The BRIDGES project publication tells the story of an Interreg Europe project, from the perspective of knowledge-based economy (Evolutionary School of Economic Geography), policy (RIS3, The 1st Programme of Centres of Expertise in Finland (1st OSKE programme) and regional contexts (MAs & IBs) that made the project possible in the first place and provided the required depth for delivering results.
The BRIDGES project added value is in the
1. Concrete, tangible outputs: new products have resulted from research-business partnerships. We feel that concrete results, results that regions can experience directly are very important for introducing good practices and new solutions. In the BRIDGES project, we were committed in diffusing project solutions from policy to what we called 'the ground level'.
2. Enabling outputs: policy improvements integrating the lessons learnt through the project and mainstreaming the relevant, successful aspects of the research-to-business partnerships. The BRIDGES project would not have been able to implement them without the policy instrument adjustments that partner regions made.
3. Conceptual contributions: solutions implementing research-to-business objectives and tools for win-win cooperation schemes between advanced and less advanced regions. It advances the argument that such co-operations can contribute to advanced regions’ RIS3 economies of scale through growth and diversi!cation; while they can contribute to less advanced regions’ RIS3 economies of scope, through specialisation and growth. In this process, innovation infrastructures such as industry-led centres of competence (CCs) and research & technology transfer organisations (RTOs) are essential for their specialised knowledge #ows and methodological know how. Thus, it contributes to concretising operational and tactical aspects of the regions’ RIS3.
The main findings of the BRIDGES project, to take with us, as the core learning results, are summarised in two slides, are available here.
The BRIDGES project publication is now available in hard copy. If there is interest to have a copy, please contact here.
