Supporting the effective uptake of Cohesion Policy funds in energy: report on the event.
SMART_watch Project Partner, INNOVA Észak-Alföld - Regional Development and Innovation Agency Nonprofit Ltd., participated in Learning Lab on "Supporting the effective uptake of Cohesion Policy funds in energy - S3 as a tool to enhance innovation capabilities in EU13" that took place at the beginning of July in Budapest, Hungary.
The learning lab was organised as part of the Stairway to Excellence (S2E) project and the Smart Specialisation Platform on Energy (S3PEnergy), managed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission (EC), 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 first day after the opening session, the participants had the opportunity to listen to the presentations regarding the Stairway to Excellence (S2E) project and Smart Specialisation Platform on Energy (S3PEnergy) thanks to the JRC colleagues, Nida OZBOLAT, Isabelle SEIGNEUR and Fernando MÉRIDA-MARTÍN.
After several pitches from selected regional and/or national representatives on their current situation on capacities & appropriate skills, the audience divided into two groups. Each group addressed the following topics: During the 1st parallel session: Group discussions on governance, under the 2nd parallel session: Group discussions on capacities & appropriate skills and in the framework of 3rd parallel session: Group Discussions on EU13 internationalisation and connectedness with the wider EU R&I landscape.
Each group discussed such questions as:
- How to increase the interaction between Research & Innovation and Energy policies in your region?,
- To what extent is your country/region active in international environments where to get competencies for working in wider value chains?
- What are the main weaknesses in your country/region regarding connectedness with the wider EU R&I landscape in energy (KICs, H2020, Interreg, S3 thematic platforms, COSME…)?
On the second day, sharing good practices was the key point. It was a special joy that Črtomir KURNIK, from Local Energy Agency of Gorenjska (LEAG), Slovenia (who is one of the representatives of SMART_watch project Regional Observatories Network) was held a very meaningful presentation in the topic of Implementation of energy initiatives via Financial Instruments.
After the good practices and perspectives for the future, the meeting finished with a global discussion on the working sessions and presentations with the participation of the regions.
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