The Smart Specialisation Working Group aims to monitor and contribute to key policy developments related to S3 by enhancing dialogue with relevant EU institutions and stakeholders. The goal is to strengthen the regional perspective in the wider smart specialisation agenda and facilitate the interregional cooperation. The WG actively engages in the debate around shaping the cohesion policy post-2027 and the future of S3. It also follows different interregional collaboration instruments for innovation, their state of play and upcoming opportunities.
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
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
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-
As the new generation of 2021-2027 regional S3 strategies is kicking off in ERRIN regions, the S3 Working Group is pleased to invite you to discuss regional S3, their synergies with the EU missions and links with the Partnerships for Regional Innovation (PRI) Pilot around a cup of coffee. The meeting will take place in person on 18 October from 9:00-10:30.
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.
The Friends of Smart Specialisation (FoSS) is organising a side event "Smart specialisation and ERA Hubs: a new and winning combination?" in the framework of the European Week of Regions and Cities 2022. The event will take place online on 13 October from 14:00-15:30. ERRIN Director Pirita Lindholm will take part as one of the speakers.
As part of the upcoming European Week of Regions and Cities, ERRIN in cooperation with EARTO is organising a joint online workshop on how to strengthen collaboration between regions and research and technology organisations (RTOs) to support a sustainable transition. The event will take place on 12 October from 16:30-18:00 CEST.
Organised in the frame of the European Week of Regions and Cities 2022, this workshop will aim to present the complementary strategic framework, called Partnerships for Regional Innovation (PRI), developed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) to support the green and digital transition.
On 30 September from 10:30-12:00, the Energy and Climate Change Working Group will host an on-site and online event on the topic of Sustainable Buildings.
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.
On 19 July, the European Commission (EC) published a Communication on the assessment of the EU Missions after two years of implementation. The EC details the Missions' successes but also recognises the need to address challenges related to governance, budget, citizens and private sector engagement. The EC also proposes to add a sixth Mission on the New European Bauhaus.
On 6 July, the Commission released the newest bi-annual Regional Innovation Scoreboard (RIS). The RIS allows for a closer examination of the innovation performance within European regions and the new edition is to be taken as a reference for consortium eligibility in the current Regional Innovation Valleys call for proposals under Horizon Europe. The 2023 edition of the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) was also published.
ERRIN’s Spring Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2023 took place on 22 June this year. As always, it brought together the large and dynamic community of member regions and cities. Following the format part with the update from the network, the main focus was the EU Missions, approached in two policy debates, on the support and implementation frameworks in Adaptation, Ocean and Waters and Soil Missions, and the governance innovation and the perspective on Cities and the Cancer Missions.
On 20 June 2023, ERRIN participated in the Plenary Meeting of the S3 European Hydrogen Valleys Partnership, hosted in the House of the Dutch Provinces in Brussels. In this context, ERRIN with its Energy & Climate Working Group is in the process of producing an input paper building on the work of the S3 Partnership on Hydrogen Valleys and collecting ERRIN’s members’ needs, challenges and solutions.
The European Commission has recently launched a project to “Co-design the Local Digital Twins (LDT) toolbox technical specifications for advancing the transformation of Smart Communities”. To support the design process, they have launched a survey to gather insights. The deadline for the survey is 30 June at 23:59 CEST.
Implementing co-funded action plans for connected regional innovation valleys – Decarbonising Heat & Cooling, with proposed focus on next generation heating & cooling networks
In October 2022, ERRIN's DT4REGIONS project in cooperation with the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council will organise four ideathon workshops for Artificial Intelligence Potential in Preventive Healthcare. We are looking for new ideas how to use AI for preventive healthcare – awards are waiting for the best ones!
The Free State of Saxony is interested in contact with other European regional authorities with experiences in regional foresight/ strategy processes and regional innovation ecosystems in the fields of AI, Quantum Technologies and Personalised Medicine/ Life Sciences.
On Friday 30 September from 10:30-12:00, the Energy and Climate Change Working Group will host a hybrid event on the topic of Sustainable Buildings. A call for presentations to be presented during the meeting is now open until 25 September.
The ERRIN Smart Specialisation Working Group is looking for regional examples for its upcoming "S3 Breakfast: Pitch your S3!" meeting. The event will take place in person on 18 October from 09:00-10:30 in Brussels. The call for pitches will be open until 7 October (extended deadline).
Yesterday the European Commission announced 75 new top experts who will advise on the five EU Missions through serving on their Boards. ERRIN is thrilled that Françoise Guaspare from Île-de-France Europe, one of the Transport Working Group leaders, will join the Mission Board of the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission.
The first half of 2022 offered several key policy developments. To kick off the autumn, we propose a short outlook of what will keep ERRIN busy when it comes to the R&I policy perspective.