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Higher Education for Smart Specialisation: The Case of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace

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This technical report presents the findings of the case study carried out in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace on the role of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the design and implementation of the Smart Specialisation Strategy (RIS3). It is one of the case studies undertaken in the project Higher Education for Smart Specialisation (HESS), an initiative of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. The region is a moderate innovator according to the 2019 Regional Innovation Scoreboard, with important structural weaknesses constrained by horizontal development policies, suffering from its remoteness which affects to its ability to attract and retain talent. It has a comprehensive higher education system, with the Democritus University of Thrace as main regional higher education institution and eleven campuses spread across the Region. The Smart Specialisation Strategy is considered by stakeholders the best available tool to develop a long-term, evidence and place-based regional innovation strategy. The regional and national governance structures and their interaction, as well as the policy mix deployed for the programming period 2014-2020, has limited the capacity of higher education to contribute to regional growth. The partnership between regional administration and HEIs manager seems to have room for improvement, through spaces for dialogue and the co-design of funding instruments that respond to a shared vision of regional challenges. The institutionalisation of HEI third mission could benefit from a performance based type system, as well as the promotion of HEI leadership in a region characterise by a strong disconnect. The new programming period 2021-2027 is an excellent opportunity to strengthen the ambition of the higher education institutions to lead the regional transformation process, through adequately tailored funding instruments and improved peer learning capacity from good practices at EU level.

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  • Yannis Tolias & Eskarne Arregui-Pabollet, 2021. "Higher Education for Smart Specialisation: The Case of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace," JRC Research Reports JRC124401, Joint Research Centre.
    • Handle: RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc124401
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    Keywords

    Smart specialisation strategies; higher education institutions; universities; territorial development; research and innovation; Greece;
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