Navarre is an autonomous region located at the Northeast of Spain. Navarre has powers and autonomy for the design and implementation of public policies on a variety of fields, including the research and innovation area. Navarre is a strong innovator region with a dynamic economy, according to the Regional Innovation Scoreboard (2023) it falls in the 98th position out of the 100 most innovative regions in the EU. The R&D expenditure represented the 1.8% of its GDP in 2023, from which 67.2% was conducted by private firms.
Navarre is a cross-border region: situated in the western end of the Pyrenees, it covers a 163 km long stretch of the Spanish-French border, approximately 25% of it. It has 678,333 inhabitants and a territorial extension of 10,391.08 square kilometres. This reality translates to the political and governance landscape, since it actively partakes in a high number of cross-border projects, entities and networks.
Navarre’s 2018 regional law on Science and Technology approved a progressive annual increase in R&D expenditure that secures the allocation of at least a 2% of its budget to this area by 2030. This is supported by its rich R&D ecosystem, which counts with two universities on the cutting edge, three research centres and six technology centres.
Within the scope of its wide autonomy, and its own taxation system, Navarre provided in its regional law of 2016 on taxes the chance for a tax deduction of 40% to R&D activities. The percentage goes up to 50% for expenses related to human resources when such activities count with qualified researches appointed exclusively for the research, as well as those projects contracted with universities, public research organisations or technology centres located in Spain or in any member state of the European Union.
Contact detail
-
Contact person
-
Brussels Office Address
Rue de Toulouse 30 Toulousestraat
1040 Brussels
Belgium
S3 Strategy
Although adopting S4 is voluntary, Navarre has decided to transform its own strategy, integrating sustainability more decisively into all lines of work and as an ultimate territorial goal. The S4 is an agenda for regional economic transformation to make Navarre a benchmark for sustainable growth in Europe. This has to do not only with global trends and with continental strategies, but above all with the strengths and capabilities available in key areas of the sustainable transition such as mobility, energy, or agrifood.
The thematic priorities in Navarre’s S4 are: Electric and connected mobility, Green energy industry, Healthy and Sustainable Agrifood, Personalized Medicine, Audiovisual Industry, and Sustainable Tourism, plus the Digital Transition and the Green Transition.
The Navarre’s S4 is based on 6 keys:
- Directionality of innovation and competitiveness towards sustainable growth; it is not just a question of how much we are innovating, but the purpose or goal of that innovation.
- Working on “missions”: a set of complementary projects that allow for progress to be made towards the same objective, combining different approaches.
- Systemic impact: coordination of different policies and resources for the desired transformation of ecosystems
- New value chains: bolstering the positioning of companies in new international niches generated by the green and digital transitions.
- Local experimentation: creation of enabling frameworks for piloting and experimentation (incentives, regulation, living labs, innovative public procurement, ideas competitions…)
- European networks: participation in European networks and thematic platforms for cooperation, learning, and the generation of business opportunities
Pooling together companies, research groups, technology centres, start-ups, development agencies and the government to collaborate on the basis of this shared vision will allow Navarre to put itself on the right path towards smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, and open up opportunities for that future that new generations are demanding.
Strategic R&I Projects
European Circular Innovation Valley (ECIV)
ECIV is a strategic initiative uniting 19 organisations from 13 EU regions and 9 countries to accelerate circular economy adoption. Through collaborative innovation, industrial partnerships and technology-driven sustainability, ECIV acts as a dynamic 'dance floor' for circular innovation, supporting Europe’s climate neutrality and resource efficiency goals.
ECIV connects innovation ecosystems across Europe to develop and scale sustainable solutions for the circular economy.
WEBSITE>LIFE-IP NADAPTA CC (16M€) Life-IP NAdapta CC
Life-IP NAdapta CC towards an integrated, coherent and inclusive implementation of Climate Change Adaptation policy in a region: monitoring, water, agriculture, forestry, human health, infrastructures and landscape.
WEBSITE>
STARDUST
The Stardust Project aims to transform present day cities to smarter cities through a holistic replication model.
WEBSITE>
LCA4REGIONS
Improved Environment and Resource Efficiency through the use of Life Cycle Instruments for the implementation of regional policies of the European Union.
WEBSITE>
Latest Updates
- By Beatriz Irala
Euroclusters call - interest from clusters of Navarra to join a consortium
Navarra’s clusters Nagrifood and Functional Print are interested in joining a consortium in a proposal on the theme of digitalisation for the call on Joint Cluster Initiatives (EUROCLUSTERS) for Europe’s recovery (SMP-COSME-2021-CLUSTER) under the Single Market Programme.
- By BEGOÑA VICENTE
ISFOOD is looking for partners for HORIZON-CL6-2021-FARM2FORK-01-11 call
ISFOOD is looking for a partnership in this Topic. In this call, ISFOOD's team would be interested in developing nutritious and healthy foods (i.e analogue-meat products) with high biological value protein mixtures that allow for personalized feeding in population groups with specific nutritional needs due to advanced age or difficulty in chewing and swallowing, in a circular economy, where protein-rich by-products and food waste are exploited. Studies will be carried out using ternary protein hybridized matter resulting from the mixture of animal/vegetable/fungus as an alternative source of proteins.
- By Gaia Ialisa Marotta
Navarra is looking for patrners for a call on preventing and fighting extreme wildfires with the integration and demonstration of innovative means
Navarra is looking for patrners for the Green Deal call on preventing and fighting extreme wildfires with the integration and demonstration of innovative means (LC-GD-1-1-2020) - Subtopic 1 (Innovation Actions)
- By Agnieszka Wieczorek Jetha
H2020-SUSTAINABLE FOOD SECURITY - Partners search SFS-16-2018 Towards healthier and sustainable food
The Institute on Innovation & Sustainable Development in Food Chain (IS-FOOD), from the Public University of Navarre, Spain, is searching for partners (included a coordinator) to apply to the following call: TOPIC: Towards healthier and sustainable food (SFS-16-2018) Types of action: RIA Research and Innovation action Model: two-stage 1st stage Deadline:
- By Agnieszka Wieczorek Jetha
Improving the performance of inefficient district heating networks / EE-02-2017
The Government of Navarra is developing the project EFFIDISTRICT.FWD where one of the actions is to renew existing District Heating in one of the neighborhoods of Pamplona. The aim is to support the renewal of these facilities to improve their energy performance and to ensure their survival over time.
- By Ewa Chomicz
Smart Specialisation WG meeting: S3 and PRI – the way ahead
The year 2024 marks the opening of a new chapter for the Partnerships for Regional Innovation (PRI) as an initiative building on S3 to support innovation for place-based transformations. The meeting will present the latest and upcoming PRI developments and opportunities for engagement, alongside regional insights and an interactive discussion. Please note the new date! The event will be held online on 25 June from 10:00-11:30 CEST.