URBACT 2nd Call for Proposals for the Creation of Thematic Networks and Working Groups Now Open
Following the decision of the URBACT II Monitoring Committee on May 20, 2009, a new URBACT Call for Proposals is now open for the creation of 12 new Thematic Networks and 3 new Working Groups. Projects approved through this Call will focus on fostering exchange and learning among cities and other urban players, capitalising knowledge, and disseminating good practices in the field of integrated and sustainable urban development. By setting up Local Support Groups, producing Local Action Plans, and through transnational networking, these projects will both impact local policies and link into the Operational Programmes. This Call is aimed at supporting European cities to deal with two current major challenges: the economic crisis and its consequences, and climate change and its effects. All project proposals shall refer to one or both of these challenges. In addition, project proposals must address one of the 16 Priority topics defined for this Call.
The Call is open from June 16, 2009 until September 25, 2009.
Further information and detailed procedure to apply available on URBACT website.
ERRIN Briefing: Lisbon in Practice - Regional Attractiveness for Investment in Research and Innovation, 8 July 2009, Brussels
The 2009 Ernst & Young survey of European attractiveness ranked ‘making innovation easier and supporting R&D investments’ in third place for foreign investors’ minds and it is clear from a policy level there is an increasing recognition that regions need to be much more aware of their research and innovation offer in a competitive global economy. This seminar will shed light on the importance of R&D and innovation for regions wishing to enhance their attractiveness.
Three leading thinkers in this field will present their opinions and open up a debate on how regions can both develop and promote their R&D and innovation competences to retain and attract investment.
1. European attractiveness survey. Marc Lhermitte of Ernst & Young will present the main results of their recently published 2009 survey, highlighting in particular the role of countries’/regions’ research and innovation capacities for investor’s decisions.
2. Regional Growth Project: Ben Gardiner of Cambridge Econometrics will present the milestones of the first year of this 4-year project, which aims to identify the best and worst-performing regions in Europe (http://www.euregionalgrowth.eu/).
3. Lessons from the EC’s Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development: Vincent Duchêne and Geert Steurs of Idea Consult will present lessons from their ex-post evaluation of FP6 with a particular focus on lessons learned for promoting regional innovation.
4. A new innovation strategy for regions: Andrew Davies of the OECD will present this new OECD/European Commission project, which is to take stock of the different approaches to supporting innovation at regional level and aims to help improve the effectiveness of innovation policy and innovation-related spending at regional level.
More information, agenda and registration
Better approaches to commercialisation of R&D results - How to make more of your regional R&D investments? 25 June 2009, Brussels
It is long been known and is being repeated all over that Europe does not lack excellence in research but the gap to the US and Asia comes from a lack of innovation, getting the research to the market. Most universities in European regions have validation schemes in place and engage in technology transfer, spin-offs, start-ups and the like. Some of them are world-class in this. And more and more regions are experimenting with voucher schemes to provide SMEs with access to technical and business expertise and boost open innovation. But more often the picture is that there is no systematic approach in place to screen research results and bringing them to the market.
To learn more about these methods and related opportunities ERRIN has organised a workshop together with Greenovate, an organisation that specialises in providing this support, drawing in technological and business and market expertise from across Europe. Apart from gaining insight into the methods and the process, the main messages and lessons learned were that tested methods for exploiting public research results exist, the challenge is to get more regions to use them and scale up the support, preferentially on a transnational level, for instance through strategic projects co-funded by transnational cooperation programmes. ERRIN calls on all members to indicate their interest in such transnational projects and will organise the follow-up.
The presentations are available here:FP7 Technologies for Environmental Technologies, Andrea Tilche
Greenovate! Approach - Open Innovation Platforms, Serge Galant
Innovation Vouchers, Katharina Krell
Eco-innovation Call - Market Replication, Astrid Geiger
Lisbon Strategy Post 2010: Regional strategies for innovation ! A (joint) network event of the Lisbon Regions and ERRIN, 18 June 2009, Brussels
The Lisbon Regions Network and ERRIN jointly organised an event to contribute to the thinking of the future Lisbon Strategywhich will be presented by the European Commission at the end of 2009. The new strategy will have to face the challenges of a severe economic restructuring and job losses. Investment in economic clusters combining innovation, education and research are key elements to bring Europe’s knowledge economy back on track and should feature prominently in the new strategy. While such investment should be accompanied by regional innovation strategies that enhance competitiveness through upgrading innovation policies, infrastructures and the regional talent pool, this seminar was a unique opportunity for both networks to understand and shape future EU policy in this area.
A Lisbon Strategy Post 2010: What for and how?
Anneli Pauli (Deputy Director-General DG Research, European Commission) opened the seminar bysharing current thinking on research and innovation challenges and the role of regions in developing better innovation strategies in the EU. Professor André Sapir (Université Libre de Bruxelles and Senior Fellow at Bruegel)discussed the impact of the economic crisis on EU innovation strategies. He recalled the long-term economic challenges at the origin of current EU policies in this area, and highlighted how the neweconomic downturnmakesthe Lisbon strategy for innovation not only more needed, but also whyit will be more difficult to implemement in the future.
Experiences of Regional innovation strategies
The seminar also showcased two good practice examples of regional innovation highlighting the ‘triple helix’ roles of companies, universities and research institutes and public administrations:
- Pierre Lafitte, Founder and President of the Foundation Sophia Antopolis
- Veli-Pekka Niitamo, Chairman European LivingLabs leadership Group and Director Nokia IT (the presentation will soon be available
Towards a Lisbon Strategy post 2010: Regions and Innovation as key words
To conclude,a debate moderated by Hans Martens (Chief Executive, European Policy Centre) on the role of the regions and why theyshould be heard was jointly introduced by Claus Schultze (Director of ERRIN)and Rita Malvasi (Coordinator of the Libon Regions Network). It now remains to be seen whatwill be the contribution of regions and howtheywill participate inshaping the future of the Lisbon Strategyin order to stimulate the innovation climate in the EU.
ERRIN Spring Annual Event: "Regions as catalysts of Open Innovation", Résidence Palace, rue de la Loi 155, 11 June 2009, Brussels
Innovation is a vital component of regional competitiveness and it is a crucial driver to help regions escape the current economic crisis. The current economic downturn forces companies to more and more rethink their Research & Development (R&D) strategies. As a result more and more companies open up their internal R&D to outside forces, sharing risks, costs and opportunities and becoming more fluid and open. Open Innovation is clearly more than a hype or a re-branding of longstanding innovation policies: it is a game-changer in the way companies manage their R&D but also in the way government and public policy approaches innovation support.
This ERRIN conference moderated by Prof. Michael West, Executive Dean of Aston Business School, brought together EC officials, regional policy officers and policy-makers and open innovation experts to explore this new concept, discussing, among others:
- Which opportunities/challenges does Open Innovation present for regions?
- How can regions provide added value to Open Innovation?
- Are there good practices in regional policy making and support?
- How does Open Innovation figure in the work towards a European Innovation Plan?
- What could be policy recommendations from the regions?
The presentations are available here:
Public session: Regions as catalysts of Open Innovation
Future Business and Open Innovation, Léopold Demiddeleer
Towards a European Innovation Plan, Peter Droell
Regions as Catalysts for Open Innovation, Koenraad Debackere
Examples from ERRIN regions: Open Innovation in action
Tampere, Demola Innovation Services
West Midlands, Innovation Xchange
Ile de France Region, Moveo
Stuttgart Region, Bionic Learning Network
More information on this event is also available on the ERRIN Director's blog.
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