Fostering the green transition through Smart Specialisation Strategies

This report provides examples developed at the local, regional,national and interregional level to foster environmentally oriented activities in the context of Smart Specialisation Strategy implementation.

Abstract

This study seeks to illustrate the role played by Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) to foster environmentally oriented activities through the examination of inspiring examples from different European Member States. The report presents ten inspiring examples and highlights how stakeholders from various territorial levels across Europe are using the Smart Specialisation concept to deliver their own innovation-driven green transition agendas, detailing specific policy tools and incentives developed in this context. The selected cases provide insights into the role played by multi-level governance and enhanced stakeholder involvement in the Entrepreneurial Discovery Process (EDP), and/or Smart Specialisation Monitoring and Evaluation mechanisms in fostering the implementation of experimental ‘green’ interventions. They demonstrate that even though the S3 concept was not initially designed with a strong environmental focus, different types of territories have successfully used the S3 approach to promote environment-related priorities. In particular, the circular economy appears as a recurring transversal driver and a source of economic gains in many territories.