Following the conclusion of the first Partnerships for Regional Innovation (PRI) Pilot in June this year, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission is currently drafting PRI Playbook 2 with the aim to operationalise some of the concepts of PRI Playbook 1 and those that arose from Pilot activities.

Together with Playbook 2, two other documents are planned to be published, including a list of practices from the PRI territories. To prepare it, the JRC is currently collecting practices from the PRI territories, including:

• “good practices” that PRI territories think their peers can benefit from and that they want to showcase from their territory;
• “learning experiences” that may not have been successful but led to learning for the PRI territory and from which others could learn.

ERRIN members who participated in the 2022-2023 PRI Pilot are encouraged to fill in the short form below, indicating the area(s) where they would like to showcase good/learning practices relating to the activities of Playbook 2, by 8 August. 

The responses will be shared by ERRIN with the JRC who will then reach out to the territories to support them in filling in the one-page template for describing the practice(s) (attached for information).

An event addressing “Automotive regions: a just and sustainable transition to reinforce ecosystems and harness talent” will take place on Tuesday, 10th October from 4.30 pm to 5.30 pm as a part of the official programme of the 21st European Week of Regions and Cities. (Code: 10RP2337)

Against the backdrop of the CoR opinion by Sven Schulze, Minister of Economy, Tourism, Agriculture and Forestry of Saxony-Anhalt and CoR member, this high-level session will compare different regional strategies and innovative initiatives facilitating the post-industrial transition in automotive regions through a multilevel governance approach. The cross-thematic debate will cover topics including EU financial support, sectoral restructuring, the future of hydrogen, upskilling and reskilling labour, as well as harnessing talent of all ages in the wake of the ongoing twin transition.

 The workshop will be held in English and will be designed by regional partners from Saxony-Anhalt (DE), Centre-Val de Loire (FR), Mazovia (PL), Wales (UK) and Valencia (ES).

To register please click on the following link. The agenda is attached.

In April 2024, the European Commission organises the second edition of the New European Bauhaus Festival. The Festival brings together people from all walks of life to debate and shape our future. A future that is sustainable, inclusive and beautiful. In 2024, the Festival will centre on the theme of ‘Resources for all’ exploring subtopics such as shelter and living environments, land and water, fashion and human wellbeing in light of the changing environment. This inclusive and human-centric approach aims to inspire and engage individuals in embracing sustainable choices and fostering a deep connection to the New European Bauhaus movement.

Interested organisations and individuals can propose their own activities, projects or satellite events to one of the three calls to become a spotlight feature of The Festival. More information here.

The RECIPROCITY and ENTRANCE projects, both funded by Horizon 2020, have launched the ARRIVAL platform, a European Matchmaking Platform and complementary off-line services designed:

• to equip mobility stakeholders with the necessary tools, knowledge, contacts and methods to accelerate the replication of  existing  innovative  mobility  solutions,
• to mobilise financial resources to accelerate the market access and scale up of “first of a kind” sustainable transport solutions.

Creating an account on ARRIVAL is free and is the best way to benefit from ARRIVAL resources and its community of transport and mobility leaders and innovators. By creating an account, you will join our +1000 community of stakeholders who are accelerating “first-of-a-kind” sustainable transport solutions.

Users who create an account and who are logged in have the following benefits and advantages:

• Create a page for and promote your organisation directly to our community
• Access exclusive resources, including information on best practices, relevant legislations, and collaboration documents and templates
• Gain access to a personalised user dashboard to share and receive information and relevant matches related to innovative transport and mobility solutions and stakeholders
• Connect directly with and contact other transport and mobility leaders from all areas of the ‘supply-demand-finance’ triangle
• Receive personalised notifications and matches for information and contacts most relevant to you as related to your expressed interests in sustainable transport solution deployment and uptake
• Coordinate with other buyers to jointly procure innovative transport and mobility solutions and find the best suppliers to meet your demand
• Share information and assets with fellow community members
• and more!

 About RECIPROCITY 

The project's goal is to initiate and support replication projects in at least 20 cities and municipalities varying in size, location, degree of urbanisation and mobility demand. They will be equipped with the tools, knowledge and contacts to accelerate the process of replicating innovative mobility solutions. Therefore, the project will establish the format of Mobility Missions and Mobility Assemblies. 

Please consider subscribing to our Newsletter, Twitter and LinkedIn. 

The European Week of Regions and Cities (#EURegionsWeek) is the biggest annual Brussels-based event dedicated to cohesion policy. It has grown to become a neutral platform to discuss common challenges for Europe's regions and cities by bringing together a diverse community of speakers and participants.

The purpose of EWRC is to discuss common challenges for Europe's regions and cities and examine possible solutions by bringing together politicians, decision-makers, experts and practitioners of cohesion policy, as well as stakeholders from business, banking, civil society organisations, academia, the EU institutions and the media.

The 21st edition will take place in Brussels on 9-12 October. Registration is now open and accessible here.

In the mid-term review of the EU Missions, published last week, the European Commission has put forward a proposal to create a new EU Mission on the New European Bauhaus (NEB). The initiative was launched two years ago and has set a goal of introducing the European Green Deal in the living spaces. Its aim closely links with other EU Missions, in particular Mission Cities and Mission Adaptation to climate change. In the Staff Working Document, the Commission mentions the Cities Mission as a complementary tool to implement NEB in urban areas and invites to take on board the NEB principles when developing their climate city contracts.  

With a community of over 1000 members (ERRIN being one of them), the Commission sees the creation of a new EU Mission as an opportunity to consolidate the progress of the initiative, to give more focus and to increase the link with R&I. These aspects are welcome by ERRIN, as for the last two years we have been discussing the innovative local approaches and examples of NEB projects, and what is needed for a successful and tangible future of the NEB initiative.   

As stated in the EC communication, the proposed new NEB Mission will follow the same development process as the other five Missions, from the appointment of a Mission Board, and the drafting of a Mission Implementation Plan. This will build on the achievements and potential of the New European Bauhaus initiative, as well as the mid-term review of the EU Missions. 

ERRIN’s NEB Task Force is planning an event in October which will aim to gather concrete input from ERRIN members about the future of NEB, in particular regarding the local aspect of NEB projects and the involvement of the regions in the development of the new EU Mission, if the Commission’s proposal goes through.  

A Spanish-Polish consortium is looking for a project partner under the LIFE Programme, related to the subprogramme: “Climate change mitigation and adaptation”. The consortium is searching for a municipality or university interested in developing innovative spatial green infrastructure, located in the south of Europe (preferably: Spain, France, Italy or Greece). The solutions would aim to deliver climate comfort for citizens and may be also used for any public purpose e.g. for plant production among the urbanised areas. They will be developed according to the innovative solutions of Panel Modular Systems (PMS), which have already been tested on pre-prototypes in the Central-Eastern European climate zone and have the features of an industrial solution. 

Project objectives: comparison of the micro-climatic functionality of the PMS structures for both locations where they will be built, i.e. cool Central European climate and warm Southern European climate in the context of cooling of the “heat islands” in the city centers. It includes water retention issues as well as a comparison of the functioning of these structures in different urban contexts in social, cultural and economic terms.

Consortium composition:

Leader: City of Warsaw, Poland

Partners:

- Poznan University of Technology

- CIEMAT-Plataforma Solar de Almería - Eficiencia Energética en la Edificación

- Warsaw University of Technology 

- Warsaw University of Life Science

- The Tadeusz Kalinowski Art Foundation

Partner sought: municipality or university located in the south of Europe (preferably: Spain, France, Italy or Greece)

Deadline for expression of interest: August 2023

Deadline for application to LIFE+ Climate Change Mitigation subprogram: 21 September 2023

Please contact dtymoszuk@zzw.waw.pl or fundacja@tadeuszkalinowski.com for further information.

