New EU Preparatory Action on innovation for place-based transformations

New EU Preparatory Action on innovation for place-based transformations

Following the developments of the Partnerships for Regional Innovation (PRI) initiative led by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission and the European Committee of the Regions in 2022-2023 as a new approach to place-based innovation policy building on positive experiences with smart specialisation strategies (S3), the JRC has just shared the news about a new EU Preparatory Action (PA) on innovation for place-based transformations.

The first public announcement of the PA and its related opportunities was made during the ERRIN Smart Specialisation Working Group meeting on 25 June.

The new PA is endorsed by the European Parliament and will be based on the experience of PRI. It will be challenge-oriented and driven by the ACTIONbook published by the JRC in January 2024 as a comprehensive hands-on resource with practices and tools to empower local, regional and national stakeholders across Europe to drive societal well-being and climate-resilient development. The Action will run from 2024-2026 and offer a combination of awareness raising, capacity building and experimentation activities to all interested territories of EU Member States and EU Associated Countries. The aim is to facilitate and promote transformative innovation approach across the participating territories and inspire further collaboration.

The participation in the PA will be based on a call for Expressions of Interest, expected to launch in October 2024 and to stay open for approximately five weeks. An info session is planned to be organised around the time of launching the call.

In the meantime, all territories are invited to share ideas and suggestions to help define the PA process, including the approach to awareness raising, capacity building and experimentation. All feedback can be sent to JRC-PRI-Pilot@ec.europa.eu .

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 PA from the JRC team and contributed to defining the process. The meeting featured as well regional insights from Ostrobothnia and Navarra as participants of the PRI Pilot Action held in 2022-2023 and an interactive discussion. ERRIN members can find the presentations from the meeting with more details on the PA, specificities of the upcoming call for EoI, and practical added value of PRI linking e.g. to developing Regional Innovation Valleys on the event page.

Stay updated

More information about the PA will be shared in due course on the new website prepared by the JRC, which should accompany territories towards innovation for place-based transformations. It will act as a hub of resources to empower local, regional, and national stakeholders across Europe to achieve their desired transformations, aligning EU priorities with local strengths, challenges and needs. In parallel, stakeholders are encouraged to consult the S3 Community of Practice S3 CoP website which serves as a central information hub for smart specialisation for EU regions, and the S3 Platform, which now focuses on smart specialisation in non-EU countries, offering a global perspective.

In the meantime, a revamped monthly JRC Transforming territories newsletter is available (continuing from the previous JRC Smart Specialisation newsletter), curating content from several teams and projects to support place-based decisions on transformative innovation, territorial development, sustainability, entrepreneurial ecosystems and more. You may find the latest issues here and subscribe here.

You can also follow the Transforming territories account on the X platform here.

Background

The Partnerships for Regional Innovation (PRI) initiative was officially launched by JRC and CoR in March 2022 as a new approach to place-based innovation policy, building on positive experiences with smart specialisation strategies (S3). Following an open call for participation and publication of the PRI Playbook in May 2022, over 45 ERRIN members were engaged in the PRI Pilot Action between May 2022 and June 2023. The ambition was to test tools for better coordination and directionality of regional, national and EU innovation policies towards implementation of the twin transition and tackling the innovation divide in the EU.

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. We will now continue to facilitate regional involvement in the PA.