Local and regional authorities have long recognised smart specialisation as a useful tool for place-based bottom-up strategic planning and cooperation, helping improve the effectiveness of European Structural and Investment Funds. In one decade, my own region of Central Macedonia in Greece has benefitted significantly, increasing our Research and Innovation funding threefold. As we plan how our social and economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, smart specialisation must be expanded, increasing the innovation capacity of Europe's regions to drive green sustainable growth.

Regional smart specialisation strategies must be renewed during the next programming period (2021-2027) and become a cornerstone of key EU policies, contributing to Europe's economic and social development after COVID-19 and accelerating the implementation of the EU's Green Deal and Digital Strategy. We need to fine-tune our working methods by bringing together all levels – from local to EU – to improve its implementation, and give the Smart Specialisation Platform (S3 Platform) the resources and tasks it deserves. Furthermore, it needs to involve a wider number of partners beyond those already familiar with S3 practices. A new inclusive governance structure for the S3 Platform should be developed, involving members of the European Committee of the Regions and the European Parliament, and representatives of the Council Working Group on Research and Innovation.

It is vital to consider a number of practical often overlooked aspects that are important to local and regional authorities, such as stepping up horizontal cooperation and mutual assistance between regions with similar profiles within the S3 Platform. This process should be backed with specific initiatives and dedicated funding. We also need better monitoring of the RIS3s after they are adopted by regional and city governments, by sharing their results with national and European authorities so concrete measures can be designed. Moreover, we should involve a greater number of regions, beyond the 120 NUTS2 regions currently registered on the S3 Platform, and establish a link between Regional Innovation Scoreboard data and rankings of regional output, recorded on the S3 Platform.

Finally, I support the European Commission's approach to link the future of smart specialisation to sustainability and the implementation of the EU Green Deal. This should not, however, be made a conditionality for disbursing ESIF funds nor increase administrative burden on local authorities. Future smart specialisation activities must remain flexible and assist local and regional authorities. For instance, there are other S3 focus areas linked to resilience (i.e. climate change, virus pandemic or migration influx) and foresight (to establish future scenarios for our regions) that might be equally useful under Smart Specialisation 2.0.