Partnerships for Regional Innovation
The Partnerships for Regional Innovation (PRI) are a new approach to place-based innovation policy which builds on positive experiences with smart specialisation strategies.
The Partnerships for Regional Innovation (PRI) are a complementary approach which builds on positive experiences with smart specialisation strategies. PRI aims to test tools to enhance the coordination and directionality of regional, national and EU innovation policies to implement Europe’s green and digital transitions and to tackle the innovation divide in the EU. PRI will be firmly anchored in the EU policy framework, supporting the implementation of the European Green Deal, Horizon Europe, Cohesion policy and NextGenerationEU.
PRI seeks to accelerate transformative outcomes by introducing local missions to coordinate actions under a single directional logic, exploring broad-ranging policy mixes for system-level innovation. PRI has a strong focus on innovation policy, but it also encompasses and inspires industrial, employment, education and social policies. PRI implies new ways of working across government departments and levels focused on addressing territorial challenges.
PRI places particular emphasis on actions with strong transformative potential: it focuses on the further development of aspects of innovation strategies such as broad stakeholder engagement and mobilisation, multi-level governance, synergies between policies and between funds, broad-based innovation for SMEs, the social dimension of innovation, and directions for innovation that lead to co-benefits for the economy, society and the environment.
Why do we need PRI?
Innovation is about doing things differently. PRI seeks to adopt a broad and systemic framing of innovation, recognising that the levers for transformative change and all its economic, social and environmental promise lie not just in science and technology but also in the very design of our production and consumption systems.
PRI seeks to explore and experiment with new approaches designed to join up efforts across government and stakeholders, develop partnerships and amplify impact. There is a need for a strategic framework not just for growth, but also for other investments and stakeholder actions in our transition towards sustainable development paths. Elements of this framework - such as broad stakeholder coordination - are already present in smart specialisation strategies, whereas others will have to be introduced based on sound evidence and lessons from leading policy practice.
The PRI Playbook and Pilot Action
The JRC will support the pilot and work closely with regions and Member States to co-develop the Playbook, linking participants to appropriate in-house or external expertise, developing relevant policy intelligence, documenting and disseminating broader lessons. The Pilot will also be supported by the dedicated Scientific Committee and other relevant experts.
Activities under the Pilot Action will be tailored to the areas of most interest for each participant. They can include:
- Thematic workshops
- Exchanges of good practices
- In-depth policy reviews with the involvement of external experts
- Tailored analytical insights and support from JRC staff (e.g. resilience dashboards, complexity analysis…)
Each participating region will cover the costs associated to its participation to the PRI Pilot.
The expected duration of the Pilot Action is 1 year.
The Pilot will be designed in a way that it remains fully in line with the EU policy framework, avoiding duplication of activities and measures that already exist under Cohesion Policy, while fostering synergies with other EU policies, in particular the European Green Deal and Horizon Europe. In particular, the PRI pilot is not linked in any way and may not prejudice the European Commission's assessment of the fulfilment criteria for smart specialisation during the 2021-27 programming period.
PRI Scientific Committee
The other members of the Scientific Committee are: Katalin Erdős (University of Pecs), Dominique Foray (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne), Luke Georghiou (University of Manchester),
Paula Kivimaa (SYKE, Finnish Environment Institute), Phoebe Koundouri (Athens University of Economics and Business), Philip McCann (Sheffield University), Kevin Morgan (Cardiff University), Slavo Radosevic (University College London), Andrea Renda (Centre for European Policy Studies), Andres Rodriguez-Pose (London School of Economics), Daria Gołębiowska-Tataj (Tajaj Innovation) and Michaela Trippl (University of Vienna).
Call for Expression of Interest
The call is closed now.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
More information
Contact
Latest news
An interesting opportunity is upcoming by indulging in the training course on working with evidence for policymakers!
The event, "Connecting Regional Innovation Valleys through Circular Industries," held in Gijon on June 21-22, 2023 and co-organised by SEKUENS, the RDA of the Principality of Asturias, and the Joint Research Centre, aimed to address one of the "burning challenges" defined by the New European...
The conference “Partnerships for Regional Innovation: From Pilot to Practice” held on 30-31 May brought together participants in the Partnerships for Regional Innovation (PRI) Pilot and beyond to discuss further joint work, exchange good practices, co-shape the revised PRI Playbook and engage...
Events
Moving forward on transformative innovation policies through Partnerships for Regional Innovation
Science Meets Regions final event: Boosting evidence-informed policymaking at local and regional level
Inter-territorial Working Group on Transformative Innovation for Climate Resilience
Publications
Connectivity plays a crucial role for innovation and may counterbalance the disadvantage of being located in less developed and remote areas. This report gathers together insights from scientific literature on the role of connectivity and can inspire activities in interregional cooperation...
- Rodriguez Pose, A.
Transformative innovation policies argue for directionality in science, technology, and innovation (STI) activities, in the sense that activities should respond to addressing societal challenges. This paper answers two questions: How can directionality be defined and operationalised to support...
- Kivimaa, P., Pontikakis, D., Reimeris, R., Miedzinski, M.
The paper addresses one of the major weaknesses of transformative innovation policy: the lack of solutions for institutionalising experimentation beyond pilots. Drawing insights from literature and real-world examples, it provides tentative advice on how policies should be designed to increase...
- Radosevic, S., Tsekouras, G., Wostner, P.