INTERACT and the Hungarian National Development Agency are addressing Innovation in and links between European Territorial Cooperation and other funding opportunities in a conference that will take place on 25-26 May 2011, in Budapest, under the auspices of the Hungarian EU Presidency.
WHAT DO WE WANT TO ADDRESS?
Territorial cooperation programmes are expected to actively contribute to innovation and the Lisbon goals. These aims have recently been re-launched and strengthened by Europe 2020, an ambitious strategy and reform programme for Europe with innovation as one of the key drivers.
Innovation can happen within all types of thematic fields and economic sectors. It is often – but not exclusively – driven by research and technology development such as increased energy efficiency or new health services through innovative use of ICT. It can also be driven by non-technological factors, such as better destination management or new tourism services, etc.
In that sense, fostering innovation is an important and far-reaching objective for programme management. Therefore, many territorial cooperation programmes have implemented successful support mechanisms to foster innovation within their projects and programmes. What are these support mechanisms? What results are achieved and who benefits? What works well and what could be improved?
This event is also going to look beyond ETC to start discussions with other programmes and initiatives such as Convergence and Competitiveness programmes, the FP7 programme and others, who will be invited to exchange experiences: What are these programmes doing to foster innovation? And could some of the approaches be transferred to territorial cooperation? What can be done in ETC to attract a wider audience?
Synergies between territorial cooperation and other programmes and initiatives are becoming more and more important, not only in the context of EU macro-regional strategies, but also as a general way to improve the effectiveness of the various funding and financing instruments. What potential synergies exist already between territorial cooperation and other programmes and initiatives? What are some concrete and practical mechanisms to make better use of synergies? How can beneficiaries practically realise match financing?
Finally, this event will also provide an opportunity to begin discussions on the role of innovation in the future, as well as the role of smart growth, one of the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy. What can we learn for the preparation of the next generation of territorial cooperation programmes?
Territorial cooperation can play a significant role in supporting regions with their efforts to grow in a smart way: Coordinated efforts by regions of different Member States contribute to smart growth of the entire European Union more effeciently than isolated actions. But what exactly does smart growth mean? How can it benefit territorial cooperation? What should be the role of territorial cooperation to facilitate smart growth?
INTERACT would like to address all these topics in the conference "European Cooperation Growing Smart" organised in the framework of the Hungarian EU presidency, in Budapest on 25 and 26 May 2011. The event is co-organised by INTERACT and the Hungarian NDA (National Development Agency) under auspices of Hungarian Presidency.
WHO ARE TARGET GROUPS?
- European Territorial Cooperation programmes (cross-border, transnational, interregional), including Managing Authorities, Joint Technical Secretariats and Contact Points.
- National and regional stakeholders such as Monitoring Committee members and Priority Area Coordinators of the EU Baltic Sea and Danube Region strategies.
- Representatives of other EU programmes, initiatives (Objective 1 and 2, 7th Framework programme, thematic programmes, international financial institutions, etc.) supporting innovation.
- Selected beneficiaries of territorial cooperation programmes.
WHAT IS THE OBJECTIVE?
The objective is to strengthen the thematic profile of European Territorial Cooperation (cross-border, transnational and interregional) towards other stakeholders and to outline possibilities for synergies; to explore how smart growth can be better thematically embeded into the funding context of ETC, in preparation for 2014+ period.
INTERACT Contact:
- Ivana Lazic or Katrin Stockhammer, INTERACT Point Vienna (firstname.surname@interact-eu.net)
- Chiara Valdesolo or Stefanie Ubrig, INTERACT Point Valencia (firstname.surname@interact-eu.net)
- Satu Hietanen or Baiba Liepa, INTERACT Point Turku (firstname.surname@interact-eu.net)
source: http://www.interact-eu.net