HIGHER promotes the implementation of smart specialization policies by the interregional cooperation

Within the Europe 2020 Strategy, it is defined the agenda of economic change which will support the regions by investing in priorities and development needs based on knowledge. In this regard, national and regional authorities across Europe have designed smart specialization strategies in entrepreneurial discovery process, so that the European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF) can be used more efficiently and synergies between different EU, national and regional policies, as well as public and private investments can be increased.

To contribute to the improvement of the implementation of these regional strategies, the European Commission has financed through the Interreg Europe Program, the HIGHER Project, led by UAB Research Park, budget of 1.8 million Euros. The project started on April 2016 and will last until April 2020. The Kick-off meeting of the project was celebrated at the Eureka Building, in the Campus of Autonomous University of Barcelona.

The HIGHER project is addressed to achieve innovative models of public private partnerships suitable to mobilize investment in related smart specialization areas and fostering an entrepreneurial discovery process in driving innovation process of the policy instruments. This will be achieved through the analysis of nine policy instruments from one of each region involved in the project to promote the innovation projects under public private partnerships. The partners of the project will evaluate these instruments and try to identify which are their main weaknesses, developing a learning process to overcome the main obstacles around them and enhancing a better and more efficient implementation.

Thought basic methods, as workshops, study visits and thematic summits and developed ones, as joint analysis, peer reviews and e-learning modules, the different regions will exchange the experiences and good practices for the future improvement of the policy instruments of each region.

The partnership of HIGHER is shaped by UAB Research Park, from Spain, as a leading partner, Marche Region and Abruzzo Region, from Italy; Nordregio, from Sweden; Innovation Centre INTELI, from Portugal; Lithuanian Innovation Centre; Association of Urban Municipalities of Slovenia; Region of Central Macedonia, from Greece, and the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Enterprise Partnership, from United Kingdom.

Impact on regional innovation 
For instance, in Catalonia, the results of this project will achieve a better implementation of RIS3CAT, research and innovation strategy under which the Government of Catalonia carries out R&D&I policies in the current programming period (2014-2020) and supports the generation and development of innovative projects aiming to further develop the region.

Specifically, UAB Research Park will analyze RIS3CAT Communities, one of the main policy instruments to adjust and adapt the Catalan innovation system according to other experiences from EU regions. RIS3CAT establishes that the sectors defined as strategic for Catalonia will be structured into communities. Each community will carry out initiatives to foster collaboration among sectorial stakeholders, to improve competitiveness and to generate solutions to arising societal demands. Once approved by the Government of Catalonia, these communities will be the tools through which companies and stakeholders from the R&D&i system in strategic sectors will be able to apply for grants through the ERDF program for Catalonia.