The overall objective of the ECOREGIONS project is to improve the effectiveness of local and regional development policies in the areas of ecoinnovationand more specifically green technologies, through the exchange, sharing and transfer of policy experience, and good practices in thefield, in order to contribute to the economic modernization and increased competitiveness of concerned European territories.In order to fulfill this general objective, 4 sub-objectives have been fixed:
- To put at the disposal of the partnership a stock of successful good practices in the field of eco-innovation & more specifically green technologies(in particular direct governance instruments e.g. subsidies, financial schemes, venture capital funds, technological advisory services, R&Dprogrammes, cluster policies, matchmaking of eco-innovators and first users; awareness raising and demonstration measures; strategic planningand foresight; governance actions of the sector and stakeholders). 29 GPs (among 45) were preliminarily analyzed and described (before the project starts) for their success, transferability and capacity to directlyimpact public policies in the field. Others could be potentially added at the beginning of ECOREGIONS.
- To transfer good practices through partners groups carrying out bilateral and multilateral exchanges of experiences (one importing partner / one ormore exporting partners) and to optimize integration of the good practice(s) transferred by each importing partner on its own territory and into theirexisting regional / local policy systems, thanks to the direct contribution of elected members of the local authority at key steps until the finalvalidation of the implementation plan which potentially includes modifications of the regional / local strategic documents and papers.
- To integrate the good practices transfers within a larger and continuous thought process, targeting the direct improvement of local and regionalpolicies in the field, through the involvement of elected members at interregional level on the topic of local and regional public governance of green technologies and eco-innovation sector and stakeholders, leading to continuous exchanges and collaborations between partners until the drafting of the implementation plans, their political validation, and the common writing of policy recommendations to be disseminated at regional, national and European levels.
- To encourage other EU regional and local authorities facing the same development issues, the integration of the best practices into policy systems and the improvement of regional and local policies in the field of eco-innovation and more specifically green technologies, thanks to the project results and key deliverables (policy recommendations notably, website, newsletters) and the involvement of ERRIN.
The expected results of ECOREGIONS will have innovative character, notably compared to 2 Interreg IVC projects developed in the field ofecoinnovation support (ECREIN+; FRESH):
- More exclusively transfer-oriented, targeting transfers achievement during the project lifetime and at a decisive stage (political validation), notablybecause a big part of the work was done before the project starts: methodology, GP analysis and formalization, first plan of the transfers. As aconsequence, during the official lifetime of the project, the partners will exclusively concentrate their efforts on the process of transfer, theimplementation plan, the policies changes and the dissemination.
- Strong involvement of policy-makers, associated from scratch: participation to project designing, study visits and seminars, concurrent dialoguebetween policy-makers from both importing/exporting partners all process long, commitment to improve policies, in order to lead to deeper changesin the policies.
- Involvement of every local stakeholder, for the real integration of the GP at all levels.
- Operational results: bottom-up & experiential approach (vs the 2 projects top down approach). ECOREGIONS starts from the partners needs ofoperational instruments to finally address the polciies improvement. Policies will be strengthened thanks to practical experiments & not the contrary: ECOREGIONS is an operational laboratory 100% dedicated to the improvement of policies.
- Ambitious implementation plans, planning the real transfer of the GP AND the improvement of the existing policy (modification of documents, etc.)
- Results more focused on green tech support & not only eco innovation (Fresh focused on 1 sector of green tech only, ECREIN+ on EGS).
- Various & complementary profiles of partners : Nuts1/3; newcomers in ecoinnovation & Interreg IVC (Hordaland, Picardie).
- Creation of synergies with other projects and networks.
Partnership
- Cremona Chamber of Commerce
- District Office Bombery
- ENEREA
- ERRIN
- Hordaland County Council
- Kaunuun Etu Oy
- Limousin Region
- MIEMA
- Picardie
- Region Region of Jamtland
- State Development Corporation of Theringia
