On 3 and 4 September, the first “Governor's Forum" took place in the Central Bohemian region of the Czech Republic. This forum was a unique opportunity to emphasise the regional and local dimensions of innovative sciences, SMART technologies, environmental conservation, tourism and economic growth. This forum was organised in cooperation with the European Committee of the Regions. In addition to representatives from the Visegrád Group (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary), representatives from Germany, Ukraine and Austria also attended. ECR members Cezary Przybylski, President of Poland's Lower Silesia region and Jozef Viskupič, President of the Trnava Self-Governing Region in Slovakia, were among the diverse group of regional policy-makers attending the event.

The forum emphasised the need for bottom-up initiatives as well as regional cooperation. These two elements are more critical now than ever, as European regions continue to struggle with the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr Przybylski expanded on the point of cooperation, saying “I am convinced that the regions will continue working on initiatives that will better harness their own potential, as well as working more closely with one another". As the President of Lower Silesia, Mr Przybylski had overseen close cooperation with the German region of Saxony in combating the coronavirus earlier this spring. Mr Viskupič referred to the funding that many regions would receive from various European programs in the 2021-2027 period and encouraged regions to use this to bolster cohesion. Addressing the forum, Mr Viskupič said: “Our goal should be to increase the quality of life for the inhabitants of all regions. To achieve this goal, we must look beyond the specific interests of individual cities, regions and countries; instead, we should emphasise a holistic approach".

Digitalisation and cyber security were two salient issues that were also discussed extensively at the forum. The forum was the first of its type, but will surely not be the last, as the participants agreed on the need for coordination and cooperation in order to improve the quality of life and governance in not only the Visegrád countries, but in the entire EU.