Skills for Smart Specialisation: Foresight action in Kharkiv region

Regional Development has been one of the main European Union policies to support growth, competitiveness and cohesion of the different territorial units i the EU. the ERDF is one of the strongest and successful tools to support the policy and achieve results and impact.

•    Since 2011, the European Commission has called on national and regional authorities to develop smart specialisation strategies which help regions to anticipate, plan and implement their process of economic modernisation.

•    Today the smart specialisation approach is recognised as a strategic approach to increasing evidence-based public investment in order to foster growth and competitiveness at the regional level and improve citizens’ well-being.

•    Since 2013, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission has, under the EU Neighbourhood and Enlargement Policy, been providing guidance and assistance to countries beyond EU member states on the development of smart specialisation strategies. It is in this context that the EC has been supporting methodological reflections around developing smart specialisation strategies in Ukraine.

•    VET and skills development have been recognised as framework conditions for innovation ecosystems.

•    VET and skills are already partially reflected in the tools and methodologies that guide the design of smart specialisation strategies in the ETF partner countries.

•    To fully connect VET to the broader drive for innovation, growth and competitiveness, in 2019 the ETF started to develop and test a practical guide for analysing the skills implications of smart specialisation strategies.

•    The first tests were implemented at national level in Montenegro (renewable energy and health tourism) and Moldova (renewable energy and food processing).

•    In 2020, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, the methodology was tested at regional level in two pilot regions in Ukraine, Rivne (woodworking and furniture manufacturing) and Kharkiv (high-value added manufacturing).

•    The baseline for the analysis was the mapping the economic, innovation and scientific potential in the Rivne Region, based on the Smart Specialisation approach, included in Rivne Regional Development Strategy.

•    As a result of the testing, in 2021, the ETF is introducing two new elements to the methodology which will be applied in Rivne and Kharkiv regions: a foresight action and a peer learning partnership.

•    A meeting on 17-18 March kicks start the foresight which has two objectives:

‒    The first objective: provide support to policymakers, VET schools and centres, and businesses to anticipate change, prepare responses, and create more robust strategies to address skills needs in value added manufacturing.

‒    The second objective: lay the ground for peer learning with EU regions with matching smart specialisation priorities.