Working Group Leaders

Representatives of Brussels-based offices leading the work of Innovation & Investment Working Group.

Innovation & Investment WG Leader
Gabriele Pedrini

The Autonomous Province of Trento

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Wim De Kinderen
Wim De Kinderen

Brainport Eindhoven EU Office Brussels

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Loles Vidal
Loles Vidal

Generalitat Valenciana

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Innovation & Investment

The Innovation & Investment Working Group aims to monitor the main initiatives put in place by the European institutions under the priority ‘an economy that works for the people’ and explicitly target SMEs. The Working Group monitors industrial and cluster policy developments and promotes instruments that support innovative financing (e.g., cascade funding financial instruments).

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Last Working Group Meetings

Previous Related ERRIN Working Group Meetings

Strengthening skills governance in regional innovation ecosystems:  lessons learnt and remaining challenges

Strengthening skills governance in regional innovation ecosystems: lessons learnt and remaining challenges

Astrid Hannes

As the activities of the EU Year of Skills came to an end in April 2024, the Science and Education for Society Working Group is organising a Working Group meeting to reflect on the lessons learnt

Policy & Smart Specialisation WGs meeting: Widening in FP10 and impact on cohesion policy post-2027

Policy & Smart Specialisation WGs meeting: Widening in FP10 and impact on cohesion policy post-2027

Ewa Chomicz

The topic of widening gathers high attention in the discussions around the next European Framework Programme for R&I, raising questions with the potential to influence not only the Widening sub-

Policy WG meeting: Role of EU Missions in FP10

Policy WG meeting: Role of EU Missions in FP10

Ewa Chomicz

ERRIN has been closely involved in the design and implementation of the EU Missions since their inception. Missions remain one of the network's priorities and were one of the four main areas of focus

WG Related Events

WG Related Events

Conference 'Business Opportunities in Slovenia'

From Wednesday 2 November 2022 to Friday 4 November 2022 a business conference 'Business opportunities in Slovenia' will be held in the Grand Hotel Union, Ljubljana, Slovenia, under the umbrella of the European Women's Handball Championship.

Brussels Talks: How to be an innovative region in Europe?

As part of the event series Brussels Talks, NCBR – Business & Science Poland are organising the online event 'How to be an innovative region in Europe?', with ERRIN director Pirita Lindholm as the main speaker. The event will discuss regional innovations ecosystems, how to support R&I capacities at local and regional level and how to reduce the innovation divide. Furthermore, the support offered by current EU funded programmes and initiatives will be explored.

I&I WG Meeting - EU Cluster Policies, state of play and future opportunities

On Wednesday 19 October from 14:00-15:30, the Innovation and Investment Working Group will host an on-site event on the topic of European Clusters policies.

ICRI 2022: International conference on research infrastructures

One of the major events of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU - International Conference on Research Infrastructures (ICRI 2022) - will take place from 19-21 October in Brno, Czech Republic. The ICRI 2022 onsite attendance is by invitation only, but participation online is possible for everyone.

Translating EU Missions into regional policy

The TRAMI project and ERRIN are organising a mutual learning event on 18 October. The event will aim to showcase a successful translation of the EU Missions approach into concrete policies and tools on the regional level and to foster the discussion on challenges and opportunities with its implementation.

Covenant of Mayors Investment Forum - Energy Efficiency Finance Marketplace

The Covenant of Mayors Investment Forum – Energy Efficiency Finance Market Place annual conference will be held this year on 18 October in Brussels. The event will showcase successful projects on financing energy efficiency, climate adaptation and innovative energy planning.

WG Documents

WG Documents

ERRIN Year in review 2022

The ERRIN Year in review 2022 is out! Read the report to see the numerous activities ERRIN and its members have been involved in throughout the year.

ERRIN input paper on the Implementation Report of the European Innovation Council

ERRIN's input paper on the Implementation Report on the European Innovation Council brings together the first comments and recommendations received from the various stakeholders from ERRIN members.

