A look back at the Week of Innovative Regions in Europe 2024
The XIII edition of the Week of Innovative Regions in Europe (WIRE) conference took place on 13-14 November 2024 in Budapest. The event was held under the theme “Regions as catalysts of European RDI competitiveness - the role of regions in the reduction of fragmentation in the European innovation ecosystem” and brought together over a hundred regional stakeholders from across Europe, including ERRIN, for two days of intense discussions and networking.
Some of the key takeaways from the multiple topics covered:
- Strong interconnected regional ecosystems are crucial for fostering European #competitiveness – a systemic approach/framework is needed here
- Innovation divide remains one of the key challenges for R&I in Europe – more must be done on the EU side but also on the local and national side
- Regional Innovation Scoreboard can serve policymaking – but one should look beyond quantitative indicators for more insights
- There's a need to work further on the funding synergies that work – plan ahead, raise awareness, facilitate exchange and promote good practices (find more points in this ERRIN LinkedIn post)
- Providing directionality can be a great way to mobilise ecosystem stakeholders, including private sector, to work together – Regional Innovation Valleys calls in 2025 and new EU Preparatory Action on Innovation for Place-based Transformation (learn more here and apply to take part by 22 November) enable this approach
- While emphasising the importance of R&I ecosystems, FP10 should have their place-based territorial dimension at its heart (read more about ERRIN's work on FP10 here)
The discussions were coupled with lots of direct insights from ongoing regional projects and vibrant exchanges behind the scenes. The talks included one common denominator: the need to take action and work together.
Many ERRIN members contributed to the debates as speakers, alongside colleagues from other regional ecosystems, experts, European Commission representatives, as well as ERRIN’s Director Pirita Lindholm and Ewa Chomicz. Pirita led a forward-looking panel on funding synergies and raised points on the critical value of place-based perspective in the closing conference discussion on the next EU Framework Programme for R&I and MFF post-2027. Ewa moderated a debate on the status and way forward for the Regional Innovation Valleys, in the context of ERRIN’s extensive ongoing work around the topic. We look forward to continuing the exchanges.
This year’s WIRE was organised by the National Research Development and Innovation Office in Budapest under the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, with ERRIN as part of the Steering Committee.
Many thanks to the organisers and all participants for the excellent event!
If you missed the conference or would like to revisit the discussions, you can find the recording here.
The WIRE conference is organised every two years and serves as the main European policy forum dedicated to innovation and regional development. The conference provides a platform for policymakers, public authorities, knowledge centres and enterprises to discuss research and innovation practices, challenges and opportunities across the European regions, with a direct view on the current and future EU funding opportunities. The event has a strong focus on access to excellence, aligning with ERRIN's network priority of widening and deepening engagement in R&I.