Creating consensus and commitment

1
Creating consensus and commitment
Regional Innovation Strategies

• 3rd methodological workshop
• Sofia 22-23 February 2007
• Elzbieta Ksiazek, IRE Secretratariat

2
Why you need to create commitment

• Develop a regional innovation strategy that will
  be implemented and have a positive influence on
  the regional innovation performance.

3
Why you need to create commitment

• Strategy that will be implemented
• Not a research study plus recommendation
• Pressure for action
• Policy building project
• Policy that will last beyond RIS
• Political project but beyond particularities
• Legitimacy and power of decision making
• RIS will not solve every problem but it can
  start a long-term process (governance, innovation
  culture, sustainability of policies)

4
How to create commitment

• Give a say
• Involve in decision making - ownership
• Give a role
• Something to do sharing responsibility

5
When to involve regional actors

• Drawing conslusions from the analyses
• Working groups
• Strategy drawing
• Working groups, Steering Committee
• Strategy adoption
• Consultation of the draft
• Steering Committee
• Official body (parliament, administration)
• General public - promotion
• Preparation of action plan
• Working groups
• Individual actors contributing
• Steering Committee

6
Guidance and leadership

• RIS should be interactive process
• But CONTROL is needed
• PM (team, SC) is responsible for the process
• Not all contributions will sum up to a coherent
  strategy
• Not everybody can be made happy and pleased
• Beware of projects from the drawer

7
Critical success factors

• Political backing throughout RIS process
• Sound management of consultants
• Choice of project leaders with high legitimacy
  and capacity
• Intense and bottom-up involvement of regional
  innovation stakeholders
• Openness and inclusiveness of project driver
• Inclusiveness of process

Assessment of the Community regional innovation
and technology transfer strategies, Luxemburg,
2001
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Political backing

• Regional decision makers responsible/involved in
  the strategy design
• Influential personalities (administration key
  figures, presidents of chambers of commerce,
  rectors)
• Representation of different groups
• Steering committee chair and members
  respected senior people

9
Project leaders

• KEY ROLE FOR THE SUCCESS
• Experience in innovation policy
• Vision
• Influence
• Commitment

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Inclusiveness

• RIS should not be perceived as an initiative of a
  particular group (institutional, political,
  personal)

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Working Groups

• Can reflect on the analysis results
• OR
• be involved in the analysis themselves
• produce recommendations for the strategy
• OR
• develop parts of the strategy themselves
• identify actions for the action plan
• OR
• develop parts of the action plan

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Steering Committee

• Most important role in the stage 2
• Influence on the strategy
• Writing?
• Debating?
• Adoption is a must
• Political backing of the strategy

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Use of experts

• They work for the project leaders
• vision and management should come from the MU
• close collaboration
• shared understanding
• Experts
• can help to control the process (authority,
  impartiality) presenting their findings
• can lead discussions
• can present international experience
• can help to present the MU views
• can help to write the strategy

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Use of international experience

• Lobbying aspect
• Good practices
• inspirations for the strategy
• transfer of schemes
• Professional learning for innovation policy
  designers
• Interregional collaboration for the future?

15
Communication and promotion

• Promotion of the strategy and action plan
• Leaflets, brochures
• Conference
• Media
• Website
• Lobbying for implementation

16
Wielkopolska experience

• RIS Innovative Wielkopolska (name designed to
  last beyond the project)
• Slogan (inclusive) Lets create environment
  conducive to innovation
• Vision at the start (conferences, leaflets,
  promotion)
• Project consortium
• Motivated NGO, fortunately legitimacy never
  questioned
• Regional administration

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Wielkopolska experience Management

• Management Unit both partners
• The main project team
• Higher level managers
• Meetings every 2 weeks
• Involvement of highest level
• Marshal (conferences, political
  statements/backing, invitations)
• Influential personalities (to make important
  phone calls)
• Steering Committee all the most important
  persons in the field, chaired by the Marshal
• Enthusiasm can be contagious
• at least people believe in your intentions

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Wielkopolska experience Working Groups

• Entrepreneurship and innovation needs of regional
  enterprises,
• Strengthening links of science and industry,
• Technology transfer services and financing
• Enhancement of undeveloped subregions
• Interregional collaboration with partner regions
  
• 2 meetings at the start and conclusions of
  analysis
• Work on SWOT
• Recommendations for the strategy
• Recommendations for action plan
• We had open ears but our version ready beforehand

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Wielkopolska experience strategy writing

• The writing of the text by the core team
• Based on the results of the working groups
• Draft consulted and modified by the Management
  Unit
• Involvement of the author of the development
  strategy of the region

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Wielkopolska experience strategy consultations

• Drafts sent to consultation of the Steering
  Committee and Working Groups
• Consultation meetings in the subregions
  (organised by Steering Committee member or
  relevant local organisation)
• Collection of action plan initiatives
• Adoption by the Steering Committee
• Adoption by regional parliament and the board of
  the region

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Wielkopolska experience action plan

• Collection of ideas on the meetings (simple form)
• Follow up of the ideas, personal contacts and
  consultation to describe the action (objectives,
  actions, timing, resources, indicators)
• Activation of sleeping actors
• Shared responsibility for implementation

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Wielkopolska experience - implementation

• Action line in ESF Regional strategies for
  innovation and knowledge transfer
• influence and management in the region
• Wielkopolska Innovation Network
• Monitoring and update of the strategy (2
  consecutive projects)
• Wielkopolska Innovation Platform
• Several local projects
• 3rd strand project 5 schemes
• Regional Innovation Advisory Board
• Innovative Wielkopolska still alive
• BUT People wanted to do something for the region,
  not necessarily grasping the whole concept of the
  strategy

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Instead of conclusion

• Consensus
• OR
• Interactive/inclusive process
• ?