Innovation for place-based transformations

Addressing complex challenges requires different tools, mindsets and approaches from those traditionally used, which contributed to create some of these challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, raising inequalities. Focusing on one is not sufficient and understanding their interlinkages and feedback effects is essential. Innovation policy alone cannot help us tackle such problems, nor to achieve the European Green Deal – Europe’s own socio-economic transformation strategy. For this, interterritorial collaboration, network governance and coordinated policy-action mixes enable efforts at the local, regional and national level to achieve long-term societal wellbeing and climate resilient development. Building partnerships is therefore not only a desired objective, but a necessary prerequisite to move towards long-term societal wellbeing and secure Europe’s open strategic autonomy. ‘Innovation for place-based transformations’ includes three operational documents. First, the ACTIONbook provides some activities to build strategic and purpose-driven partnerships within an institution, department, territory, and across boundaries. Then, a collection of practices from territories describes existing approaches to transformative innovation taking place in Europe. Finally, a collection of tools for ACTION is linked to activities described in the ACTIONbook and can be used to put them in practice. This document is published by the Joint Research Centre and the European Committee of the Regions and is the result of a co-creative effort with Partnerships for Regional Innovation (PRI) pilot participants, the PRI Scientific Committee, experts and policymakers.