Among the winners of the 2021-22 EER Awards held on the 18th of March are six European Regions which were awarded for their entrepreneurial vision of a sustainable recovery. These awardees are Gabrovo Municipality (Bulgaria) and five other entities: Helsinki-Uusimaa Region (Finland), Castelo Branco Municipality (Portugal), Madrid Region (Spain), Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region (France), and Silesia Voivodeship (Poland). As one of the jury members of the EER award, EURADA is very pleased to see its member Gabrovo Municipality win the award.
What is the EER Award?
The European Entrepreneurial Region (EER) is a project that identifies and rewards EU regions which show an outstanding and innovative entrepreneurial policy strategy, irrespective of their size, wealth and competences. The regions with the most credible, forward-thinking and promising vision plan are granted the label "European Entrepreneurial Region" (EER) for a specific year.
The EER label helps regions and cities support entrepreneurs and SMEs by implementing the new EU SME Strategy at local and regional level, building on the continuity of the previous initiatives such as the Small Business Act (2009) and the Start-up and Scale-up Initiative (2016).The EER label is an opportunity for local and regional actors to demonstrate how SMEs and entrepreneurs can increase the resilience of their economy, embracing today’s challenges that will shape the world of tomorrow: demographic change, digitalisation and a transition to a sustainable and low-carbon economy.
Gabrovo Municipality (Bulgaria): winner and EURADA member
As Tanya Hristova, Mayor of Gabrovo Municipality, said, Gabrovo’s vision is to develop as ‘Green, Smart, Innovative’, capitalizing on the rich entrepreneurial, business, research and education achievements and taking onboard the new opportunities for a green, digital and inclusive transformation. Thanks to the rapid industrialization process, Gabrovo has become one of the Bulgaria's economic centres. What’s gratifying is that they pursue stable and sustainable development quality, rather than blindly pursuing speed. In terms of development initiatives, they invest into economic activities with higher added value. New sectors such as information technology and the service sector are raised as part of Gabrovo's smart specialization strategy. In response to possible economic challenges, the region aims to vigorously develop educational research institution and improve infrastructure construction in the future.
As a member of EURADA, Gabrovo actively fulfils their responsibilities as partners in projects such as Know-Hub, ESSPO and TeRRItoria. In Know-Hub, they developed a Geographical Information System with information layers for the economic and innovative development of local companies and academics organised into interactive maps. In ESSPO, they aim to develop a support system to increase the capacity and competitiveness of SMEs through the provision of specific expert services and consultations for project development and implementation in traditional manufacturing sectors, based on the smart specialization of the region. In TeRRItoria, they carry out a regional experiment with the aim of developing a plan for innovation.
Achievements of other winners
Madrid Region builds bridges between the public and private sector. The creation of an Entrepreneurship Council will bring together a variety of SMEs and set off synergies and network effects. Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur reinvents local economic cycles and further capitalises on its vibrant start-up ecosystem and high-tech SMEs. Silesia Region implements the Green Silesia Strategy, which actively involves important stakeholders, SMEs and civil society actors to jointly shape the shift towards a green economy. Helsinki-Uusimaa Region maintains its advantages in the field of business education and their training of young entrepreneurs injects vitality into local economy. Castelo Branco Municipality has great potential for sustainable recovery through its booming agri-food sector and strong political commitment to green change.
More information
- EER Award: https://cor.europa.eu/en/engage/Pages/european-entrepreneurial-region.aspx
- Know-Hub:http://www.know-hub.eu/knowledge-base/good-practices/economic-gis-layer-for-innovations-of-gabrovo-municipality.html
- Esspo: https://www.interregeurope.eu/esspo/
- TeRRItoria: http://territoriaproject.eu/about-the-project/
References
https://cor.europa.eu/en/engage/Pages/european-entrepreneurial-region.aspx
https://cor.europa.eu/en/engage/Documents/EER/EER-Awards-2021/4345-EER-Leaflet-EN-recovery.pdf
