KU Leuven Institute for Cultural Heritage, in partnership with Una Europa and the Belgian presidency, is hosting an event on Pioneering Futures: Rethinking Cultural and Heritage Ecosystems. Hosted in Leuven as part of the official event calendar of the Belgian presidency of the Council of the European Union, this event welcomes policymakers, academics, practitioners, and wider stakeholders to chart a course for the advancement of cultural and heritage ecosystems within a regional, national, and European context.

Through stimulative “check-in” debates at the beginning of each session, participants will address a series of discourses on cultural and heritage education, research, and societal outreach and ecosystems, looking also into policy perspectives and identifying pioneering ways forward.

Participants will co-create and visualise approaches that answer the following questions:

Panel 1: What are cultural heritage education avenues to be explored in the time of global challenges?

• Check-in talks will reflect on stories of Una Europa’s education programmes, the potential of EIT Culture & Creativity’s entrepreneurial approach to education as well as C-SHIP program, CHARTER’s recommendations on innovative and emerging cultural heritage education and training paths in Europe, and how the European degree could impact education and the wider field of cultural heritage at European and Flemish levels.

Panel 2: How do we build on and bond research, societal outreach, and culture & creativity ecosystems?

• Check-in talks will explore success stories such as CHARP in building bridges from research to society, how ARCHE is designing a strategic research and innovation agenda for societal outreach, links that the European Heritage Hub creates in diversifying cultural heritage ecosystems through the Triple Transformation (green, digital, and social), and the role of regional catalysts such as European Capital of Culture 2030 Leuven candidature, accelerating European future culture & creativity ecosystems.

Panel 3: What are the policy perspectives for pioneering ways forward in the field of cultural heritage?

• The European Commission will provide insights on new perspectives and upcoming initiatives regarding cultural heritage in both policy and research, European Institute of Innovation and Technology on the future of entrepreneurial education, KU Leuven and Una Europa on research policies and strategies, as well as insights on actions of Flanders Heritage Agency and Belgian presidency’s legacy.

The full programme and registration are now available.

Participants are expected to attend most of the programme with an opportunity to visit and enjoy the historical site of De Hoorn Brewery.

The Friends of Smart Specialisation (FoSS) are organising their fifth-anniversary workshop. The event will take place in person on 15 May from 16:00-18:00, hosted at the Nordic House (Rue du Luxembourg 3, 5th floor, 1000 Brussels) by the Greater Birmingham West Midlands Brussels Office and Oslo Region European Office. The event will be followed by a networking cocktail.

The topic of the workshop will be "Smart specialisation – where from, where now, and where to... and why?". The discussions will cover the current practice and future of S3 as the cohesion policy debate goes into full swing, in the context of the emergence of a European industrial policy, the publication of the recent Letta Report and upcoming EU elections.

Experts from DG REGIO, DG GROW, the new S3 CoP and the European Committee of the Regions have been invited to join the workshop to give their own opinion and engage in an open panel discussion with the audience and a range of experts on S3. 

You may find the draft agenda of the event and a briefing discussion note outlining some of FoSS current thinking on the workshop topic attached.

Register here. Please note that the space is limited.

The S3 Community of Practice (S3 CoP) together with DG REGIO are organising a series of webinars directed to S3 stakeholders from regions across the EU Member States, bringing together experts, policymakers, and key industry representatives to discuss common challenges, good practices, and lessons learned from EU regions in selected S3-related areas.

The third webinar in the series will focus on "Understanding the bottlenecks to innovation diffusion: insights from EU regions" and will be held by the S3 CoP Working Group on Innovation Diffusion on 23 May 2024 from 10:00-12:00 CEST.

This webinar is designed to engage S3 practitioners, policymakers, and key stakeholders in a dialogue about the challenges that EU regions are facing when trying to foster innovation diffusion. Innovation diffusion can be defined as the process through which different organisations gather ideas from outside and use them to introduce an innovation (e.g. a new process of production, a new product itself or a new way of providing a service) and comprises also the process of adoption of existing technologies (e.g. purchasing machinery developed elsewhere or signing a license agreement for an existing patent). It includes the analysis of how new ideas, practices and innovation spread through a society. In so doing, it is essential to involve SMEs, the backbone of the EU economy, which are extremely difficult to engage and yet are critical to understand innovation needs and dynamics across territories.

Learn more, find the full agenda and register here.

The S3 CoP WG on Innovation Diffusion aims to foster a learning process for relevant policy stakeholders on the fulfilment of the S3 enabling condition for innovation diffusion. 

