Supporting the effective uptake of Cohesion Policy funds in energy

Learning Lab on "Supporting the effective uptake of Cohesion Policy funds in energy - S3 as a tool to enhance innovation capabilities in EU13" -  organised as part of the Stairway to Excellence (S2E) project and the Smart Specialisation Platform on Energy (S3PEnergy), managed by the JRC, in close cooperation with DG REGIO, and in collaboration with the Ministry for Innovation and Technology and the National Research, Development and Innovation Office of Hungary.

The main aim of the initiative is to improve governance models in EU13 in view of optimizing the spending of the EU funds in sustainable and innovative energy solutions and addressing societal challenges such as the clean energy transition, both for the remaining and the next programming period.
Also, it will provide insights to reinforce the participation of the EU13 regions in the energy thematic partnerships and in the S3PEnergy present and future interregional activities.

This event will take place on the 3rd and 4th of July 2019, in Budapest, Hungary.

The specific objectives of the learning lab are to:

  • engage the dialogue among public authorities, related Commission services and other stakeholders,
  • assess main challenges and barriers regarding energy-related innovation policies, and debate on potential (short term and long term) solutions,
  • share experience and showcase good practices,
  • identify the actions needed to be involved in the global value chains,
  • prepare for the prospect of capacity building activities,
  • draw lessons for the future, and
  • identify follow-up actions to strengthen the engagement in S3PEnergy.


The learning lab will be open to managing authorities from EU13 member states and regions, as well as invited experts and related stakeholders in the field of R&I and energy. The aim is to bring together, for each country/region, a representative from the managing authorities responsible for the energy-related activities and a representative from the S3 (R&I) responsible authorities.

Our Project Partner from Hungary, INNOVA Észak-Alföld - Regional Development and Innovation Agency Nonprofit Ltd., will take part in this event. 

The activities are designed as a Mutual Learning Event where cases showing good practices will be shared and discussed, where participants may table specific requests, and alternative solutions will be debated. Participants will have the opportunity to present themselves and the current situation in their region/country.

Agenda of the event