Fostering multi-actor projects in Tarragona
On 18 March 2022 the Policy Learning Platform organised an online matchmaking for the Region of Knowledge area of the Tarragona Provincial County in Spain. The topic of the session was how to foster multi-actor collaboration projects.
About this matchmaking
The Region of Knowledge area of the Tarragona Provincial County requested this matchmaking session to gain insights and get inspired by good practices on how to promote multi-actor collaboration on projects, and how to connect multi-actor collaboration projects with other European innovation ecosystems.
Under the moderation of research and innovation thematic experts Arnault Morisson and Marc Pattinson, excellent peers from all across Europe were invited, and shared their valuable knowledge and experiences. The peers included:
- Justé Rakštytė-Hoimian from the Lithuanian Innovation Centre, Lithuania, part of IBUY
- Paz Palacio from IDEPA, Spain, part of S3CHEM
- Tiina Ramstedt-Sen from the Council of Tampere Region, Finland, part of MARIE
The complete key learnings and additional information can be found in the full report.
Key Learnings
How to promote multi-actor collaboration on projects
- It is important to align actors’ interests around a shared regional vision for the future.
- Being an anchor institution, the university can play an important role to rally different stakeholders together along its third mission. Find the change agents within the faculty to co-create programs to respond to local challenges. Local place-based challenges can be a driver to bring stakeholders together, for instance students with private companies (see Demola).
- It is important to visualise/map the existing services, infrastructures, and the actors in the regional innovation ecosystem to align interests and to build the basis of shared leadership.
- Actors and organisations must trust each other and need to see their benefits to participate in shared leadership and common goals. For example, for clusters, the incentives to participate must be interesting for clusters’ members as well.
How to connect multi-actor collaboration projects with other European innovation ecosystems
- For SMEs, it is good to connect them at the regional and national level before connecting to other European networks or ecosystems.
- Regional public organisations must invite and support a relationship SMEs to participate to events, regional proposals, EU call for projects.
- Work with universities and the large companies to connect with SMES and use them to connect with other innovation ecosystems.
- Target European calls that offer cascade fundings, vouchers schemes that are very operational, to give SMEs a first experience using vouchers and small-scale projects (see European Commission calls for Cascade Funding).
Additional sources of further information
- Have a look at good practices from Interreg Europe project INNOHEIS
- Interreg Europe article on Innovation Vouchers
- Interreg Europe article on Operationalising the Concept of Open Innovation with Open Innovation Platforms
- Interreg Europe policy briefs found below