Who we are

Our Story

The Vanguard Initiative was established in 2013 by ten European regions committed to lead by example in delivering growth and jobs through industry-led interregional cooperation, co-creation, and co-investment, on the basis of smart specialisation.

Since its launch in 2013, the Vanguard Initiative has been recognised as a strong and influential voice for the regional perspective on industrial transition. Our key message: that regions, smart specialisation and cluster-based interregional cooperation are key to new industrial growth, has been widely recognised and positively received by a wide range of partners and stakeholders, including the EU-institutions.

Achievements

One achievement of the Vanguard Initiative is the launch of the Thematic Smart Specialisation Platforms (S3P) by the European Commission at the Smart Regions conference in June 2016.

It is recognised that the Vanguard Initiative’s Pilot Projects have served as the inspiration for the S3Ps. Another example is the proposal of the new funding instrument “Interregional Innovation Investments” which is in line with what the Vanguard Initiative actively has advocated for in our policy influencing efforts since 2016. Namely, that a funding instrument is needed that supports the creation of interregional public-private innovation partnerships that can strengthen our European industrial ecosystems and their key value chains, paving the way for follow up financing by private investors.

Political Commitment

The members of the Vanguard Initiative are regional authorities (or equivalent) responsible for implementing a smart specialisation strategy. By signing the Milan Declaration the members have committed themselves politically to the principles of the Vanguard Initiative: to implement smart specialisation strategies, advance technological developments through interregional collaboration, support demonstration and piloting of new European value-chains and making the Vanguard Initiative a powerful force for European technological change and advancement.

The Milan Declaration also establishes that the Vanguard Initiative members are committed to:

Promoting co-investments in European priority areas,
Facilitating access to combined funding for co-investment projects,
Taking advantage of better synergies between regional, national and European instruments to support interregional collaboration.

The Milan Declaration makes the Vanguard Initiative a unique alliance of regional policy makers across Europe and establishes the strong commitment of the member regions to foster interregional collaboration based on regional complementarities based on smart specialisation.

Read the Declaration here