The Living-in.EU movement, together with ERRIN, is organising an online webinar to present the programme of activities in 2024. The meeting will be organised on Wednesday, 27 March 2024, from 14:00-15:00.

This online webinar is open to cities, regions and member states already part of the Living-in.EU Movement, and any other cities and regions that would like to engage in Living-in.EU activities. 


During this meeting, the annual work plan of each of Living-in.EU's Working Groups will be presented: 

• Monitoring and Measuring - Led by ERRIN and the CoR, the WG brings relevant city initiatives, associations and platforms of cities as well as interested signatory cities together to develop a solid and unique framework for measuring and monitoring sustainable digital transformation processes.

• Education & Capacity Building - Led by ENoLL (European Network of Living Labs), the WG is dedicated to equipping public officers with the skills and methodologies necessary to thrive in an increasingly digital world.

• Technical - Led by OASC (Open and Agile Smart Cities), the WG works together to develop a common list of standards and technical specifications to achieve interoperability of data, systems, and platforms among cities, communities and suppliers around the world to enable solutions such open urban platforms and digital twins.

• Financial - Led by Eurocities, the WG explores sustainable measures related to joint investment plans, synergies between funds, reinforcement of investments and common public procurement practices to develop and implement common existing digital solutions on a large scale in the EU.

• Legal - Led by Eurocities, the WG assesses contractual and legislative measures related to the provision of a common EU framework for cross-sector and cross-border digital solutions for cities and communities

Please find the agenda and register for the meeting here.
 

The European Commission’s Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI), in which ERRIN is involved, is co-organising the session ‘how EU cities and regions are getting ahead with the circular transition’ during the World Circular Economy Forum 2024.

The session, co-organised together with the OECD and the EIB, will feature the 6th OECD Roundtable on the Circular Economy in Cities and Regions, as well as interactive discussions on  getting the finance right, which will connect like-minded cities, regions and partners to exchange experiences and lessons learned on the way to a circular economy. It will also introduce the main advisory and support activities offered in the CCRI framework – including, among many other offerings, the EIB’s Circular City Centre (C3) initiative and OECD’s support to CCRI Fellows, as well as propose a matchmaking session for city/region representatives to make connections with potential partners.

Learn more and register here.

ERRIN is supporting the REINFORCING project by organising an interactive workshop to explore the challenges and needs faced by cities and regions regarding citizen engagement within the EU Missions. The outcomes of the workshop will shape a future open call which will offer grants of up to 60 000€ to support organisations willing to experiment with co-creation and citizen engagement in a mission-like context. The project will support organisations not only financially but also with specific training, capacity-building sessions, mentoring opportunities, and peer learning.

The workshop will be organised on 23 April from 11:30-13:00 at ERRIN’s office (Rue du Luxembourg 3, 8th floor).

About the workshop

Join this interactive workshop to:

• Learn more about the upcoming funding opportunity
• Be inspired by practical examples of citizen engagement
• Share the challenges you or organisations in your local/regional ecosystems foresee in implementing citizen engagement processes

In this 90-minute workshop, participants will work with the project representatives to define how the upcoming open call can help their organisation(s) move to the next stage. The workshop will use participatory methods to ensure that all voices are equally valued and heard.

The workshop will be followed by a networking lunch. Participants are welcome to continue the discussion on EU Missions in the ERRIN Policy Working Group meeting on the role of EU Missions in FP10, organised from 14:00-16:00.

If you would like to participate in the workshop and the networking lunch, please register here.

Please note that it will be an interactive workshop where input from the participants will be crucial. We, therefore, welcome more senior colleagues who have an understanding of the challenges and support needs regarding citizen engagement in their local and regional ecosystems.

Why is this important?

