Celebrating five years of Friends of Smart Specialisation (FoSS)
Smart specialisation (S3) has been a key driving policy concept of European regional policy since 2014, but as new challenges appear, it needs to evolve to a broader policy framework able to promote place-based innovation and a range of initiatives to advance a wider overall transformation in the EU (within a region and between regions). Friends of Smart Specialisation (FoSS) is – an informal expert group established in 2018 who have consistently argued that smart specialisation needs to be mainstreamed as a multi-level methodology to include a place-based approach to
improve the implementation of the wide range of EU transformation policies. This role requires a wider understanding of the role of S3, going beyond its traditional function within EU Cohesion policy, and evolving into a framework for ‘place-based transformative innovation’ across diverse policy domains and levels.
Recently FoSS celebrated it’s fifth anniversary with a workshop held in Brussels. You can read some of the outcomes of that workshop here:
Next Generation S3 FoSS 5 year celebration discussion note FINAL140524
RT 130524 FoSS Five year celebration event final agenda 15 May 2024