On 29 April 2025, ERRIN participated in the high-level launch event of the EU Preparatory Action 'Innovation for Place-Based Transformation', an initiative coordinated by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) with the support of the European Parliament, aiming to facilitate and promote a transformative innovation policy approach across EU regions and beyond. Over 240 territories, including national governments, regions and cities from across Europe, expressed interest to participate, underscoring the strong commitment of European territories to drive transformation through innovation.

A place-based approach to tackle burning European challenges

Bringing together stakeholders from the over 200 selected territories – many of which are ERRIN members – together with high-level speakers from the EU institutions, this event in the Berlaymont in Brussels marked the kick-start of the two-year innovation journey to tackle Europe’s most pressing territorial challenges. The identified challenges for this initiative are centred around achieving circularity, improving health, climate adaptation, reducing reliance on fossil fuels, mastering the digitalisation, increasing global food security and the New European Bauhaus challenge of making the green transition in built environments and beyond enjoyable, attractive and convenient for all. These challenges are closely aligned to the European Innovation Agenda and the Regional Innovation Valleys initiative. 

'Innovation for place-based transformation' means designing solutions tailored to the unique needs, assets and contexts of specific territories. In the face of today’s complex challenges, transformation requires systemic, cross-cutting approaches that span local, regional, national and European levels and integrate multiple policy areas. The approach of this Preparatory Action is very much at the core of ERRIN's mission: to bring a place-based perspective into EU research and innovation policy, ensuring solutions are responsive to the diverse realities and potential of European territories. The selected territories for this initiative will get support from the JRC and ERRIN, together with Climate-KiC and EURADA, who will act as facilitators of the participants' journeys of knowledge-sharing, capacity building, policy experimentation and the development of innovative locally tailored solutions to these complex issues.

Territories in Action: the journey begins

The launch event titled 'Territories in Action: the journey begins' showcased regions and cities commitment to put transformative policies for sustainability into action, with a strong political backing from EU level. High-level speakers such as European Commission Executive Vice-Presidents Teresa Ribera and Raffaele Fitto, Commissioner Jessica Roswall as well as Lina Gálvez, Member of the European Parliament, declared their strong support for the initiative, recognising that it is at regional and local level that innovation and transformation takes place. A key message that was echoed from these key EU representatives was that in a fast-evolving global landscape, societal and environmental challenges need to be tackled on the ground, with policies shaped to fit local realities, and require the involvement of the entire innovation ecosystem in the process for meeting the innovation needs of the territory.

Several ERRIN members actively contributed to the panel discussions, offering valuable insights into how innovation policies can drive transformation across Europe, drawing from the realities of their regions. Their contributions reflected the reality that territories are already leading the change, sharing concrete examples of transformation underway in their regions. Through the initiative, these ERRIN members, along with other selected territories, will embark on an experimentation journey, where they will get the possibility to test new approaches and explore tools – such as so-called regulatory sandboxes – to identify and overcome barriers to innovation and develop concrete place-based solutions to real-world challenges. These territories will share their experiences and help other territories adapt solutions to their own local contexts – ensuring impact at both local and European level while ensuring multi-level coordination.

Pirita Lindholm, ERRIN Director, moderated a panel discussion on boosting clean and just competitiveness. A key message from this discussion was that European competitiveness and the green transition must be firmly anchored in strong, connected local and regional innovation ecosystems, where experimentation, co-creation and multi-level governance intersect to drive transformation. Initiatives such as Regional Innovation Valleys, the EU Missions, Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) and the New European Bauhaus have been key tools for regions and cities to test and scale solutions, rooted in the strengths of each territory and tailored to their unique contexts. The Preparatory Action will be an important tool to continue these efforts and will pave the way for better connected place-based innovation ecosystems, which is key for Europe's competitiveness.

Next steps

The participating territories have been selected based on their commitment and experience and will follow one or more of three tailored tracks: Awareness Raising, Capacity Building or Experimentation. ERRIN is pleased to support these experimentation journeys and look forward to collaborating with our members and partners to drive meaningful, place-based innovation across Europe, with the first journeys taking off in June. As the Preparatory Action moves forward, it will also help shape future EU innovation policies and tools, including the upcoming Innovation Act and the S3, by offering real-world insights into what local transformation truly requires, making participation not only beneficial for local development but also influential at the European policy level.

Background of the Preparatory Action

This Preparatory Action builds on the foundation laid by JRC's work on supporting European territories turn innovation policy into action, such as the Partnerships for Regional Innovation (PRI), S3 and the ACTIONbook. ERRIN has been actively supporting PRI, promoting engagement and contributing to shaping the way forward for the initiative through organising dedicated events and participating in debates. During the ERRIN Smart Specialisation Working Group meeting on 'S3 and PRI – the way ahead' on 25 June members received first-hand details about the new Preparatory Action from the JRC team and contributed to defining the process.

Learn more about the initiative and upcoming activities here: Territories in Action: the journey begins

Watch the recording from the event here: Territories in Action: the journey begins

Tune in to the Territories in Action podcast here: Where it all happens.

Learn more about ERRIN's work on defining the Preparatory Action here: New EU Preparatory Action on innovation for place-based transformations