— The director of the Galician Innovation Agency participated in the meeting of high-level directors of the Vanguard Initiative, an alliance of 38 European regions interested in stimulating innovation through interregional collaboration.

— Carmen Cotelo met with the director of the European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN) to establish closer collaborations with other European regions.

Namur, June 7th 2024. The director of the Galician Innovation Agency (GAIN) of Galicia’s government, Carmen Cotelo, participated yesterday in Namur (Belgium) in the meeting of high-level directors of the Vanguard Initiative, an alliance formed by 38 European regions of which Galicia is part since 2015. Its aim is to stimulate European growth based on innovation through interregional collaboration and smart specialisation.

In the framework of the meeting, a report on the position of this initiative on the orientation of the new European innovation policies was presented. The proposal calls for a European innovation policy based on collaborative approaches and smart specialisation principles. Good practices at regional level on how to organise and mobilise key intermediaries and entities, including SMEs, to maximise the impact of the initiative were also presented.

In the afternoon, the GAIN director met in Brussels with representatives of the European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN), of which Galicia is a member along with nearly 120 other regions from 20 European countries. The aim of the meeting was to try to establish closer collaborations with other European regions in strategic fields for Galicia. ERRIN supports its members in improving their regional and local innovation and research capacities and in developing their RTD ecosystems.

Other meetings in the framework of GAIN’s visit to Brussels

As part of her trip to Brussels, Carmen Cotelo held several working meetings on Wednesday with representatives of various European institutions to learn about the opportunities offered by new European initiatives and funds to the Galician RDI ecosystem and to position Galicia as a benchmark in different areas such as biotechnology, deep tech or talent attraction and retention programmes such as Oportunius.

First thing in the morning, the GAIN representative held a meeting with Jorge Molina Villanueva and Giuseppina Luvara, from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD). In this context, she expressed her interest in the Commission’s new initiative to promote biotechnology and bio-manufacturing, its potential to boost sectors such as pharmaceuticals, health, food and industry, and its contribution to a more competitive and resilient European Union. He also presented Galicia’s priorities in this field included in the Strategy for the Consolidation of Biotechnology in Galicia 21-25, which aims to advance in the positioning of Galicia as a benchmark Community in biotechnology.

She then met with José Labastida, head of the Scientific Council Support Unit of the European Research Council (ERC). He discussed possible measures to boost the participation of excellent research staff in this and other European calls and to attract candidates, finalists and winners of ERC grants. These would be in addition to those already being implemented through the Oportunius programme, which has supported 31 principal investigators since its launch.

Finally, GAIN’s director met with Ana Ramos, the director of the Brussels office of Fundación Galicia Europa, Galicia’s delegation to the EU. GAIN and the FGE collaborate on RTD policies and programmes in the EU framework.

More information: Xunta de Galicia