The S3 Forum – the first EU-level, in-person gathering on S3 since 2020 – took place on 28-29 November in Barcelona. ERRIN Secretariat joined the event alongside many network members and hundreds of S3 practitioners and experts from across Europe.

The bottom-up region-centric event was organised by the European Commission with the support of Generalitat Catalunya and the Secretariat of the S3 Community of Practice (S3CoP) where ERRIN is one of the partners.

The Forum opened on 28 November with a panel on #SmartSpecialisation in a changing world, followed by the presentation of the latest developments in the S3CoP including the launch of S3 Observatory, networking and breakout sessions dedicated to discussing S3 implementation, exchanging insights and best practices with voices from ERRIN Working Group leaders: Rasmus Bergander from Central Sweden European Office (S3 WG), Eva Damm from Representation of the Free State of Saxony to the European Union (Policy WG), and Wim de Kinderen from Brainport Eindhoven EU Office (Innovation & Investment WG and ICT WG). Many other members also took the floor in various sessions of the event.

ERRIN Director Pirita Lindholm spoke in a panel “From Local Strengths to Interregional Cooperation”, drawing attention to opportunities & challenges in interregional cooperation across the landscape of ecosystem collaboration initiatives beyond Thematic S3 Partnerships such as Partnerships for Regional Innovation (PRI), Interregional Innovation Investments (I3) Instrument, Regional Innovation Valleys, referring as well to EU Missions and emphasising the need to tackle innovation divide. Pirita also shared perspectives for S3 and recommendations for future cohesion policy, calling for strengthening the link to place-based innovation, and emphasising the importance of trust for effective collaboration and policy implementation at the regional and local levels.

On 29 November, we also followed the meetings of the S3 Thematic Platforms Steering Committee and S3CoP Working Group on Interregional Collaboration.

It was great to see and dive into face-to-face S3 discussions with so many familiar faces! We look forward to continuing the debate.