On July 25th 2019, two more BRIDGES project action plans have been approved by the Interreg Europe programme.These are the action plans of Goriška, Western Slovenia, Slovenia (contributing partner is Šoca Valley Development Centre, PP6) and Lubelskie, Poland (contributing partner is Lubelskie Voivodeship, PP3).
Summary of the action plans of PP3 and PP6 PP3 improves the governance of the Structural Funds by improving the uptake of the Lubelskie ROP funding by SMEs and expanding to benefits from national resources. PP6 introduces new types of projects that required adjustement of the strategic focus of the Community Led Local Development Instrument (CLLD). In the 2014-2020 programming period, the LEADER method has been extended under the broader term Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) to three additional EU Funds: the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF); the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF); and the European Social Fund (ESF). https://enrd.ec.europa.eu/leader-clld_en.
The focus is on the sustainable development and commercialisation of the aquaculture sector.
The enabling precondition for the implementation of both action plans was the adjustment (governance improvement (PP3) and change of strategic focus (PP6)) of the policy instrument (2014-2020 Structural Funds). One important impact shared by both action plans, is systemic impact resulting from the activation of knowledge-intensive actors of the regional innovation systems. Finally, the PP6 action plan demonstrates, how the concept of an advanced research agenda -defined beyond the region, can match to ”serve” a localised industrial agenda through a regionalised Centre of Competence.
PP3 (Lubelskie, PL)
In Lubelskie, four areas of smart specialisation have been identified: (1) bio-based economy, (2) medicine and health, (3) information technology and automation, and (4) low- carbon emission energy production.
The Lubelskie action plan consists of one unique action structured into four Activities dealing with improvement of the governance of the policy instrument; readiness of SMEs for photonics applications; readiness and applications of SMEs to apply to the Lubelskie ROP and to national funds; and evaluation.
PP3 invested considerably in the good practice transfer and the feasibility study. The good practice transfer focuses on an extended application of the BRIDGES good practice AUTODIAGNOSTIC TOOL FOR AGRO-SMEs (it can be accessed at: https://www.interregeurope.eu/policylearning/good-practices/item/157/autodiagnostic-tool-for-agro-smes/ ), a method helping businesses assess their innovation potential. The feasibilty study applied the extended AUTODIAGNIOSTIC TOOL to SMEs active in bio-based industries. Lubelskie Research and Technology Transfer Organisations (RTTOs) attached to Lubelskie universities were important to gather businesses and facilitate the whole process.
The policy instrument was adjusted to (i) increase the maximum ERDF per project in Measure 1.5 Innovation Vouchers from 100 000 PLN (approximately 23 520€) to 300 000 PLN (approximately 70 563€) (29 January 2019); (ii) the project duration was raised from 6 to 12 months; and (iii) for Measure 1.2 Targeted Research an additional call will be organised in November 2019.
PP6 (Goriška, SI)
The overall objective of the action plan is ensuring both good state of the ecosystems and development of new products.
The sector of aquaculture, identified within the Innovation map of the Goriška region as one with a very high potential, did not fit in the national RIS3 mechanism. PP6 cooperated with the MA at national level and the local CLLD, to “open up” the latter to project options inclusive of centres of competence, based on place-based approaches. The adjustment was officially confirmed on 23.4.2018 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development of Slovenia.
PP6 invested in an extensive good practice analysis & transfer and a detailed feasibility study. From the Kantola good practice https://www.interregeurope.eu/bridges/news/news-article/3270/site-visit-to-kantola/, the regionalised stakeholder platform and the master plan are transferred and adapted to address sustainable and competitive development of aquaculture. This process positioned the concept of an industry-led Centre of Competence as an objective and a tool for place-based development.
Funds dedicated for the implementation of the two action plans is as follows:
- PP3 (Lubelskie, PL): available Structural Funds approximately 70 563€ per processed case.
- PP6 (Goriska, SI): Structural funds: 145 000€; own funds: 85 000€, total 230 000€.
Contacts for more information:
- PP3 (Lubelskie, PL): Agata Kossakowska, [email protected], +48814416545; Dorota Skwarek, [email protected], +48814416545.
- PP6 (Goriška, SI): Miro Cristan, +386 41 567518, [email protected].
The approved action plans:
