Tania Hristova, Mayor of Gabrovo Municipality, Bulgaria and Leader of the Bulgarian Delegation to the Committee of the Regions shared about her region and some of their initiatives and challenges and highlighted that regional development should be done in a safe and sustainable way, as part of the digital and green transitions. Next, Roberta Dall’Olio the President of EURADA and Head of ART-ER International and Territorial Cooperation, Social Innovation Unit shared her desire that we should push our networks and policymakers to rethink and reshape what RDAs can be and the innovative potential they could have. Nicola de Michelis, Director of DG Regio at the European Commission, spoke on the need to mobilise the energies, human capital, and stakeholders interested in transformative strategies, and for them to work with EU institutions, regional and national governments to think about and think different about how these resources could be used. 

We then heard from Mikel Landabaso, Director of Growth and Innovation at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission discussed about the history and evolution of RDA’s and made an impactful point that “economic development is an art, not a science”, as regional development is not just scaled down from the national level, nor does one approach necessarily transfer to another region. The final speaker of the session was Christian Saublens, Founder and Former President of EURADA, who proposed that we need to take a critical look at how we can reinvent and innovate for the future success of RDAs. Questions from the audience rounded out the session and prompted some interesting discussion on how radical we should be thinking in the future and how large influxes of money may impact regional development.

Opportunities and Challenges for Regional Development Agencies for the Next Decade

The second session of AGORADA was a panel discussion on ‘Opportunities and Challenges for Regional Development Agencies for the Next Decades’ moderated by Christian Saublens, the former director of EURADA. The first panellist was Rudy Aernoudt, a Senior Economist of DG GROW at the European Commission who conveyed his thoughts on the need for regional development funding to be more efficient, so that grants and funding initiatives don’t waste taxpayer money, which requires effective governance to be in place. Sarah English, Head of Brussels Office of Scottish Enterprise spoke on the importance of collaboration and how we should be more honest with each other as to what and how we can collaborate, and do so in a more coherent and clear manner.  Claire Munck, the CEO of BeAngels shared her thoughts on fragmentation, and the current state that makes the numerous policies, initiatives, and funding that is impossible to follow, which should be made more streamlined and accessible. The next speaker was Todd Greene, the Board Chair of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) highlighted the similarities between Europe and the USA when it comes to RDAs, and noted the existing inequalities of current policies, while calling out the lack of diversity when it comes to who benefits, shares their input, and makes decisions about regional development policies.

Mathieu Doussineau of The Innovation Loop discussed the coexistence of new technology, spurred by innovation, which then slows down productivity, and questions how we can use data and artificial intelligence to make policy. The following panelist was Johanna Suo Kouzmine-Karavaïeff, the Director of IFA Laboratory, who spoke to the need to work within and across cultures in international business, and how cross-culture collaboration is needed and could be integrated into the economic approach. Theo Föllings, the Managing Director of Oost NL discussed the important role of RDAs, and called out the lack of focus on regions, with the local or national level being prioritized by the European Commission, and the need to refocus on the value and impact that can be had by engagement at the regional level. The final speaker, Joaquín Gómez the Director of INFO, Instituto de Fomento de la Región de Murcia, discussed how the best tool RDAs have is knowledge, which can reinforce institutions, and must be retained as agencies age.

International Approaches to Regional Development

The third session of the day was ‘International Approaches to Regional Development: How is the future of Regional Development Seen Outside Europe?’, moderated by EURADA President Roberta Dall’Olio. Jaime Del Castillo from the International Urban Regional Cooperation Project (IURC) spoke on one of the biggest mistakes of regional development strategies is to be too focused internally, rather than looking at cooperation with regions in other countries and continents. Following him was Nathan Ohle, President of the IEDC based in the USA, who argues that global cooperation is built through tailoring to different cultures and countries, ensuring that they not only engage with partners, but are also engagement amongst themselves. Next, Minister Noel Gonzalez Segura, Head of Chancellery at the Embassy of Mexico to the Kingdom of Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Alternate Representative to the European Union spoke on how in Mexico, as in the case in other regions, there is a need to align the private sector with local development actors in order to build capacity and foster SMEs. The final panelist was Meltem Yilmaz, the Director of Breeze Network & Consult Ltd shared her perspective on how the future of regional development will necessitate good resource management, the preparedness and implementation of regional strategies to overcome challenges, and the need for understanding dynamics at the local level.

National Associaiton of Development Agencies

The final session of EURADA was on ‘National Association of Development Agencies: The Future of European Regional Development According to National Associations, moderated by Tamas Gyulai from the EURADA Board of Directors. Lilijana Madjar, the Vice-President of RRA GIZ (Slovenia) spoke on how their region in Slovenia has responded to the pandemic and been resilient in orded to ensure the quality of life of their citizens and looking ahead hope to increase cooperation and collaboration with stakeholders from a range of sectors. Antoine Angeard, General Delegate of CNER in France discussed how historically RDAs were only in charge of attracting economic investment and activities, whereas now there is the increasing need to focus on social and environmental actions, as well as to be more integrated into policies. The following speaker, Rafael Escamilla, the Secretary-General of Foro ADR in Spain, remarked that development agencies must be competitive, for the digital and green transition they must work to enable growth  and implement value in regions.

Anna Sowa-Jadczyk, the SOWA-JADCZYK Deputy Director MARR SA in Poland spoke on how RDAs are kcritical actors in the ecosystem and the need for their continued support of entrepreneurs and SMEs, in particular in relation to the green transition, innovation, and digitalisation. Next was Jaakko Helenius, the Executive Director of SEKES from Finland suggested that RDAs should invite and include a broader range of stakeholders in order to solve problems, and increase wellbeing, through public innovation. Sorin Maxim, as the President of ROREG, discussed the highly important role of RDAs in Romania as they implement funds and projects, including the smart specialisation strategy, and they are working to find a modern solution to bring together SMEs to collaborate. Tomáš Cílek, President of ČARA in the Czech Republic, spoke on the role of RDAs in relation to cohesion and the green transition, highlighting their efforts to introduce digitalisation and energy storage as opportunities for their region. Finally, Nenad Popvic of REDASP.SARRA in Serbia, discussed the need to recognise what strengths are at the local level, and value Smart specialisation and innovation as means for providing new economic opportunities in the coming decades.

EURADA Awards

To conclude AGORADA 2022, was the presentation of the EURADA Awards. The Development Agency of the Republic of Srpska (RARS) from Bosnia and Herzegovina received the award for ‘Outstanding Best Practices 2022’ for their training program.  The Valencian Institute of Business Competitiveness (IVACE) in Spain was granted an award for ‘Outstanding Best Practices 2022’ for their design of an instrument that brings together all the agents that provide support to companies. The award for ‘Best European Development Practices’ was given to Bursa Eskisehir Bilecik Development Agency (BEBKA) of Turkey for their good practice on industrial symbiosis related to circular economy.