TRANSFORMING TERRITORIES NEWSLETTER

On April 09, JRC.B Fair and Sustainable Economy director Mikel Landabaso hosted the JRC first ever TV show to present our recently published “ACTIONBook. Innovation for place-based transformation”. During the show, we could see examples of innovative territories (Espoo, Finland, Medimurje, Croatia, and Tuscany, Italy) that undertook initiatives to adapt towards sustainability. We counted with the presence of the President of the Committee of the Regions, Commissioners Iliana Ivanova and Elisa Ferrerira, MEPs Lina Gálvez and Ivars Ijab. Next step in our journey is the launch of the EU preparatory action around place-based transformative innovation, that will allow us to involve more territories and test the proposal of the ACTIONBook.

The European Commission published a report on the progress made on the long-term vision for EU rural areas. At the JRC, we are making significant contributions towards the EU effort for stronger, connected, resilient and prosperous rural communities, with activities including the Rural Observatory, the Rural toolkit, the European Startup Village Forum, as well as recent publications on renewable energy production and potential and the definition of Functional Rural Areas.

The Self-Assessment Tool for Territorial and Local Development strategies (SAT4TER) helps local and managing authorities to pinpoint the strengths of their integrated territorial development strategies and identify opportunities for improvement. The tool will be launched online on 23 April, with a live demo and practical insights on the tool.

The second meeting of the Working Group on "System Dynamics for System Innovation" will take place on May 06. The aim of the second meeting is to present and discuss an early version of the POLYTRoPOS System Dynamics model by the JRC, applied to the case of renewable energy in the EU27 and to the twin challenge of effective deployment and production capability development through innovation. Working Group meetings are open to all interested experts and policy practitioners. To be invited please send an email expressing interest to JRC B7 SECRETARIAT.

The JRC and DG REGIO are holding a two-day workshop aimed at local authorities responsible for designing and implementing development strategies in non-urban areas under the EU Cohesion Policy 2021-2027. If you wish to receive tailored support to improve your territorial strategy from peer and experts, apply now! The call is open until 2 May.

This report evaluates the readiness of 14 Sub-Saharan African countries for Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) driven Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) roadmaps. It highlights socio-economic and sustainability challenges, the need for urgent STI interventions, and uneven SDG progress. The report concludes with an analysis of STI networks and a country-by-country breakdown, laying the groundwork for future, localized STI for SDGs strategies.

This report contributes to the development of Mauritius' STI for SDGs roadmap by examining the structure and conditions of its entrepreneurial innovation-driven economic ecosystem. It employs participatory methods to assess institutions and capacities for innovation and entrepreneurship, and aims to assist stakeholders in enhancing the ecosystem and advancing sustainable development.