ERRIN’s Spring Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2023 took place on 22 June this year. As always, it brought together the large and dynamic community of member regions and cities. Following the format part with the update from the network, the main focus was the EU Missions, approached in two policy debates, on the support and implementation frameworks in Adaptation, Ocean and Waters and Soil Missions, and the governance innovation and the perspective on Cities and the Cancer Missions. 

The two panels featured lively debates on the EU Missions moderated by ERRIN Working Group leaders Angele Liaigre (Cities Northern Netherlands) and Zoe Buyle-Bodin (Normandie Region).  Representatives from the Mission Secretariats: Irene Bonvissuto (Mission Adaptation), Kerstin Rosenow (Mission Soil), Wiebke Pankauke (Mission Cities), Claudia Pecoraro (Mission Oceans), and Kay Duggan-Walls (Mission Cancer) reflected on the achievements of the EU Missions so far. A number of ERRIN members added thought-provoking insights to the debate with their practical experiences: Klaas de Boer (Hanse Region), Irene Palomino (Extremadura), Francoise Guaspare (Ile-de-France) and Ylva Reinsart (Skåne Region). Neville Reeve from DG R&I linked the debate in the framework of the Horizon Europe strategic planning.   

The exchange highlighted again the crucial role of local and regional level and the need to bring together all local stakeholders in the Missions’ implementation. Even if there is room for improvement, for example in terms of further defining and creating synergies between some of the implementation frameworks, the ERRIN community is very keen to engage in the EU Missions. As discussed, the openness and willingness to shape the EU Missions together with stakeholders is really appreciated by the ERRIN members. We are eager to hear officially about the Mission evaluation results this week and happy that overall, the feedback has been positive. At the same time, we are looking towards the future, as expectations for the EU Missions are high, and the practical next steps will be crucial.

As usual, the ERRIN AGM served as a get-together accompanied by networking drinks and provided a chance to meet fellow members and exchange on collaboration opportunities. The presentation and video from the policy debate are available on the event page accessible for members.

ERRIN has been strongly engaged in work around all five EU Missions which are also identified as one of the network’s two key overarching priorities for 2022-2023, alongside widening and deepening engagement in R&I. We have closely followed up the Missions in several Working Groups and contributed to shaping the Missions through events, input papers and formal and informal dialogues with the Mission Secretariats. Over 70 cities in Mission Cities as well as 100 signatories of the Mission Adaptation Charter are ERRIN members. At the same time, we have been advocating mission-approach as a way to better mobilise whole regional innovation ecosystems, which could also support building strong Regional Innovation Valleys and interconnections between them. ERRIN acts as a liaison, mobilising the regions to get involved in the Mission work, not only through its Working Groups but also through EU Missions and Missions-related projects such as Pathways2Resilience, RESIST, NetZeroCities and MOSAIC. Read more about ERRIN’s work on the EU Missions here.