4th MEETING OF THE WORKING GROUP 'H2020 FOR RIS3'
This is the fourth meeting of the Working Group, organised as part of the Stairway to Excellence (S2E) project, which is managed by JRC in cooperation with DG REGIO. S2E seeks to maximise the impact of Smart Specialisation Strategies in EU regions and member states, and to realise the full potential of using EU funding programmes managed at regional, national and EU levels.
The establishment of this Working Group is based on the outcomes of a JRC Workshop held on 15 February 2018 in Brussels. The first meeting of the Working Group took place 13th June 2018. The working group aims to meet twice a year. Its core members are selected Managing Authorities of Member States and regions with a relatively high R&I intensity combined with higher ESIF dependence and lower capacities to capture H2020 funding, but there are also representatives from research institutions and independent experts.
The ultimate aim of the Working Group (WG) "H2020 for RIS3" is to optimise the use of Horizon 2020 (and Horizon Europe) in S3 implementation. This is to be achieved by building the necessary capabilities that may currently be lacking and thus hindering the creation of a research and innovation system containing entities that could be successful in competitive programmes such as H2020. Therefore the main focus of the WG will be on capacity building, whether that is in relation to higher level strategic aims such as improving the internationalisation or multi-level governance of a system, or human capacity building at an operational level in areas such developing support mechanisms that require specific skills.
The WG serves not only as a mutual learning group, but also as test bed to pilot new activities in the territories of its members, the results of which are subsequently discussed in the Working Group. It will also act as an evaluation mechanism when the activities are completed. A first pilot activity took place in a joint open event the day before the WG during a Learning Lab on "Supporting mechanisms for capacity building in framework programme participation (H2020/HEU)" (11 December 2018). Further pilot activities are foreseen to take place as "back to back" events the day before subsequent meetings of the WG. For this reason, on Feb. 6, Pilot 4 will organise a back-to-back event on "Transnational R&I networks: The case of Smart Grids" which output will be reported to the WG on 07/02/2020.
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