Local Skills Matter: Entrepreneurial Communities and Smart Territories – Conference Summary

Local Skills Matter: Entrepreneurial Communities and Smart Territories – Conference Summary

A high-level policy-learning workshop discussed the lessons learned from the Entrepreneurial Communities initiative and their utilisation for developing of smart territories.

Short description:

This workshop event was organised by the ETF and hosted by the European Committee of the Regions. It brought together specialists from ETF partner countries, EU member states and international organisations with policy experts from the ETF, the Economic and Social Committee, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission, and the Knowledge for Growth Unit of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. The goal of the meeting was to explore how the subject of skills could act as a bridge between the actors involved in the partnerships of the ETF Entrepreneurial Communities initiative and those involved in the execution of growth strategies based on the Smart Territories approach. A range of issues were explored based on the observation that ‘… skills are achieved and used at local level, not in policy and strategy papers. Without implementation on the ground, nothing can happen … the key to implementation is partnership’.

Facilitated by experts from the ETF, the meeting presented the results of 10 case studies and broke out into smaller sessions dealing with:

• participatory governance;

• integrated territorial development;

• innovation and competitiveness.

The break-out sessions confirmed the close links between skills and innovation, the importance of multilevel governance and the need for dialogue and collaboration across the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the system. They validated the basic principle of good governance and underlined the fact that systemic solutions for systemic problems require dialogue, as only one side cannot put systemic approaches in place.

Ultimately, the meeting served as encouragement for those involved in top-down approaches to regional and local development, based on the Smart Territories approach, to see grassroots initiatives such as ‘Entrepreneurial Communities’ as part of a wider context, and to seek ways to include them in an integrated growth strategy.

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