EPIC Featured at Zagori Forum: Research Meets Regional Impact
25/06/2025 · 4 min read
At the 2025 Zagori Impact Investing Forum in the mountainous region of Epirus, Greece, the European Policy Innovation Council (EPIC) was presented as a new force in European public life. In a panel titled “Research Communities, a Ripple Effect for Regions,” Krzysztof Bulski introduced the EPIC’s mission with a powerful statement: “We see it as Europe’s first public policy influencer movement.”
The panel explored the untapped power of regional research communities to drive policy innovation — and the risks posed when those communities remain disconnected from Brussels.
Across Europe, regional universities, civic leaders, and local startups are building knowledge ecosystems with global potential. From Ioannina to the Algarve, local institutions are shaping the future of renewable energy, education, digital infrastructure, and sustainable development. But while their work is often rooted in lived experience and public trust, it too often remains invisible to EU policymakers. This creates a growing divide between where policy is made and where innovation actually happens.
EPIC was founded to help close that gap.
As a next-generation think tank, EPIC combines evidence-based research with the energy of a political movement. Its approach goes beyond traditional Brussels advocacy, engaging directly with communities, researchers, and regional actors to co-create policies that reflect Europe’s diversity and real-world complexity.
At Zagori, the case was made for a more connected Europe — not just in terms of infrastructure, but in how ideas and innovations travel. The panel highlighted that regions are not merely recipients of EU funds; they are laboratories of change. What they need is not more centralization, but more inclusion — in processes of agenda-setting, legislative design, and strategic vision.
EPIC’s contribution to the Forum focused on:
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Bridging research and policymaking: EPIC is working to make local knowledge and expertise visible and impactful at the EU level.
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Reimagining the role of think tanks: Moving from detached analysis to embedded engagement, EPIC sees think tanks not just as policy shops, but as connectors and mobilizers.
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Enabling regional leadership: By supporting the flow of ideas from peripheries to the political center, EPIC is challenging the traditional policy pipeline that often sidelines regional voices.
The Zagori Forum was a natural setting for this conversation. Known for convening leaders across business, academia, and civil society, the Forum is quickly becoming a reference point for those seeking to align economic transformation with social purpose.
As Europe prepares for its next institutional cycle, forums like Zagori — and actors like EPIC — are paving the way for a more grounded, more inclusive, and more responsive public policy ecosystem.
Research + local action = Europe’s true innovation engine.
Let’s build bridges, not bubbles.
For more information, visit Zagori Forum
