Partnerships for Regional Innovation (PRI) aspires to become a strategic framework for innovation-driven territorial transformation, linking EU priorities with national plans and place-based opportunities and challenges. In its current form, the PRI Playbook presents an initial approach to the construction of this framework developed by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, supported by a scientific committee of renowned experts, and is to be further co-created, adapted and tested in a pilot phase with several EU territories. The PRI Playbook is published together with the “Concepts and Rationales for the PRI Playbook”. This document includes the analytical background and the aims of the PRI initiative, by drawing on key academic and grey literatures, as well as the expertise of the scientific committee of PRI. Finally, the Executive summary provides a concise overview of the Playbook main concepts and approaches to co-creating Partnerships for Regional Innovation.