Workshop on the use of cohesion funds by research institutions – challenges and opportunities for the future

Workshop on the use of cohesion funds by research institutions: challenges and opportunities for the future

ERRIN's Smart Specialisation and Science and Education for Society Working Groups are co-organising an interactive workshop with the support of the Young European Research Universities Network (YERUN) about the use of cohesion funds by research institutions: challenges and opportunities for the future. This workshop aims to provide a better understanding of the added value of cohesion funding for research institutions and will explore more specifically how Cohesion Funds contribute or accelerate the development of regional innovation ecosystems through university engagement.

The workshop will be organised as an informative and interactive meeting with three objectives. First, it aims to inform the ERRIN and YERUN membership about evidence about the use of the cohesion funds. Second, the workshop aims to contrast the figures with regional practices from across Europe giving the universities and regions an opportunity to pitch regional practices, highlighting successes leveraging cohesion funds to support institutional development, regional partnerships, and innovation capacity. And finally, the workshop aims to open the dialogue between regions and universities, for better understanding of the added value and the challenges research institutions face in using cohesion funds. The workshop aims to collect some practical recommendations on how the future cohesion policy could better respond to the needs of the R&I sector and how stakeholder engagement could be improved in the development of the national programmes.

We encourage all members to inform their colleagues back in the regional administration working on cohesion funds and research institutes about this workshop which will offer an excellent chance to benefit from direct sharing experiences and knowledge with peers from across Europe.

Practicalities

The in-person workshop will take place on Monday19 May from 13:30-16:00 at the ERRIN Office. 

You can find the agenda attached on the right side of this webpage, which includes the registration link. Please note that you need to be logged in to access the attached agenda and registration link. 

The plenary part of the workshop will open for online participation. If you would like to connect online, please mention so in your registration. 

In the past years, ERRIN's Science and Education for Society (SEFS) Working Group has been closely following EU initiatives tapping into the role of research institutions for driving regional innovation ecosystems forward. Read more about previous WG activities and workstreams: