ARC Fund, together with the Regional Administration of Sofia city , the Center for the Study of Democracy and the Association of the South West municipalities , organized a Regional Conference on the role of the Regional Innovation Strategy (RIS) initiatives for building regional capacity to work with the financial instruments of the European Cohesion and Structural Funds. The event took place in Triaditsa Hall of Grand Hotel Sofia on May 29, 2007.
The conference aimed at the following main objectives: (i) to present the analysis of the innovation demand, supply and functioning of the regional innovation system of the South West planning region elaborated within the RIS BRIDGE initiative , (ii) to announce the financial opportunities for the regional stakeholders envisaged within the Structural Funds and the Operational Programmes “Competitiveness”, “Regional development” and “Human Resource Development” , (iii) to demonstrate the capacity of the South West municipalities to work with the respective financial instruments, and (iv) to present an example of a bank’s financial policy designed for supporting project proposals within the Structural Funds. The conference additionally sought to continue the dialogue and networking among the stakeholders in the country’s national and regional innovation systems.
The event’s agenda featured talks and presentations by representatives of the Regional Administration of Sofia city, Ministry of Economy and Energy , Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works , Ministry of Labour and Social Policy , Association of the South West Municipalities , TOKUDA Bank and RIS BRIDGE team.
The RIS BRIDGE initiative for development of a Regional Innovation Strategy of the South West Region of Bulgaria is supported by the DG “Enterprises” of the European Commission and is being implemented over the period June 2005 – January 2008 by a Consortium of five partners as follows: ARC Fund (Coordinator), Bulgaria; Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) Bulgaria, ; URENIO research unit , Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece; Coventry University Enterprises Ltd., West-Midlands, UK; and Steinbeis– Europa – Zentrum (SEZ), Germany. Its objective is to enhance the economic growth potential of the South-West planning region of Bulgaria by creating innovation-driven sustainable competitive advantages, and thus transforming the region into a knowledge-based engine of innovation-driven economy. Through this initiative the South-West Planning Region of Bulgaria joins the Network of Innovating Regions on Europe (IRE Network) which is a joint platform for collaboration and exchange of experience for regions that are developing or implementing regional innovation strategies and schemes. Recently all planning regions of Bulgaria have developed or work on their Regional Innovation Strategies.
For more information please contact:
Ms. Christina Nedeva
Ms. Denitsa Marinova
Phone: 02/9733000
Agenda (PDF, 123 KB)
Resume of the analysis of the Regional Innovation System of the South-West Planning Region (PDF, 529 KB, in Bulgarian)
Full resume of discussion and presentations of the speakers (in Bulgarian)
