Exchange of experiences in monitoring mechanisms, indicators and methodologies addressed to improvement in the delivery of policies and instruments in the framework of Regional RIS3 across Regions.
Regional Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) developed during last years, as ex-ante conditionality for implementing Structural Funds, are facing a CHALLENGE on MONITORING: how to adopt one STRUCTURED AND EVIDENCE DATABASED APPROACH leading to the definition of a set of indicators for MONITORING / EVALUATING S3? and how to select indicators using METHODOLOGICAL CRITERIA? 
Current EU and national initiatives are addressed to exchange S3 implementation, e.g. IPTS through S3 platform, or FECYT i.e. in Spain, but the “MONITORING CHALLENGE” has NOT BEEN SOLVED yet. 
MONITORIS3 is INNOVATIVE because will address this challenge SYSTEMATICALLY by the first time in Europe with a cross-border approach. Thus, the project´s MAIN GOAL is to facilitate the IMPROVEMENT OF S3 RELATED STRUCTURAL FUNDS POLICIES DELIVERY (6 POLICY INSTRUMENTS) through promotion of exchange of experiences and policy learning on MONITORING STRATEGIES OF SUCH INSTRUMENTS among a consortium of regionally relevant actors on S3. MONITORIS3 is supported by the following specific ACTIVITIES and OUTPUTS: 
- ONE INTERREGIONAL MAPPING OF S3 MONITORING STRATEGIES AT INTERREGIONAL LEVEL (on 6 preselected POLICY INSTRUMENTS): Regional (partners) “Stay of play” analysis at the beginning of the project.
- INTERREGIONAL POLICY LEARNING PROCESS through 8 INTERREGIONAL THEMATIC SEMINARS around 4 WORKING GROUPS to organize the 9 policy instruments addressed, with active involvement of regional STAKEHOLDERS GROUPS. 
- BEST PRACTICES (BBPP) SELECTION and PEER-TO-PEER process (7 STUDY VISITS) to ensure the best introduction of selected BBPP by each region and thus facilitate the exchange. 
- 6 REGIONAL ACTION PLANS ON S3 MONITORING elaborated on the basis of selected practices to be transferred to each region around the 9 policy instruments selected. 
To achieve these objectives, MONITORIS3 gathers 6 partners from 6 EU Regions and 1 advisory partner with competences on implementing and/or monitoring S3.