The 3rd Local Stakeholder Group meeting in Thessaloniki took place on Wednesday, 27th June 2018. Organized by the Regional Development Fund of Central Macedonia, the Region of Central Macedonia and the Development Agency of Eastern Thessaloniki’s Local Authorities “ANATOLIKI SA”, the meeting was a useful opportunity to discuss on the current progress of local actions and the upcoming project activities.
The Local Stakeholder Meeting was opened with a presentation by Mr. Ioannis Spandos, Regional Development Fund of Central Macedonia, and Mrs. Vasiliki Papadopoulou, ANATOLIKI SA. The presentation familiarized all participants with three examples of innovative projects from the RUMORE partner regions, namely:
- Technology Transfer Center Elbe Weser, a network for demand oriented innovation and technology transfer advice for SMEs in the rural areas of Lüneburg Region, Germany;
- OpenAgri, an Urban Innovative Actions project promoting new skills for new jobs in peri-urban agriculture in Milan (Italy);
- Open Innovation Platform of Lombardy Region (Italy), an online set of tools and methodologies bringing governments, industry, academia and civil society to work together and create innovation ecosystems along the strategic RIS3 topics.
The presentation was followed by a discussion with the members of the Local Stakeholder Group on the characteristics of the three good practices and how these ideas could spark innovative solutions and be transformed into tangible actions and lasting results.
The meeting continued with a presentation by Mr. Konstantinos Michailidis, Head of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Support Unit of the Region of Central Macedonia, who pictured the current entrepreneurial support actions followed by the Region. Building on this, Mr. Spyros Skotidas, General Manager of the KEPA-ANEM, introduced the open calls of the Regional Operational Programme, priority “Competitiveness, entrepreneurship and innovation”. Lastly, Mr. Vasilis Papavassiliou, General Manager of the Development Agency of the Prefecture of Thessaloniki, advised all participants about the local Programmes CLLD / LEADER.
After the presentations, the members of the Local Stakeholder Group discussed about the next steps towards the development of an Action Plan for improvement of the Regional Operational Programme. The stakeholders agreed to continue their collaboration in the framework of the “One Stop Shop Liaison Office” and to develop further actions, which support innovation chains and promote rural-urban partnerships in the Region of Central Macedonia.
