Identifying Good Practice * * * the RegioStars experience Katja Reppel REGIO.D.2 Thematic coordination and innovation katja.reppel@ec.europa.eu 26 February 2008

What is “good practice”? No definition in absolute terms: Economic, social, cultural and geographic situations and administrative traditions differ Evolution in time of needs and conditions No “one-size-fits-all” recipe for success Dynamic, context-based definition: Identify what has worked well in which situation: ex-ante & ex-post Make experiences accessible and comparable Facilitate actors to meet and learn from each other

EU actions to identify and disseminate good practices Analysis: Studies, evaluation reports, expert groups … Policy analysis and observatories: SME, Innovation Policy TrendChart, ERA-Watch, Cluster Observatory … Communication: Web-portals & publications: Cordis, PRO INNO Europe portal, … Awards: RegioStars, Enterprise awards, Europe INNOVA Awards, ... Conferences, work shops, seminars .... Networking, for instance: Structural Funds: INTERREG IVC, URBACT Innovation, ICT, IEEP in energy, entrepreneurship & SMEs: INNO-Nets, Learning Platforms … R&D: ERA-Nets, OMC-Nets, Regions of Knowledge CoR: Lisbon Monitoring Platform

Cohesion Policy Contribution Analysis: Case studies on Inforegio and IANIS sites Policy analysis: URBACT national policy database, … Evaluation reports, annual implementation reports, URBACT project results … Communication: Web-portal on Inforegio & publications Conferences: thematic & annual; take stock of new experiences, approaches and success stories; contribution to other conferences & seminars RegioStars Awards: good practice emanating from SF activities, including Innovative Actions Programmes Networking: INTERREG IVC, URBACT networks between regions and cities: partnership in action See Inforegio web-site: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index_en.htm URBACT web-site: http://urbact.eu/themes.html INTERREG III+IV C: www.interreg3c.net & www.interreg4c.net

Regions for Economic Change http: //ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index_en.htm To demonstrate the array of resources available: Database of case studies: summaries of 40 innovation projects (Regional Programmes of Innovative Actions 2000 – 2006) developed by regional authorities in different domains: enterprise clustering, science and industry networking, ICT services for citizens and many others. + 26 finalists of the 2008 RegioStars applications (see summaries in brochure): mainstream +INTERREG, RPIA / programmes + projects + 60 case studies by experts (Technopolis) They include: strategic context innovative dimension partnership obstacles encountered in design or implementation lessons learnt and the good practices identified + contact details of project managers some common findings: partnerships and networks take time to build - trust and effective communication between partners active and consistent management and design: the necessary support has to be provided during the whole project life and often far beyond

http://urbact.eu/themes.html URBACT

INTERREG III C www.interreg3c.net

Innovative Actions Network for the Information Society Network www.ianis.net

The “fast track” option for networks Two-way bridges between networks & mainstream: From Community Strategic Guidelines on Cohesion & Lisbon objectives: selection of 30 priority themes New emphasis on communication, dissemination and capitalisation of results Wider partnership: bring the Committee of the Regions into the programmes & involve other COM services and their activities / networks State of play: Three pilot projects under INTERREG III C & URBACT for testing approach Analysis of applications under first INTERREG IV C and URBACT calls; then decision by Network Programme Monitoring Committee Regions for Economic Change

Regions for Economic Change The RegioStars awards Promote excellence in regional policy: Incentive for managing authorities and regional actors to publicise their success stories Motivate other regional players to experiment with innovative approaches or get inspired by good examples Support the implementation of Lisbon Strategy & Cohesion Strategic Guidelines by facilitating implementation measures Raise awareness of excellence in regional development policy in other policy areas (research, environment …) Highlight the contribution of regional actors to other EU priorities (in 2009: year of creativity and innovation) Regions for Economic Change

Themes for 2009: closing session Regions for Economic Change RegioStars 2008 Sustainable Economic Development: Energy efficiency and renewable energies Environmental technologies Regional economies based on knowledge and technological innovation Technology transfer from research institutes to SMEs Supporting clusters and business networks Themes for 2009: closing session Regions for Economic Change

Thank you for your attention! Information on the RegioStars 2009 Award: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/cooperation/interregional/ecochange/index_en.cfm?nmenu=1