Smart specialisation has been the dominant concept underpinning the EUs regional innovation policy in recent years. In the last programming period of European structural funding, having a smart specialisation strategy was an ex-ante condition for ERDF funding. In the next EU programming period, wealthier regions in the EU must reckon with a significant reduction of ERDF funding for their economic development strategies. Regrettable as it may seem, this also opens a window to reconsider their strategic orientation and priorities, and explore new avenues. In this report, we analyse what this “next stage of smart specialisation” could mean for the Ruhr area. The study served as an input for a conference in the Ruhr area about the topic of smart specialisation.
Read the full report here: Report Ruhr