Open Responsible Research and Innovation has a big potential to get Europe closer to reaching the objectives of its five EU Missions. It can produce huge societal benefits by nurturing more inclusive R&I ecosystems and by developing closer collaboration between organisations of different natures to create solutions aligned with societal values, needs and expectations of the citizens. ERRIN has worked on the topic of citizen engagement within the MOSAIC project and produced the MOSAIC Cookbook to support EU cities in implementing co-creation processes in EU Missions contexts.

The European Commission supports open science and open innovation activities within the context of EU Missions implementation through various funding opportunities. Yet, recent reports such as the policy brief “Citizens’ awareness of EU Missions and opportunities for citizen engagement”, highlight the need to increase opportunities, funding and requirements for citizen engagement.

About REINFORCING

This Horizon Europe-funded project is the central point of knowledge and expertise of Open and Responsible Research and Innovation. Our one-stop platform will offer curated resources, training and capacity-building modules for professionals looking to improve their knowledge and skills on Open and Responsible Research and Innovation. Whether you are a seasoned practitioner or a newcomer to the field, this community will support you in moving to more responsible innovation practices. Find more details about the REINFORCING project here.

On 18-19 March, the 10th European Summit of Regions and Cities took place in Mons, gathering hundreds of local and regional elected representatives and top European and global decision-makers. The event coincided this year with the 30th anniversary of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and was organised by the CoR together with the Walloon Region and the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

With 23 years dedicated to fostering regional and local dimensions in the European R&I policy and programmes under ERRIN’s belt, it was a pleasure to join the summit and celebrate CoR’s anniversary as our long-standing partner in dialogue. In line with ERRIN's work around the future R&I and cohesion policies and as a partner of the #CohesionAlliance, ERRIN was closely following the discussions on the renewed cohesion policy, its role for just transition and the potential of regional and local solutions for tackling global challenges.

Among the main points raised was the importance of the place-based approach, engaging all ecosystem stakeholders, as well as supporting less developed and stagnating regions, underlining the role of cohesion policy as not a transfer but a development policy, as a glue that keeps Europe together. Looking forward, the need to focus on people was reiterated, both when it comes to addressing the challenges they face with the ongoing transitions, and convincing them about the rationale of the actions. Simplification, partnership principle and multi-level governance were some of the other issues addressed.

In addition, ERRIN was actively engaged in the debates around fostering digital innovation ecosystems at the regional level, linking to ERRIN’s involvement in the Living-in.EU initiative and Go.Li-EU project. As such, with a dedicated stand, Mons was an opportunity to present and promote a multi-level governance approach in fostering digital transformation.

Moreover, during a dedicated session, several speakers highlighted the importance of bridging the digital divide between territories in Europe but also within specific territories. Many more topics were addressed, including cooperation on cybersecurity and developing digital skills in Europe, priorities addressed by one of ERRIN's ICT Working Group meetings in 2023.

Taking a glance at cooperation between ERRIN and CoR, just over the last year, ERRIN contributed to stakeholder consultations to two CoR opinions on the future of cohesion policy post-2027 and on the path towards integrated EU policy approach to support place-based innovation for the green and digital transition, further speaking on the topic at the public CoR SEDEC commission conference in Ancona on 23 February. Alongside CoR, ERRIN has also been advocating for initiatives like the Partnerships for Regional Innovation (PRI) where over 45 ERRIN members took part in the first pilot, Regional Innovation Valleys which raised particularly wide member interest, or ERA Hubs within the ERA Forum – a concept currently tested and piloted by two European projects led by ERRIN members. CoR members have also been invited as speakers to various ERRIN events, with informal dialogue continuing in parallel.

This event is organised by Brussels liaison offices from the UnILiON network. UnILiON is an informal network of around 54 Brussels-based liaison offices that represent over 160 universities across Europe, as well as in the UK, Japan, and Norway.

The event aims to build a platform for everyone, bringing stakeholders together to share ideas, knowledge, and expertise and find suitable partners for future consortia under the specific Horizon Europe calls in Cluster 5, focusing on Destinations 2 and 6. Researchers, businesses, and other organisations are invited to pitch their project ideas or activities related to the specific Horizon Europe Cluster 5 calls. 

