"COALITION" - Promoting Innovation Excellence in Transformation of Coal Regions to Climate-Neutral, Thriving Economies
COALition aims to strengthen the regional innovation ecosystems in coal-depended areas in terms of capacities and connectivity, through the creation of regional excellence hubs and the definition of a joint strategic agenda for sustainable energy to facilitate their just transition and transform the regions to climate-neutral, thriving economies. The overall objective of the project is to establish permanent Regional Excellence Hubs in the three selected territories (Western Macedonia - GR, Centru - RO, Southeastern - BG) which are coal dependent and also belong to countries that are characterized as less advanced in terms of R&I performance. The excellence hubs will be composed of key representatives of the Quadruple Helix approach and will co-define the regions’ joint priorities & action plan to facilitate their transitions, following a bottom-up, multi-stakeholder participatory approach.
COALITION Core Components are:
- Setup and/or strengthen representative communities (hubs) of key actors of the quadruple helix in a regional context in the Sustainable Energy domain in the 3 territories.
- The formulation of a Joint R&I Strategy for the selected Coal Transition regions to achieve Innovation Excellence, while revitalizing local economies, creating new business opportunities, and re/up-skilling the affected working forces.
- Advance research & mature technological solutions through R&I Projects development to facilitate regional transition in alignment with the regional R&I Priorities
- Develop a Joint Action & Investment plan to implement the Joint R&I Strategy and mobilize investments.
- Design Pilots & Demos for de-risking future Sustainable Energy Investments in the regions of interest.
- Increase the capacities of the working force (researchers, entrepreneurs, employees etc.) in the place-based innovation ecosystems.
As a project partner, KiNNO INNOVATION INTERMEDIARIES is responsible for the following activities:
- Mapping and laying the foundations for the creation of the Excellence Hubs in the Regions.
- Supporting the design and formulation of the Joint R&I Strategy.
- Supporting the elaboration of the Joint Action & Investment Plans.
- Developing methodologies and plans for the capacity building of the workforce in the affected regions.
- Provide training on Innovation Ecosystem Building and Open Innovation.
Partnership: Western Macedonia Regional Development Fund (GREECE), Public Electricity Company (GREECE),Institute of Just Transition of Greece – IDMel (GREECE),KiNNO INNOVATION INTERMEDIARIES (GREECE),UNIVERSITY OF MEDICINE, PHARMACY, SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY OF TARGU MURES (ROMANIA),MURES COUNTY COUNCIL (ROMANIA),REPOM SRL (ROMANIA),PATRONATUL IMM JUDETEAN MURES (ROMANIA),ICEBERG PLUS SRL (ROMANIA),SOFIA UNIVERSITY ST KLIMENT OHRIDSKI (BULGARIA),AGENCY FOR REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (BULGARIA),DAVID HOLDING AD (BULGARIA),Green Balkans ‐ Stara Zagora NGO (BULGARIA),INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (BULGARIA),WIRTSCHAFT UND INFRASTRUKTUR GMBH & CO PLANUNGS KG (GERMANY).
Website:https://www.coalitionhubs.eu/
This project is funded under the Widera work programme of Horizon Europe!
