Place-based innovation ecosystems compiled by Aalto University Team Output 5.1 2 Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................................................... 4 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 6 2. BSR place-based innovation ecosystems ................................................................................................. 8 Smart Specialisation - EU Policy Framework ...................................................................................................... 8 Platforms supporting place-based innovation ecosystems ........................................................................... 9 Place-based approach through Smart Specialisation .................................................................................. 10 Innovation and Public Actors ....................................................................................................................... 11 Smart Specialisation Strategy and Regional Innovation ................................................................................... 12 EDP (Entrepreneurial Discovery Process) .................................................................................................... 13 Towards Economic Transformation ............................................................................................................. 13 Place-based RDI policies and cross-sectoral regional development ............................................................ 14 Smart Specialisation for SDGs Implementation ............................................................................................... 15 Concluding remarks .......................................................................................................................................... 17 3. Story report of place-based innovation ecosystems .............................................................................. 19 Regional Pilots .................................................................................................................................................. 20 Pilots in Smart Cities and Smart Ports.......................................................................................................... 21 Entrepreneurial Actions in Pilots ................................................................................................................. 24 Building Momentum Through Pilots ............................................................................................................ 28 Regional Achievements and Potentials ........................................................................................................ 30 BSR Impact of Pilots ..................................................................................................................................... 35 Thematic challenges in place-based innovation eco-systems .......................................................................... 37 Active Healthy Aging .................................................................................................................................... 37 Climate Change and Plastic-free Baltic Sea Region ...................................................................................... 40 Circular Economy ......................................................................................................................................... 42 Urban Challenges Through Smart Cities and Smart Ports............................................................................ 45 4. Innnovation camps Smart-Up BSR participants’ learnings ..................................................................... 46 5. Analysis ................................................................................................................................................. 55 Results of the Analysis ...................................................................................................................................... 56 Strategic Diversity and Strategic Alignment ................................................................................................ 57 Entrepreneurial Communities...................................................................................................................... 58 Cross-regional balance capacity ................................................................................................................... 59 Concluding remarks .......................................................................................................................................... 60 Recommendations ......................................................................................................................................... 61 6. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 61 ANNEX I – Template for reports on pilots & ecosystem orchestration ........................................................... 64 ANNEX II – Comparative overview ................................................................................................................. 66 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This output has been developed based on the pilot reports on the regional development steps provided by the Smart Up BSR project partners. Regional lessons learned are based on pilot implementation processes that constituted the innovation ecosystem experiences of Smart Up BSR partners. This final report is the result of a reiterative process of feedback between partners. The contributing partners are listed below. 4 5 1. Introduction For regional innovation systems to enable regional transformation regions need to focus on a place-based approach locally and at the same time work together and create an inter-related vision of what a sustainable society could be. Especially in the attempt to create sustainable policies and implementation actions, BSR cities and regions need to rely on strategies that strengthen the place-based assets. Such strategies are not limited to single issues, but powerful and relevant for issues of sustainability and wellbeing which are linked to each other. These urban challenges necessitate a unique and necessary focus on science and research which can help key players to deal with the challenges they face. A place-based approach can leverage the regional strengths in science and research. In presenting the stories of the place-based innovation approach of the Smart-Up BSR participating regions through their regional pilots, this report highlights the double aim of place-based innovation ecosystem: regional economic transformation and the attainment of globally sustainable, cross-regional transformation. In practice, as pointed out in the quote above by the city of Aarhus, solutions to local development issues and challenges that cities face will most often contain a significant element of digitalization and will require implementation of technology. In addition to technology, as pointed in the quote by the city of Espoo, the future of cities and regions is forged in daily work serving citizens and by citizens. Both aspects, technology and citizens, need to be taken in consideration and integrated into the core of sustainable economic transformation and Smart Specialisation strategies. An agenda for the future from a citizen’s perspective has been explored as recently as 20201 by a High-Level expert group of DG Research and Innovation (R&I) of the European Commission and by the City Science Initiative (CSI). The guiding principle for the work of CSI is that cities have become ‘communities of (complex) systems and people’. In this view, the cross-cutting dimensions of thematic pilots of urban challenges lead to concrete activities putting strategy into practice to improve local everyday life. In our 1 The Human-centered city, opportunities for citizens through research and innovation. (2020) European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation. 6 study of the pilot activities in BSR regions we have come across the complexities of transferring knowledge and experience from strategies towards implementation and economic transformation. Coordination actions were taken to engage EU level experts to assist in the activities, thus creating cooperation channels between SDGs and Smart Specialisation actors for regions to reach the high-level goals of the EU and SDG agenda. Four areas have been observed which particularly provide a basis for an integral and cross-sectoral approach and which BSR cities and regions need to consider as part of the urban challenges they face: Active Healthy Aging, Climate Change, Circular Economy, and Smart Cities / Smart Ports. In the following, some developments in theBSR are presented within the framework of these urban challenges. 7 2. BSR place-based innovation ecosystems While as an entry point it is useful to look at the positioning of the BSR region according to European and Regional Innovation Scoreboard (EIS, RIS), we cannot simply position the regions based on their Innovation Index. We gain knowledge on the strategic path of the regions by examining Smart Specialisation strategy work through procedural facets such as practical measures of strategy creation, governmental and administrative processes, stakeholder engagement,