Smart strategies to create innovation-based jobs in regions of Europe
Continued and coordinated efforts by the European Commission, the Member States and EU regions have led to a steady increase in employment levels in many parts of Europe over the years. The recent economic crisis however broke this trend, resulting in significant job loss in all EU countries. While being faced with reductions of funding available to them, EU regions now need to step up their efforts to maintain jobs and boost employment opportunities. 

Many regions have built their economic development strategies on promoting innovation as a driver of economic growth. However these innovation support schemes are not designed with job-creation as a primary objective. As a result many regions experience that their work to increase businesses capacities for innovation does not automatically generate new employment. For instance because high-tech firms employ people from outside their region, or production of innovated products is outsourced to low wage countries.
SMART EUROPE is based on the notion that smart and targeted regional policies and interventions can in fact be designed in order to boost employment directly in these innovation based sectors in a region, thus creating maximum employment growth within the sectors that contribute most to the regional economy.

In this project a consortium of 13 partners, representing 11 EU regions, will exchange regional policies and instruments for identifying and supporting the main regional economic actors that can generate innovation based employment opportunities, to boost the creation of jobs in these segments of their regional economy.

These partners are Flevoland province (NL, lead partner), Assembly of European Regions (FR), MMU/Centre for Enterprise (UK), Veneto region and Veneto Innovazione (IT), Bologna province (IT), Észak-Alföld regional development agency (HU), Maramures County (RO), ALMI Mid Sweden (SE), Patras Science Park/Western Greece (EL),
Sor-Trondelag County (No), Baltic Institute of Finland (FI) and Avila County (ES).

The activities of SMART EUROPE include the collection and documenting of effective policy instruments in this field from partners and other actors. During a series of Peer Reviews the partners will identify the driving sectors and actors for innovation based employment in each partner region, tackle the specific challenges related to job-creation in these sectors and present packages of policy measures and instruments tailored to these regional circumstances. The regions will make Action Plans to implement the proposed measures during the project.

The results of the project will be documented in a SMART EUROPE Toolkit, available for use by other EU regions. Regional, National and EU-wide dissemination events will be organised, to pass on the good practices and achievements of the project.