Smart Blue Regions

RIS3 are a new policy instrument with the aims of making innovation a priority for all regions, improving the innovation process, promoting better governance and getting stakeholders more closely involved, and finally focusing investment and creating synergies. Countries and regions that want to invest EU Structural Funds into research and innovation (R&I) in the new programming period 2014-2020 are bound by their RIS3. With a focus on economic development efforts and investments in a region’s relative strengths, the “Smart Blue Regions” have made Blue Growth a priority in their RIS3. 

The aim of this project is to solve this lack and develop targeted support measures in 6 Baltic Regions of Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Poland and Sweden. The project focuses on the blue value chain of energy, machinery & technology and life science & blue medicine.It has ensured the involvement of various stakeholders from the research and business sectors.

Smart Blue Regions worked on increasing the operational capacity of the 6 Baltic „Smart Blue Regions“ to implement Blue Growth RIS3, helping the 6 Regions optimise their own set of Blue Growth specific RIS3 implementation measures by integrating good practice cases from other regions and improving the understanding of macro-regional synergies and transnational cooperation.