A regional and local perspective – why place-based research and innovation ecosystems are important

To achieve and maximise the impact of EU programmes related to research and innovation, regional and local innovation ecosystems are crucial. Innovation happens in places and there are specific local conditions which make such innovation ecosystems flourish.

A wide range of stakeholders – academia, industry, the public sector, and civil society – need to be involved in collaborative projects. Innovation ecosystems bring together stakeholders from different sectors and with different skills, which will improve the sourcing of new knowledge, allow for the development of more relevant products and services, and provide space for testing of new technologies to build acceptance.

ERRIN’s expertise lies in the close collaboration with our members and in our ability to provide concrete input based on experience and expertise.

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ERRIN's input to Horizon programmes 2014-2027 consultation

February 2023

European research and innovation policy and programmes


Our main focus is the EU framework programme for research and innovation Horizon 2020 and its successor Horizon Europe. However, certain aspects of research and innovation – education, uptake, scale-up, etc. – are funded by a variety of EU programmes, which means that we also work on programmes such as cohesion policy (S3 and Interregional Innovation Investment initiative), Connecting Europe Facility, Creative Europe, Digital Europe, Erasmus+, InvestEU, LIFE, Innovation Fund, Single Market.

Horizon Europe

Horizon Europe plays a key role in providing solutions for the environmental, social, and economic transformations needed to tackle the challenges faced by regions and cities across the Union, and as a result, it will have a profound impact on improving the lives of Europe’s citizens.

These solutions will differ across Europe depending on the regional, local, and social context. Therefore, a place-based perspective built on excellence and collaboration between a range of stakeholders is crucial to develop sustainable and impactful innovations with a wide public acceptance. Europe’s competitiveness depends on our ability to combine economic development with sustainable and inclusive solutions to our societal challenges.

To further increase the impact and efficiency of Horizon Europe funding, coordination between research and innovation agendas on a local, regional, national and European level, as well as between the public and private sector are needed. To do so, further work should be done on creating practical complementarities between S3 strategies, S3 partnerships, European Partnerships and how these link to the clusters in Horizon Europe.

Image source: European Commission

Highlighted policy documents - Horizon Europe

Addressing common challenges with ecosystem thinking

Applying an ecosystem approach

Ecosystem thinking and effective quadruple helix cooperation should be a key element in pillar 2 of Horizon Europe. Such an approach could be implemented by inserting requirements for consortia to include partners from a wider spectrum of stakeholder groups, to facilitate the involvement of the public sector and end-users. This does not necessarily mean that consortia should become larger, but that it should stimulate new partner constellations and the participation of new actors with the aim to generate new sustainable and inclusive solutions to global challenges.

Demand-driven and bottom-up

Following the logic of the mission-oriented approach, the call definitions should be flexible to allow bottom-up proposals based on the needs of – and challenges faced by – the ecosystems and their end-users. This would also mean that projects are sufficiently demand-driven to ensure further scale-up and a wider uptake of innovative solutions.

Citizen involvement

Effective quadruple helix cooperation will boost demand-driven research and innovation and increase the involvement of citizens in research and innovation projects. A reflective process should be put in place at an early stage of developing research and innovation projects to determine when and how citizens should be to enhance societal impact.

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European Innovation Ecosystems

The new European Innovation Ecosystems action (EIE) provides a great opportunity to build and strengthen ecosystems as well as support ecosystem to ecosystem collaboration, which is not currently supported anywhere else on an EU level. This will provide access to complementary skills, infrastructure, and markets. Collaborating ecosystems can also form alliances to address various challenges at both EU and regional level.

In the development of the EIE, ERRIN has underlined the importance of supporting a wide ecosystem approach rather than single innovators or one-to-one collaboration as well as to ensure that supported actions consider how they can build on and complement existing programmes and strategic partnerships. ERRIN also proposed a set of actions that could be supported where our members see the most added value:  

Strengthening collaboration between excellent ecosystems to tackle shared challenges, further excel in a specific area or enhance complementarities by building value chains

Accelerating the maturity of emerging ecosystems by connecting them with more advanced ones

Support ecosystem connectors or multipliers at a regional level

ERRIN actively engaged in the consultation process, participating in the Commission stakeholder workshop with regions, the stakeholder questionnaire, and the final stakeholder conference organised by the Commission.

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Latest Updates

  • By Ewa Chomicz

169 country actions in support of the New European Innovation Agenda

On 19 September 2023, the European Commission published the list of actions that Member States and Associated Countries to Horizon Europe are so far undertaking or planning to undertake in support of one or more of the five flagships of the New European Innovation Agenda, including Flagship 3 closely followed by ERRIN. 20 countries have so far reported 169 actions in total, with their scope ranging from regional, through national to European.

  • By Rodolphe Doité

Innovation and Investment WG: Call for regional examples of innovation-related support mechanisms

The Innovation and Investment Working Group is looking for examples of local and regional schemes that support stakeholders in their innovation projects for our meeting with the EIC President of the Board, Michiel Scheffer. The meeting will take place on 9 October between 17:30 and 19:30 CEST. 

  • By Ewa Chomicz

Regional Innovation Valleys: interest so far & matchmaking map

On 6 September, the European Commission published a matchmaking map showcasing European regions that have so far expressed their interest to become a Regional Innovation Valley (RIV) by applying to the call for Expression of Interest launched in March 2023. The call for EoI is still open for new submissions until 18 September 2023.

  • By Silvia Ghiretti

ERRIN contribution to the European roadmap for Hydrogen Valleys

The discussions around the development of the Hydrogen Valleys are gaining momentum with the European Commission's open consultation on the topic. ERRIN submitted an input paper based on its members' needs, challenges, and solutions. This paper outlines how local and regional governments address hydrogen-related challenges and recognises the importance of Hydrogen Valleys as place-based innovation ecosystems bringing together key stakeholders engaged in developing hydrogen solutions.

  • By Ewa Chomicz

ERRIN contribution to the CoR opinion on “The future of cohesion policy post-2027”

The discussions around the future cohesion policy framework post-2027 are gaining momentum with the CoR opinion on the topic currently under consultation. ERRIN submitted written input guided by network members' experiences, kicking off the conversation on the need to explore closer links between cohesion and research & innovation policies. More activities are in the planning.

  • By Ewa Chomicz

Spanish Presidency R&I priorities one month in

The Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU kicked off on 1 July 2023. One month into the term, following the Informal ministerial meeting on competitiveness (research) on 27-28 July, we take a closer look at the developments regarding priorities in the field of research and innovation from a regional and local perspective.