The future looks promising
Smart specialisation is a means of promoting growth by strengthening research, development and innovation (RDI) and the effective use of related funding in different regions of Europe. In the preparation of Lapland’s smart specialisation strategy 2023-2027, the innovation-driven development needs of businesses, the expertise of the region, the development of regional cooperation, the key challenges of innovation and sustainability goals have been taken into account. The strategy’s priorities have been the themes in which investment in research, development and innovation activities promotes the growth of regions SMEs and supports the renewal of expertise.
Lapland’s smart specialisation ecosystem has previously made it possible to build cooperation between actors in the region and strengthen international partnerships. In this strategy, the focus is on promoting the growth of the region’s businesses through effective research, development and innovation activities. Promoting regional well-being is the main objective of smart specialisation, as it creates the framework for economic structural diversification and the subsequent growth of resilience.
What is smart specialisation?
As the name suggests, the smart specialisation strategy aims for regional specialisation – the kind of development activity that differentiates us from other regions nationally and internationally. The strategy has been built taking into account the needs of Lapland’s leading industries, and the strategy partly guides the region’s research, development and innovation (RDI) investments in the current EU funding period, especially with regard to European regional development funding.