Other webinars currently announced in the series include "Empowering interregional collaboration – from capacity to funding" on 16 May 2024 from 10:00-12:00 CEST and "Paving the way for industrial transition through systemic change and inclusive strategies" on 22 May from 14:30-16:30 CEST.

The S3 Community of Practice (S3 CoP) together with DG REGIO are organising a series of webinars directed to S3 stakeholders from regions across the EU Member States, bringing together experts, policymakers, and key industry representatives to discuss common challenges, good practices, and lessons learned from EU regions in selected S3-related areas.

The second webinar in the series will focus on "Paving the way for industrial transition through systemic change and inclusive strategies" and will be held by the S3 CoP Working Group on Industrial Transition on 22 May from 14:30-16:30 CEST.

This webinar is designed to engage S3 practitioners, policymakers, and key stakeholders in a dialogue about the challenges and opportunities in industrial transition. Addressing the challenges linked to long-term transformations demands a comprehensive approach, encompassing understanding and navigating systemic change, alongside ensuring an inclusive industrial transition to prevent any region from being left behind. The event will focus on key implementation challenges identified by S3 practitioners in meeting the S3 enabling condition for industrial transition and gather stakeholder perspectives on needed S3 strategies and support actions to enhance systemic industrial transition efforts across European regions.

The webinar is designed to allow participants to keep up to date on the most recent activities of the Working Group, get insights from EU regions and industry representatives and participate in the discussions.

As part of the event, ERRIN S3 WG leader Lucie Durocher from Région Sud will take part in the panel discussion on regional challenges for industrial transition.

Learn more, find the full agenda and register here.

The S3 CoP WG on Industrial Transition aims to foster a learning process for relevant policy stakeholders on the fulfilment of the S3 enabling condition for industrial transition.

Other webinars currently announced in the series include "Empowering interregional collaboration – from capacity to funding" on 16 May 2024 from 10:00-12:00 CEST and "Understanding the bottlenecks to innovation diffusion: insights from EU regions" on 23 May from 10:00-12:00 CEST.

The S3 Community of Practice (S3 CoP) together with DG REGIO are organising a series of webinars directed to S3 stakeholders from regions across the EU Member States, bringing together experts, policymakers, and key industry representatives to discuss common challenges, good practices, and lessons learned from EU regions in selected S3-related areas.

The first webinar in the series will focus on "Empowering interregional collaboration – from capacity to funding" and will be held by the S3 CoP Working Group on Interregional Collaboration on 16 May 2024 from 10:00-12:00 CEST.

This webinar is designed to engage S3 practitioners, policymakers, and key stakeholders in a dialogue about the challenges and opportunities in interregional collaboration. With insights drawn from the 2023 activities of the S3 CoP WG on Interregional Collaboration, this session aims to build on the groundwork of previous discussions and further enhance collaborative efforts across regions with a special focus on building capacity, securing funding, and aligning strategic objectives for sustainable development.

ERRIN Director Pirita Lindholm will take the floor during the webinar to talk about "Networks as capacity building for Interregional Collaboration".

Learn more, find the full agenda and register here.

The S3 CoP WG on Interregional Collaboration aims to foster a learning process for relevant policy stakeholders on the fulfilment of the S3 enabling condition for interregional collaboration. ERRIN is a partner in the S3 CoP Secretariat, with ERRIN Director Pirita Lindholm and ERRIN S3 Working Group leader Francesca D'Angelo from the Region of Tuscany also being members of the S3 CoP WG on Interregional Collaboration.

Other webinars currently announced in the series include "Paving the way for industrial transition through systemic change and inclusive strategies" on 22 May from 14:30-16:30 and "Understanding the bottlenecks to innovation diffusion: insights from EU regions" on 23 May from 10:00-12:00 CEST.

Through the Digital Europe Programme, the European Commission has launched a collaborative effort to accelerate digital maturity, with a particular focus on communities that are less digitally ready for digital transformation. These services aim to foster the adoption of local digital twins and other digital solutions across rural and urban areas, ensuring that technology is accessible to all.

Participation will provide you with essential tools for digital transformation. The services will provide

• A comprehensive assessment of your current IT infrastructure's maturity,
• A tailored digitalisation roadmap, along with strategic guidance to identify and fulfil procurement needs essential for building the necessary technical capabilities
• Dedicated support on the identification of procurement needs and guidance on procurement strategies, considering open standards and interoperability requirements.

You are invited to express your interest to take part of the Support services for EU Smart Communities. You can do so here.

You will find on this page a document summarising the offer. 

