SMARTER 2020 Conference Webinar Series, Smart Specialisation for Sustainable Development Goals

Smart Specialisation as a place-based innovation policy has started before the adoption of Agenda 2030. However, the analysis of the priorities chosen at local, regional and national level shows that they contribute to Sustainable Development Goals, as a ‘side effect’ of bottom up processes and identification of key challenges. The urgency to deliver Agenda 2030, as announced in the Decade of Delivery and Action by UN Secretary General and in the European Green Deal calls for the development of new strategies, instruments and approaches ensuring coherence of policy actions. In this context, bottom-up approach is also necessary to mobilise actors and translate the Global Agenda 2030 into place-specific transformative activities. Local communities are more agile, responsive and flexible than national authorities in addressing socio-economic, developmental and environmental challenges.