WG Related Content

WG Related Content

ERRIN Paper Series: Towards the 10th Framework Programme - EU Missions

ERRIN is pleased to launch a series of input papers on the 10th Framework Programme, with this paper focusing on EU Missions. ERRIN has been closely involved in the design and implementation of the EU Missions since their inception, making them a priority for the network. This input paper on the role of EU Missions in FP10 has been created with contributions from ERRIN members and their ecosystems.

ERRIN two-pager for European decision-makers

ERRIN is pleased to share a two-pager for the incoming European decision-makers, aiming to present the network and our value to the new MEPs, raising a voice for the importance of place-based R&I in the changing landscape. We encourage all ERRIN members to share the document with their MEPs to introduce ERRIN and the value of place-based R&I.

PRIMED - First open call for potential end users to obtain funding for testing and validating bio-based products

The PRIMED project has released its first open call to identify and engage potential end users interested in testing and validating bio-based ingredients and products. The open calls, offering a total amount of €500k, are split into €100k for each living lab, providing selected end-users for the opportunity to test and validate the added-value bio-based materials/chemicals/fuels/end products. The deadline for the application is on 30 September 2024.

Over 70 ERRIN member regions announced as Regional Innovation Valleys

On 19 June, the Commission announced the 151 regions identified as Regional Innovation Valleys following the call for EoI and calls for proposals in 2023. 75 successful regions come from ERRIN members. RIVs will aim to strengthen the regional innovation ecosystems, bridge the innovation gap and improve Europe's overall innovation performance. New calls for proposals under Horizon Europe are expected in 2025.

Launch of the new CCRI Knowledge Hub for Circular Economy

The Circular Cities and Regions Initiative has launched its Knowledge Hub to consolidate and expand the support activities made available for boosting circularity in European cities and regions. The CCRI Knowledge Hub will foster knowledge-sharing, mentoring, and capacity-building within the CCRI community and beyond.

EIB's Circular City Centre (C3) initiative continues: support to thrive the circular transition in cities

The European Investment Bank is launching a new support phase of their Circular City Centre (C3) scheme. The C3 targets cities and the public sector promotors on their behalf and offers advice on their circular economy agenda and investment projects. Cities can benefit from guidance documents, resources, circular city advisory and capacity building workshops and project advisory services.

Latest Updates

  • By Gianpiero Petruzziello

New cascade funding page is available now

The European Commission has created a new Funding & Tenders portal page to find and collect all cascade funding opportunities from all EU projects.

  • By Gianpiero Petruzziello

Covenant of Companies for Climate and Energy survey

The European Commission (DG ENER) has started a pilot project on how to best support companies and in particular SMEs towards their clean energy transition and climate action – called the ‘Covenant of Companies for Climate and Energy’ (CCCE). As part of this initiative the CCE is conducting a survey on the needs of EU companies and SMEs in terms of clean energy transition and climate action.

  • By Ewa Chomicz

EU R&I community providing support for Ukrainian researchers

In the context of the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the ongoing war, members of the EU R&I community are mobilising efforts to support Ukrainian researchers. To engage and inspire, ERRIN members are encouraged to share information about their regional activities and initiatives in support of Ukraine's R&I ecosystem on the ERRIN website, using the tag ‘Solidarity with Ukraine’.

  • By Hilary Webb

UniLiON vademecum on implementing synergies with Horizon Europe

The UniLION working group on synergies has published a vademecum 'Implementing synergies with Horizon Europe.'

  • By Ewa Chomicz

Call for short videos on innovative regional initiatives to be presented at WIRE 2022

To highlight innovation in Europe during this year's edition of the Week of Innovative Regions in Europe (WIRE) in France, short videos will be played during the event, presenting innovative R&I related activities/initiatives/projects led by the European regions. Regions interested in showcasing their initiatives can submit the videos until 29 April 2022.

  • By Astrid Hannes

ERRIN Erasmus+ PDW 2022: Call for task force members

The Science & Education for Society Working Group is preparing the 2022 Erasmus+ project development workshop and is looking for new task force members to shape the 2022 PDW.