Empowering interregional collaboration - from capacity to funding

This webinar is designed to engage S3 practitioners, policymakers, and key stakeholders in a dialogue about the challenges and opportunities in interregional collaboration.

This session aims to build on the groundwork of previous discussions and further enhance collaborative efforts across regions with a special focus on building capacity, securing funding, and aligning strategic objectives for sustainable development.

It is the first in a series of webinars that the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, with the support of the S3 Community of Practice Secretariat, is organising for S3 stakeholders from across regions in EU Member States.   

Webinar highlights include :

• Recap of 2023 activities of the Working Group (WG) on interregional collaboration
• Navigating Funding Landscapes for interregional collaboration: Unpack the complexities of funding for interregional collaboration efforts
• Capacity Building for interregional collaboration: Explore effective strategies to transition from a 'one-person game' to a more structured institutional framework for interregional collaboration engagement.
• Periphery regions and interregional collaboration: Through the examples of our working group member Malta and La Réunion, discover how periphery regions are engaging in interregional collaboration, what challenges they face and how to overcome them.
• Tips & tricks for interregional collaboration: Discuss the importance of aligning the search for interregional collaboration funding with an appropriate governance.

Interregional collaboration (IC) is relevant to the S3CoP and participating regions as the focus lies on building on the priorities set out in regional S3s and seeking opportunities for interregional collaboration based on the mapping of complementarities.

The working group (WG) on interregional collaboration developed within the Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) Community of Practice (S3CoP) aims to foster a learning process for relevant policy stakeholders on the fulfilment of the S3 enabling condition for interregional collaboration.

Learn more about the activity of the S3CoP WG on interregional collaboration here: S3 CoP Working Groups - Interregional Collaboration (youtube.com)