By participating, your city/community will enjoy the following benefits:

• Tailored support and consultancy as well as tools to guide your digital strategy development and realisation.
• Online advisory services to help your community assess technological readiness for implementing MIM-compliant local data platforms.
• Assessment of your community's digital and technical maturity for a customised digitalisation roadmap.
• Identification of procurement needs to advance the digitalisation roadmap implementation, and future access to tailored procurement guidelines and templates available on the online Helpdesk.
• Participation to a European peer network pioneering the advancement of local data platforms and Al-powered digital twins.
• First mover advantage and contribution to shaping the design of the initiative.
• Community's visibility, sharing of best practices, successes, and failures to leverage on learnings and peer exchange.

The year 2024 marks the opening of a new chapter for the Partnerships for Regional Innovation (PRI) as a JRC-CoR initiative building on S3 to support innovation for place-based transformations. In January, the ACTIONbook was published 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. At the same time, different new possibilities for engagement in the initiative are expected in the coming months.

This S3 WG meeting will invite a JRC representative to give a first-hand update on the latest and upcoming developments and opportunities with regard to the initiative. Participants will also have a chance to hear regional insights from the first PRI Pilot which ended in May 2023, to explore the potential benefits of involvement (e.g. to build the ground to apply to calls such as Regional Innovation Valleys, and to develop regional S3 ambitions in the light of current and future challenges). A Q&A session and interactive exchange will then follow to answer any questions with regard to points presented and gather participant inputs to help shape the upcoming developments. Attendees will therefore have a unique chance to contribute to tailoring the initiative to address the needs of their territories. Guiding questions for this exchange will be shared with registered participants in advance of the meeting.

The event will take place online on Tuesday 11 June from 14:00-15:30 CEST. The meeting agenda will be published closer to the date.

A call for examples is currently open for members who would like to showcase the benefits they perceived for their ecosystem from engagement in PRI so far. In case of interest, please reach out to ewa.chomicz@errin.eu by 30 May.

With the online format, direct participation of colleagues based in the ERRIN member regions is highly welcome as an excellent chance to facilitate understanding and preparation of possible engagement in the initiative going forward. Don’t hesitate to register and share the registration link below (accessible also for colleagues within membership without an ERRIN user account).

Register here. You will receive the link to connect automatically via email after your registration.

Over 45 ERRIN members participated in the first one-year Partnerships for Regional Innovation (PRI) Pilot Action led by JRC and CoR, which concluded in May 2023. With the aim of PRI to reinforce the S3 through elements like transition thinking and increased cooperation between different territories, the Smart Specialisation Working Group has been supporting the initiative by facilitating mutual learning with network members and engaging in discussions about its future.

The EU-funded project NCP4Missions and the European Commission are organising an online brokerage event on 21 and 22 May to gather all the relevant stakeholders who intend to apply to the new EU Missions calls for proposals.

This event will be a great chance to gather information regarding the Horizon Europe calls, as well as an opportunity to meet potential partners and start building your consortium.

Check out the programme and register here.

In the frame of the Green Week, the Horizon Europe Partnership Water4All, together with the WaterCampus in Leeuwarden, organises an event to highlight the results of the first calls and solutions for water resilience in cities and industries. This session will showcase how city districts can transform into smart factories for resources, energy and clean water, maximising water and energy efficiency and reducing GHG emissions. The session will be followed by networking drinks

The event will take place in Brussels on 30 May, 13:00 - 17:30. 

To learn more and register for the event, click here.

Save the date for the next edition of the EU Design Day!

The 12th edition of EU Design Day will happen in Brussels on 17 September 2024, gathering key stakeholders from the design and creativity sectors for a networking opportunity with familiar and new faces, while being inspired by insightful initiatives and projects! This year's topic will be: From citizens to citizens - shared places in community spaces.

The three thematic panels will be around: 

• Green transition: recycling and reuse, circular economy (e.g. repair cafés, recycling centres, etc.), sustainable food (e.g. shared gardens and from farm to fork), slow and soft mobility (supporting coworking spaces) etc.
• Digital transition: digital inclusion, use of AI, smart data management, development of digital skills, FabLab, etc.
• Societal challenges: maintaining local services and social links (e.g. bars, restaurants, public services, etc.), local production and consumption (e.g. maker-spaces), cultural programming, entrepreneurship support, inclusion of vulnerable groups, etc.

A call for proposals is open until 10 June. We invite all inspiring local initiatives from the field of third places, fitting into one of the thematic panels to take a look at the call.

Registration for the event will open soon.