The Week of Innovative Regions in Europe conferences are among the main European policy forums for innovation and regional development. Since 2010, they have annually gathered stakeholders from the research and innovation sector, in particular: EU policymakers, regional and national authorities, representatives of knowledge institutes, cluster organisations, and companies.

They also bring together other innovation intermediaries, innovative companies, as well as all other stakeholders supporting the growth of innovation from a regional and urban perspective. The purpose of the conference is to discuss research and innovation (R&I) practices, challenges and opportunities throughout the European regions, with a direct view on current and future EU funding programmes.

This year, the “Week of Innovative Regions in Europe”, named “WIRE XII edition 2022”, will be hosted by Université Paris-Saclay, France, under the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

It will take place on 11, 12 and 13 May 2022.

It will look for greater synergies between the European Union and Member State actions focusing on the priorities of the Horizon Europe programme 2021 – 2027, its headline targets, and the European Research Area.

The theme of this year’s edition is “Towards a leading Europe in breakthrough innovation:  unleashing the potential of regions”.

The choice of this subject for WIRE 2022 is due to the importance of breakthrough innovation for the growth and the future of the EU. It is one of the key processes to increase the competitiveness of the European Union. This conference will help to provide a state of the art analysis of the European situation, the best practices, and the missing tools.

In this context, key topics will be addressed:

– What are the characteristics of breakthrough and disruptive innovations? How to mobilise all capacities and ensure that all regions contribute to and benefit from this new wave of innovation and for that, Europe needs to update and complement its innovation policy tool-kit.

– Innovations with scale-up potential that may be too risky for private investors, thequestion of funding and the appropriate level: European? National? Regional?

– The role of SMEs

– From ensuring Europe’s strategic autonomy to setting the foundations of our global competitiveness through a renewed Industrial Policy, Regions will be key actors in this process and will need to be mobilised to ensure a prompt adoption of new breakthrough innovations. Moreover, ensuring the directionality of breakthrough innovations will be key to achieve Europe’s green transition and deliver on a collective promise to achieve Europe’s Green Deal.