News archive - Call for S3 stakeholders to get engaged: Join Working Groups / Community of Practice Pool of Experts
There are currently two calls for Expression of Interest open - to join the S3 CoP working groups and the S3 CoP pool of experts. The application form will be open continuously via an online application form on the S3 Community of Practice, and you can apply at any time.
The S3 CoP will run working groups on three of fulfilment criteria for the enabling condition “Good governance of national or regional smart specialisation strategy" in relation to innovation diffusion, industrial transition and interregional collaboration. The WGs aim e.g. to collect and document existing knowledge and good practices in different European regions on the fulfilment of the S3 enabling condition; to identify common needs, problems, and challenges; to co-develop with the regions potential solutions (new approaches, policies, instruments, and coordination mechanisms) and to support and monitor the deployment of solutions and adapt them to regional specificities.
The WGs will follow a bottom-up, iterative and peer-learning approach to facilitate exchanges of experience among regional stakeholders. Each WG will have a kick-off meeting that will take place virtually (May 2023). There will be two meetings a year for each WG (i.e. a total of 6 meetings for the duration of the project).
Overall, colleagues from the Western Balkans are welcome to apply for the ongoing EOIs. However, the CoP Secretariat points out that at this stage of the project, S3 CoP activities will be focused on EU Member States.
Background
The European Commission supports regions and Member States to comply with the fulfilment criteria and successfully implement their Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) through the newly launched S3 Community of Practice (S3 CoP).
S3 CoP is the Commission’s one-stop shop for Smart Specialisation and provides advice and technical assistance to all S3 stakeholders. It offers a platform for knowledge exchange that facilitates interregional collaboration. By building on the extensive expertise and practical experience gained from more than 10 years of developing Smart Specialisation Strategies, the S3 Community of Practice seeks to provide a fresh approach to support S3 practitioners across the EU.
Expression of interest to join the S3 CoP pool of experts
Who is invited?
The target participants of the WGs are regional (and where appropriate national) policy makers and other relevant stakeholders in the implementation of the enabling condition. Each WG will consist of between 10 and 15 participants (of which, one will act as chair and one as rapporteur) with expertise on the enabling condition under discussion and practical experience on the design and/or implementation of S3 policies.
The WG members will participate on a pro-bono basis in the working groups, except for the chair and rapporteur.
The Chair will play a key role by steering the WG, chairing the project meetings and providing input for the preparation of the yearly policy brief (as written by the rapporteur). The Rapporteur will actively support the Chair in the steering of the project and l coordinate the drafting of the yearly policy brief,
The WG members are expected to actively participate to the WG meetings (two meetings a year, a total of six between May 2023 and July 2025), provide feedback to the yearly policy brief prepared by the rapporteur and share good practices and initiatives.
The WG members will be pre-selected from those who expressed their interest in the afore-mentioned survey, taking into account the requirements of each WG (i.e. innovation diffusion, industrial transition, interregional collaboration) and will be proposed to the European Commission for the final selection.The experts will be contacted after the final selection (April 2023) to confirm their availability and interest in taking part of the WG with a specific role (i.e. chair, rapporteur, WG member).
The WGs will kick-off in May 2023.
Expression of interest to join the S3 CoP pool of experts
What activities are organised?
The type of assignment depends on the needs. Indicative examples of potential assignments supporting regions to meet the fulfilment criteria are:
- Support to Entrepreneurial Discovery Process through the definition of a methodology and governance for continuous EDP, addressing the fulfilment criteria;
- In-depth participatory analysis of a specific policy instrument (i.e. innovation voucher, industrial PhDs, etc.);
- Support for the development of synergies with national instruments in a specific priority area;
- Support for the integration of clusters in Smart Specialisation.
- Provide thematic expertise to S3 Thematic Platforms
Who is invited?
The EC invites experts with relevant experience in areas related to the design and implementation of Smart Specialisation Strategies and S3 Thematic Platforms:
- Expertise in the enabling conditions and S3 implementation
- Thematic expertise in Agri-food; Energy; Bio-economy; Health and well-being; Tourism and Creative industries; Industrial modernisation in various manufacturing industries like Energy-intensive industries textile, construction; Industry 4.0; Digital economy; Circular economy and resource efficiency; Blue economy; Space and navigation; Proximity economy;
- Methodological and analytical expertise concerning the above topics
How to express your interest?
For access to the EU Survey link to express your interest and more information on how the experts will be selected etc, please refer to the source page of this news at https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/policy/communities-and-networks/s3-community-of-practice/expression_join_working_groups_en
- European Union (EU 27)
- General/no specific focus
- Western Balkans
- General
Entry created by Elke Dall on April 6, 2023
Modified on April 11, 2023
