Going Beyond Smart Specialisation ‒ Some New Insights for Regional Innovation Policies

Abstract

Regions are attributed an important role in innovation policy and since at least the launch of the current Structural Funds period, European regions face the challenge to conceive Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3). Departing from this new innovation policy paradigm and the policy role, this paper addresses specific challenges for regional innovation policy making, aiming at delivering indications for supporting those policy processes. It addresses questions like: How can innovation policy on the regional level define its position in the new strategy-building context? Which factors may be decisive to contribute to efficient policy-making? How can policy making be supported by new concepts and approaches in innovation research? We can speak here of novel approaches in innovation policy and adapt findings from innovation research, especially when it comes to the issue of creativity. Following Sternberg, creative achievements need to fulfil the requirements of novelty and relevance to be successfully implemented.2 Héraud/Muller add a further aspect: willingness, understood as “willingness to change the world”, in our context as capacity and motivation to enforce participative processes, to take risks for selecting and standing for (defending) selected specialisations, but also of observing and assessing their development and deciding about their development.3 I.