The deadline for registration is on Friday, 29 March

You can either register as an attendee (you will have the opportunity to listen to the pitches) or as a pitch presenter (to make a 3-minute pitch on your ideas and potential). Please be aware that only 1 pitch presentation per institution will be allowed. As a limited number of pitch presentation places are possible, the organisers reserve the right to select the presenters. Presenters will receive more detailed information about their pitches' expected structure and content after registration.

The deadline for pitch presentation submission is Friday, 5 April.

To participate in the event, please register here.

A consortium of European regional stakeholders is developing a proposal for under the call HORIZON-CL5-2024-D6-01-11 - Effects of disruptive changes in transport: towards resilient, safe and energy efficient mobility. 

The consortium is looking for pilots to focus on concrete disruptions in the transport system. 

Project proposal description: The project aims to increase the resilience of transport systems to unexpected events as an integrated principle in the design and development of future transport systems. It will increase the understanding of how sudden changes in the availability of transport means affect the safety of transport system users and the underlying psychological effects of users’ reactions. We will define pilots to focus on concrete disruptions in transport systems such as natural disasters, energy shortages for public transport, political decisions, etc and study the effects of the unexpected events in different areas (urban, peri-urban and rural) and among different socio-demographic groups.

The project would benefit from having different regions that deal with disruptions in their transport system, either in their network infrastructure, public transport, or other transport services. Participation in the project will help partners increase their knowledge of how the safety of passengers and infrastructure is affected by these disruptions and how future planning or other innovative solutions can increase both the resilience and safety of the system.

Should you be interested, please publish an expression of interest in the ERRIN project development tool describing the challenges your region would face as a pilot and the potential innovations you would implement. 

Read more on the call and express interest here: HORIZON-CL5-2024-D6-01-11 - Effects of disruptive changes in transport: towards resilient, safe and energy efficient mobility. 

ERRIN New European Bauhaus Task Force is organising a NEB Festival Satellite event on the role of regions and cities in shaping the future of the NEB. 

In the summer of 2023, ERRIN launched an internal consultation to collect the members' inputs and views on the New European Bauhaus implementation and future development from a regional perspective. The outcome of this discussion process is a document gathering strategies, challenges and good practices from ERRIN members.

The event will be an opportunity to present the key findings and recommendations from ERRIN members' direct experience, stressing the crucial role of regions in the coherent planning and successful implementation of the New European Bauhaus Facility. The focus will be on the role that regions and cities can play in fostering the development of more sustainable and inclusive ecosystems, adopting the NEB principles as a transformative cross-cutting approach in several sectors and building synergies with other initiatives.

ERRIN members will present their local strategies and projects that successfully embed the NEB principles in local policies.

The event also aims to create an open space for discussion to reflect on both the positive and more critical aspects of the development and implementation of the New European Bauhaus Facility. 

The Smart Specialisation Working Group is looking for examples from regions and managing authorities across Europe of early plans and ideas for integrating the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) into the national and regional cohesion policy programmes such as the European Regional Development Fund or the European Social Fund+. The examples will be presented in an upcoming meeting on “STEP – regional perspective”, to be held online on 10 April from 10:00-11:30 CEST.

The meeting will include 2-3 examples, which will be presented following a presentation of STEP and its cohesion policy-related aspects by the European Commission. The aim is to increase the understanding of STEP from a general and regional perspective, and facilitate first mutual learning.

ERRIN members interested in sharing their first reflections around integrating STEP to the national and regional cohesion programmes such as the ERDF or ESF+ during the upcoming meeting, are invited to reach out to ewa.chomicz@errin.eu by the end of March, with a short description of the proposed example. As the meeting will be held online, foreseen speakers don’t have to be present in Brussels.

You may find more details about the meeting and registration link here.