The Digital Health Uptake (DHU) Radar is a platform designed to promote the adoption and success of digital health innovations in Europe. It is being powered by the Digital Health Uptake project, funded under the Digital Europe Programme.

The Radar offers a range of features, including information on digital health solutions and services, national and regional policies and strategies, and supporting tools and methodologies for upscaling digital health solutions.

Users of the Radar can browse a growing collection of these resources (referred to as practices) and find at-a-glance information per practice, such as level of maturity and country coverage.

Moreover, users can also publish their own practices, communicate them to interested adopters or inform the digital health community about their experiences. Suppliers of a practice can share their practice and identify peers or customers interested in adopting it. Adopters of a practice can find out if the practice fits their needs and connect with the publisher to explore adoption opportunities.

In May, ERRIN organised a focus group meeting with regions to discuss the Charter of the EU Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2023 (Ocean and Waters Mission). The meeting was organised with the Mission Ocean Implementation Support Platform, in which ERRIN is a partner. Regions represent one of the stakeholder groups that have, so far, been more challenging to actively engage in the Mission and that have submitted limited pledges to the Mission Charter. Together with eight ERRIN member regions, who are actively following and working on the Ocean and Waters Mission, we discussed benefits and concerns around the Mission Charter, as well as how the support services proposed by the Charter can be improved to better support the needs of regions.  

Regions that have endorsed the Charter found that the Mission aligns with existing regional policy objectives and strategies and reinforces regional objectives and work while creating a link to EU policy objectives. The networking element is also perceived as a benefit, as it allows regions and other stakeholders to share experiences, build partnerships and develop joint actions such as EU projects.

The key concerns that were raised by the regions were the unclear and limited services currently offered by the Charter, the broad stakeholder focus – making it difficult for regions to see a clear and concrete role for them in the Mission and the unclarity around the next steps after endorsing the Charter. Additionally, the lack of alignment between the topics of the Horizon Europe calls for proposals and regional priorities was highlighted as a key concern, as this has a negative impact on regions’ motivation to endorse the Mission Charter. ERRIN has previously stated in its input paper to the Horizon consultation the need for a bottom-up approach in the development of Horizon Europe calls for the Ocean and Waters Mission to ensure that they address the actual challenges that regions face on the ground.

Several interesting suggestions for support services were brought to the table during the discussions. Some of these include assistance in finding synergies with other funding sources, project development support through the Mission Implementation Platform, support in ‘connecting the dots’ between various projects and initiatives and the services they provide to regions, as well as the establishment of a ‘sounding board’ among the endorsers of the Charter to launch bottom-up suggestions.

The Mission Ocean Implementation Support Platform will consider the outcomes of the focus group meetings organised with different stakeholders to enhance its support services and engage in discussions with the Ocean and Waters Mission Secretariat.

The Living-in.EU movement has launched a survey, open until 15 September, to co-create the political priorities of this digital transformation movement. The survey is directed towards all local, regional and national governments in the European Union.

Living-in.EU is the political movement and collaborative platform to accelerate the digital transformation in Europe’s cities and communities. Through multi-level governance, signatories collaborate for a cohesive digital Europe where every community can enjoy this transformation's economic and social benefits while making sure not to leave anyone behind.

The purpose of the survey is to gather feedback on the primary political priorities of the movement. The responses to the survey will be used to draft a mission statement which, together with the ‘Join, Boost Sustain’ political declaration, will provide strategic direction to the network's activities for the upcoming years. Responses are welcome from all entities but in particular the signatory cities, regions and member states of the Living-in.EU movement.

This work is led by Mayor Seppo Määttä, city of Oulu, Finland, and Mayor Lluïsa Moret i Sabidó, city of Saint Boi de Llobregat, Spain, the co-chairs of the Living-in.EU Mayors Digital Assembly.  

You can contribute to the survey here before 15 September 2023. The survey takes approximately 20 minutes to be completed.

If you have any questions, please contact rodolphe.doite@errin.eu.