Re-ACT Lab at the Future Economy Programme 2025
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24 September 2025
From 21–26 September 2025, the Future of Economy Programme (FEP), organised by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Kosovo, brought together young professionals and emerging thinkers from the Western Balkans and Türkyie in Peja, Kosovo. The programme’s fourth edition focused on equipping participants with innovative approaches to inclusive, sustainable, and future-oriented economic development.
From 22 - 24th of September, our Director of Programmes, Sokol Zeneli, was invited to contribute with two in-depth lectures that combined conceptual insights with practical, interactive sessions:
1: Resilience Concepts and New Economic Models Based on Sustainability Logics
This session introduced resilience as a societal and policy-shaping value, highlighting its role in navigating crises and systemic shocks. Mr Zeneli unpacked the core dimensions of resilience and their importance for societies facing environmental, economic, and political challenges.
Participants were introduced to the limitations of traditional growth-driven economic models, which prioritise infinite expansion despite a finite environment. To address these contradictions, the session presented alternative frameworks such as:
The Doughnut Economy - a model that envisions human prosperity within a “safe and just space” where everyone’s basic needs are met without overshooting planetary boundaries.
Regenerative Development and Design - an approach that goes beyond sustainability by creating systems that restore and renew natural and social environments, enabling both people and nature to thrive together.
The discussion encouraged participants to reflect on how societal values and economic thinking – beyond efficiency and growth – can shape more resilient and sustainable economies for the Western Balkans and beyond.
2: Assessing Resilience in Policymaking
2: Assessing Resilience in Policymaking
Building on these concepts, this session turned to practical applications: how resilience thinking can improve the design, analysis, and monitoring of public policies. Participants were introduced to Re-ACT Lab’s Policy Analysis Framework and Methodology, developed in cooperation with FES Office in Kosovo.
The session concluded with a hands-on group exercise, where participants applied the framework to real-world policy cases from the region. This collaborative activity helped translate resilience theory into practical policy analysis tools, offering participants a concrete methodology they can use in their professional work.
Through these contributions, Re-ACT Lab reinforced its mission of advancing resilience-based policy making, a cornerstone of our Resilient Society programme. By engaging with the region’s next generation of economists, policymakers, and change agents, we shared how resilience can be operationalised - not only as a theoretical concept but as a practical framework for policymaking and societal development.
We thank Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Prishtina for the invitation and look forward to future opportunities for cooperation.
Re-ACT Lab promotes research and innovation as a means to advance governmental and policy-making reforms in Kosovo and regionally.
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