innovation birmingham firenze
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
The influence of transnational projects on a Draft Funding Strategy under the new English EU funding system - 2014-2020
Mainstreaming Lessons Learnt
Patrick WillcocksIndependent Consultant
EU Funds in England
My talk to day will be about
• The new approach to delivering EU funds in England for 2014-2020
• The learning lessons we have taken from the Cross Innovation project plus others (inc District Plus)
• Steve’s and my role in developing the EU funding strategy for Greater Birmingham
EU Funds in England• New Government in 2010• We have gone from 9 Regional Development
Agencies (RDAs) in England to• 39 Local Enterprise Partnership• RDA’s were business influenced but were part of
Government and had a wider partnership• LEPs are lead by Business with Local Authority
and University involvement• Distrust of regionalism – favour a bottom up
approach
EU Funds in England• UK Government propose – 1 English national
ERDF (FEDER) programme and 1 ESF (FSE) programme
• Propose devolution down to the 39 LEPs but not final decision making
• 95% of funds passed down to LEPs• UK Government doesn’t like the concept on
Integrated Territorial Investments so doesn’t want full devolution
EU Funds in England
EU Funds in England• West Midlands 2007-2014 – ERDF programme• Now there are 6 LEPs in the West Midlands• We have written the Draft Plan for Greater Birmingham and Solihull www.urbanpivot.com
• €255m ERDF and ESF • Part Transition area and Part More Developed
EU Funds in Greater Birmingham6 priorities• Innovation• SME Competitiveness• Low Carbon Communities• Unemployment• Social Inclusion/Poverty• Skills/Life Long Learning
• Drafted by a team of thematic experts
Cross Innovation - the Project• Lead by Birmingham City University• Interreg IVC project • Role of the digital, and creative sectors in driving
innovation• 11 cities...Stockholm, Birmingham, Amsterdam and Berlin
......... • Looked at it through four windows;
• Spaces• Finance• Culture• Brokerage
My role - linking in
• Contracted to write the Local Implementation Plan
• All 11 cities need to do one• Put into the project as a way of trying to
ensure policy and project transfer • Supported by Local Implementation Groups• Responding to the need to ensure relevance
and tie in of transnational projects to local actions
Local Implementation Plan (LIP)
•Workshop to test ideas in June 2013
• Draft produced July 2013
• Contents •What is best practice from the partner cities drawn from across
Europe
•What are the gaps in Birmingham in cross innovation policy and ....implementation
•What are the opportunities to influence programmes and policies to .....support further cross innovation
Reflections on the Role of the LIPs
• Birmingham's one is seeking to influence policy makers – as BCU doesn’t deliver.
• Others such as Berlin's undertaken by the Berlin Senate assume they have the power and resource and look at what they need to do.
• Interestingly so far ours is the only one that is explicitly trying to influence the new EU funding programmes.
Birmingham's LIPFindings• There is no overall Innovation Strategy and so without
that a focus on cross innovation will not necessarily succeed.
• Due to closure of the Regional Development Agency and Birmingham City Council not addressed it before.
• Issue of coherence and leadership• Found that there were many good ideas but not co-
ordinated • Suggested a number of particular project ideas to
pursue ...but the role of serendipity
The Big Opportunity• BCU was successful in winning a tender to write
the European Funding Strategy for the Greater Birmingham Local Enterprise Partnership
• Therefore included some of the ideas coming out of the project into the first draft.
• There were other projects and programmes that influenced our work –
• Making Knowledge Work Interreg IVC• District Plus (through Henriette’s work)• Climate Knowledge Innovation Community (KIC)
Some of the Ideas• The role of the creative industries in stimulating
innovation across the economy• Collaborative Innovation – getting out of silos• The widening of the definition of knowledge
transfer partnerships• Similarly wider Innovation vouchers• Challenge based approaches to innovation• Pioneers in to Practice the role of mentoring• Co-working and an eco system approach to
innovation
Where we are at now• The LEP was starting to address the innovation
gap • With our recommendations we have got them to
commit to producing an over arching strategic innovation framework
• Based on an Smart Specialisation approach• Need to combine this with the eco system
approach• So our strategy directly influenced by Cross
Innovation project......plus others
How come this has worked (so far)• The drafting group had real experience of both
transnational projects and local delivery• Henriette Lyttle Breukellaar – ex RDA and District
Plus• Steve Harding Ex Birmingham City Council (BCC)
Economic Devt and ECCE/Cross Innovation transnational projects
• Jon Bloomfield – Ex BCC and ex RDA plus Climate KIC
• Patrick Willcocks – Ex BCC / numerous transnational projects/ ERDF and ESF locally
How come this has worked (so far)• Previous RDA led regional programme – highly
competent but not open to ideas outside of UK• So perhaps the more localised EU funding has helped
the transfer of ideas• In consultations broad support for the activities • Challenges – – to ensure through Smart Specialisation work that the open
approach to innovation is maintained– And to ensure projects come forward with the ideas
contained within the draft Strategy.• In Cross Innovate – want to do ‘peer review’ of LIPs to
see if we can push them further
Thank you
ANY QUESTIONSPatrick Willcocks
@globalbirminghm