RegioStars Awards

14.06.2012

26.04.2012

26.04.2012

09.12.2011

13.10.2011

12.5.2011

16.3.2011

There are five RegioStars Award categories for 2012:

1. SMART GROWTH: Innovative projects or schemes supporting service innovation in its different forms.
2. SUSTAINABLE GROWTH: Investments in ecosystem services and green infrastructure leading to sustainable regional development.
3. INCLUSIVE GROWTH: Strategies, initiatives or projects addressing the challenge of demographic change and supporting active ageing. (2012 is the "European Year of Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations")
4. CITYSTAR CATEGORY: Integrated strategies for the development of deprived urban areas.
5. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION CATEGORY:  Informing the public on the internet about projects benefiting from EU Regional policy.

For thematic categories 1-4

1. Innovative character of the project.
2. Impact (or expected impact) of the project in terms of initial objectives.
3. Expected sustainability of the project.
4. Project’s results in enhancing local, regional and interregional partnerships.

for category 5 INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION

1. Effective use of a combination of different internet tools (photos, videos, GIS maps, etc…) to spread information about the projects that have benefited from EU funding.
   
2. User-friendliness of the list of beneficiaries (including data format, search function, frequency of updates, level of project details, etc.).

And the Jury is ...

PRESIDENT
Luc VAN DEN BRANDE (BE) - Special adviser to Regional Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn for multilevel governance issues in cohesion policy and the EU2020 strategy.

CAT. 1 – SMART GROWTH
Claire MUNCK (BE) - Past Managing Director of EBAN - European Business Angels Network. Responsible for business development projects at Be Angels, Belgium
Jette NOEHR (DK) - a Senior Adviser in the Confederation of Danish Industries (DI).

CAT. 2 – SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
Pam BERRY (UK) - Senior Research Fellow at the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford
István FARKAS (HU) - President of National Society of Conservationists – Friends of the Earth Hungary

CAT. 3 – INCLUSIVE GROWTH
Claus EPPE (DE) - lead partner of the Silvereconomy Network of European Regions (SEN@ER) and the project leader "Active Ageing of Migrant elders" (AAMEE)
Elizabeth MESTHENEOS (UK) - a Director of IFA (International Federation of Ageing).

CAT. 4 – CITYSTAR
Agathe CAHIERRE (FR) - Deputy Mayor of Le Havre in charge of development of deprived areas
Simon GÜNTNER (DE) - Professor for Social Sciences and Social Policy at HAW Hamburg.

CAT. 5 – INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
Mário ALCÂNTARA (PT) - Head of Office at Tribal DDB in Lisbon.
Wojtek CHOJNACKI (PL) - Senior Project Manager at Symetria e-business Agency.
Pertti HERMANNEK (DE) - CEO of EurActiv.de, the German office of the European online news portal network EurActiv.

Regiostars 2012 : presentation of the finalists

Presentations of the Finalists :

Category 1: Smart Growth - service innovation

• 'Technopol Programme' - Lower Austria, AT
• 'RUR@CT' – régions actrices de l'innovation rurale – Limousin, FR
• 'Innovative Collaboration Networks for Smart growth' – London, UK
• 'ECO World Styria' - Styria, AT
• 'Hohe Tauern Health' - Salzburg, AT
• 'Orientation and guidance services for start-ups in Brandenburg' – Brandenburg, DE
• 'Digi-lodge' -    various Greek regions, EL

Category 2: Sustainable Growth – eco-system services

• 'Parc naturel transfrontalier du Hainaut (PNTH)'- European Territorial Cooperation
• 'Alps-Carpathian Corridor' - Trnava, Bratislava, Vienna, Burgenland, Niederösterreich. SK-AT
• 'SIC ADAPT! (Strategic Initiative Cluster – Adaptation to the impacts of climate change)' – North-West Europe, European Territorial Cooperation
• 'Green Corridors Contracts' - Rhône-Alpes, FR
• 'GRaBS: Green and blue space adaptation for urban areas and eco-towns' - INTERREG IVC, European Territorial Cooperation

Category 3: Inclusive growth – addressing demographic change and active ageing

• 'I-Cane' - Province of Limburg, NL
• 'Project for Early Support of Elderly People in their Daily Lives (VAMU)' - Northern Savo, FI
• 'O4O : Older people for older people' - European Territorial Cooperation
• 'Seniors in Motion' - Northern Portugal, PT

Category 4: Citystar: - Integrated development of deprived urban areas

•  'SÖM  South East Malmö' – Malmö, SE
• 'Baum – Bratislava Urban Regional Cooperation' - Nordburgenland, Wiener Umland-Nord, Wiener Umland-Süd, VUC Bratislava, SK-AT
• 'Open LAB Ebbinge (OLE)' – Groningen, NL
• 'Rediscovering Vila do Conde' - Vila do Conde, PT

Category 5: Information and Communication: presenting project data

• 'www.estlat.eu' - Estonia – Latvia,  EE-LV
• 'www.europaomdehoek.nl' - The Netherlands, NL
• 'http://www.podlaskiedotacje.pl' – Podlaskie, PL
• 'www.nfu.gov.hu' – Hungary, HU

RegioStars 2012: hearing with finalists on flickr

RegioStars 2012 Winners

Johannes Hahn, European Commissioner for Regional Policy, and President of the RegioStars Jury, Luc van den Brande, former President of the Committee of the Regions, have announced the winners of the RegioStars 2012 Awards. The 5th annual edition of the Awards for Europe's most innovative and inspiring projects supported by European Regional Policy attracted a record 107 application, but 5 deserving projects take home the prestigious trophies. Styria in Austria, Malmö in Sweden, Podlaskie in Poland and two European Territorial Cooperation projects, bringing together partners from 9 different Member States, are the clear winners taking centre stage in Europe. 

RegioStars Awards 2012 presentation of the finalists

Press Release

Category 1: Smart Growth - service innovation

RegioStars Awards 2012: Eco World Styria
The ECO WORLD STYRIA project has set out to increase the concentration of successful clean technology (cleantech) companies in the Austrian region of Styria (Steiermark) and ensure that this cluster becomes a top location worldwide for cleantech innovators.

VIDEOS: RegioStars Awards 2012: Eco World Styria and Portrait

Category 2: Sustainable Growth – eco-system services

RegioStars Awards 2012: 'Green and Blue Space Adaptation for Urban Areas and Eco-towns' (GRaBS)
The GRaBS project is enabling urban designers, architects and planners across Europe to create or remodel outdoor spaces and buildings to ensure they are resilient to climate change and extreme weather.

VIDEOS: RegioStars Awards 2012: 'Green and Blue Space Adaptation for Urban Areas and Eco-towns' (GRaBS) and Portrait

Category 3: Inclusive growth – addressing demographic change and active ageing

RegioStars Awards 2012: 'Older people for Older people' (O4O)
The proportion of older people in the European population continues to increase and the O4O project has been examining ways of helping communities provide the required services by mobilising older people to help other elderly people.

VIDEOS: RegioStars Awards 2012: 'Older people for Older people' (O4O) and Portrait

Category 4: Citystar: - Integrated development of deprived urban areas

RegioStars Awards 2012: SÖM South East Malmö
The SÖM ‘South East Malmö’ project is creating a socially, environmentally and financially sustainable environment in a number of depressed city districts of Malmö

VIDEOS: RegioStars Awards 2012: SÖM South East Malmö and Portrait

Category 5: Information and Communication: presenting project data

RegioStars Awards 2012: Podlaskie Voivodeship website (Direct link) 

VIDEO: RegioStars Awards 2012: Narrated tour of the Podlaskie Voivodeship website