on real local activity, not just external marketing.
* Cumulative Sustainability: Operational continuity ensuring that environmental and circular initiatives generate long-term value that multiplies over time.
3. From Pilot Projects to Scalable Ecosystems
Based on experience from pilot projects and measurable indicators from Slovak regions, the panel emphasized how diagnostic tools and a shared methodology (including the RCOH Cloud platform) enable regions to scale successful models without having to start from scratch.
Session Participants:
Moderator: Andriy Kytaiev (NARA-SK)
Speakers and Panelists: Maria Kytaieva (NARA-SK), Jan Plesnik (ASES), Viktória Zemančíková (NARA-SK), Miroslav Macko (HOVEBA), Robert Simek (RETEX).
At a time when regional economies face complex environmental and economic challenges, the key to competitiveness lies in management systems capable of transforming local challenges into sustainable regional assets.
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