Innovation birmingham firenze

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The influence of transnational projects on a Draft Funding Strategy under the new English EU funding system - 2014-2020 Mainstreaming Lessons Learnt Patrick Willcocks Independent Consultant

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Transcript of Innovation birmingham firenze

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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

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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

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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

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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

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EU Funds in England

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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)

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Thank you

ANY QUESTIONSPatrick Willcocks

[email protected]

@globalbirminghm