Territoria – A common path to a common goal

The Territoria project is about regional responsible research and innovation, and speaks into the transformation the European society is experiencing in line with globalization, changing demographics and increasing technology development.

Different focus areas

The Territoria project is based on 5 European regions, all of which help formulate, prepare and carry out ‘experiments’ in their own region within responsible research and innovation. The project focuses particular on how best to involve the population and relevant actors in key issues, thus finding a common path to a common goal.

How can we involve citizens?

The focus areas of the 5 regions are different and represent a region’s specific focus area – e.g. how to provide more women in STEM (science) education – for how to ensure regional development by attracting and retaining young students in the local area.

Territoria can be seen as an experimental project that seeks to influence regional strategies for innovation by bringing together the right actors on specific topics relevant to the region.

Regions need to think globally

The project aimes for the general public, with a special focus on municipal and regional authorities. By involving a broad range of actors, solutions are created that take account of local and regional needs and make use of the knowledge that already exists locally and regionally.

The concept of RRI, responsible research and innovation, is a main focus of the EU’s Horizon2020 projects and has been primarily used on research projects. The special thing about Territoria and a handful of similar projects is that these projects seek to extend the concept of RRI to those authorities closest to regional development and innovation.

The project speaks into the time of the European society, with a focus on regional and where new solutions must be found together with relevant actors and by involving citizens in the process from the outset.

You can read more about the project here