The Local Government of the Podkarpackie Region is the main entity responsible for orienting and implementing the region's economic development policy, including innovation policy, considering the industrial nature of the region. As the leader of the regional innovation ecosystem, the Local Government of the Podkarpackie Region is responsible for ensuring its effective functioning and fostering active cooperation among stakeholders from business, science, administration, and society. Clusters play a crucial role in this system by supporting the leader in creating conditions for enhanced collaboration through networking activities. Additionally, the Local Government of the Podkarpackie Region is tasked with developing and implementing the Regional Innovation Strategy, which outlines directions and actions to boost innovation and competitiveness in the regional economy. The Strategy also identifies and describes the smart specialisations of the region, along with the key technologies crucial for their current and future development. The development of the Strategy involved expert-participatory work with significant engagement of stakeholders in the regional ecosystem. Furthermore, the local government undertakes its own projects, such as the Podkarpackie - Smart Region project, which serves as a vital tool for driving entrepreneurial discovery and engaging regional stakeholders.
East Poland House
Avenue de Tervueren 48
1040 Etterbeek
Belgium
al. Łukasza Cieplińskiego 4
35-010 Rzeszów
Poland
The Regional Innovation Strategy of the Podkarpackie Region for 2021-2030 (RSI WP) identifies four strategic objectives (priorities) to enhance innovation and competitiveness of the regional economy based on knowledge and the utilisation of key technologies. These objectives include developing and strengthening the innovation ecosystem, increasing the level of innovation and competitiveness of enterprises in the region, enhancing the potential of current and future human resources considering the labour market needs, promoting the internationalisation of the regional economy and establishing robust value chains. Additionally, the strategy identifies horizontal areas for the entire economy, such as the adoption of Industry 4.0 solutions in the business sector and the transition of enterprises towards a circular economy. There are four smart specialisations of the Podkarpackie Region: Aviation and Cosmonautics; Automotive; Information and Telecommunications (ICT), Quality of Life (sustainable tourism, high-quality food, medical and fitness services and products, environmentally friendly energy).
ERRIN joined regional leaders from the EUregions4cohesion coalition and Members of the European Parliament to debate the future of Cohesion Policy in the 2028–2034 EU budget. The coalition presented its new position paper, which includes recommendations on place-based innovation, smart specialisation and the European Semester.
The European Week of Regions and Cities, taking place in Brussels from 12–14 October 2026, will once again serve as a leading platform for dialogue on regional and urban policy in Europe. This year the motto is 'Strong regions, strong Europe'. ERRIN is pleased to announce that its members will be strongly represented in this year’s programme, with sessions addressing a wide range of topics relevant to Europe’s regions and cities.
Since the beginning of 2025, the ERRIN network has so far welcomed six new members, including the Local Government of the Podkarpackie Region. ERRIN looks forward to supporting the Podkarpackie Region in enhancing the R&I capacities in their regional innovation ecosystem.
ERRIN’s Management Board Task Force on security and defence is organising a meeting with a focus on showcasing existing regional support programmes and schemes on defence and security ecosystems as well as exploring further the role that territories play in the EU security and defence landscape. This is part of the overall strategy aiming to integrate security and defence as an emerging theme in ERRIN’s structure.
The East Poland Innovation Day 2026 will highlight the innovation potential of Eastern Poland, bringing together policymakers, innovation leaders and ecosystem builders. The event will spotlight five rapidly developing regions, Lubelskie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Świętokrzyskie and Warmińsko-Mazurskie, positioning them as emerging hubs of technological growth and collaboration within Europe. Pirita Lindholm, ERRIN director, will take part in an expert panel on scaling regional innovation ecosystems.
The Clusters Meet Regions event in Rzeszów, Poland will take place on 3-4 June 2025, hosted by the Local Government of the Podkarpackie Region in collaboration with the European Cluster Collaboration Platform (ECCP) on behalf of the European Commission. This event is part of the broader Clusters Meet Regions series, which aims to strengthen the role of clusters in regional economic development by fostering collaboration between clusters, policymakers, businesses and research institutions.