OECD EURADA Winter School for Regional Development Agencies

The initiative was divided into two parts: an online segment with two online workshops and an in-person capacity building meeting at 2024 Winter School for Regional Development Agencies. 

Participants learned about foresight, its application and methods. They also gained a better understanding of how to imagine multiple future scenarios, taking into account different variables, trends and uncertainties that may affect their regions. A significant amount of time was devoted to foresight exercises on the topic of ‘Futures of Regional Development Agencies in 2050’, which allowed participants to try out specific framing, scanning and visioning techniques.

Smart Specialisation strategies if well designed, implemented and monitored, can help build resilience at local level, address societal challenges and contribute to the achievement of sustainability goals. The three main themes of the Winter School were the following:

• DAY 1. Innovation ecosystem in Trentino: entrepreneurship, start-ups and SME scaling ups.
• DAY 2. Smart Specialisation in practice: sharing experience on implementation of S3 strategies and discussion on challenge-led innovation, green transition, resilience and skills.
• DAY 3. Instruments and policies to boost local competitiveness: examples of teleworking in Trentino and skills for green and sustainable local economy.

The Winter School combined presentations with hands-on and practice oriented approach, which helped participants to comprehend better the challenges and opportunities for local development. Substantial time during each day was reserved for field visits, case pitches and peer-learning to promote exchange of practices. The Winter School included interactive presentation sessions, discussions, group exercises and field visits in Trentino, Italy (onsite). The Winter School allowed participants to get a better understanding of local development challenges, meet and learn from their peers, as well as network and establish new working relationships.

This paper presents a simple roadmap for regional S3 internationalisation and the results of an in-depth case study on the opportunities for and barriers to S3 internationalisation in Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG), a region in the North East of Italy. The paper develops recommendations on how to make the most of the Research, Technology, Development and Innovation endowments in FVG through enhancing the innovation-internationalisation nexus in order to improve competitiveness of the region.

The OECD Trento Centre for Local Development and the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia in Italy, developed a project on local development and internationalisation of the innovation system in Friuli Venezia Giulia. The project devotes specific attention to the regional S3 and its future evolution, in view of the 2021-2027 EU programming cycle.

This international webinar focused on the opportunities and challenges posed by S3 internationalisation. Building on the Friuli Venezia Giulia case study, the webinar offered an opportunity to compare national, regional and international methodologies, practices and experiences.