Page 17 - European Energy Innovation - winter 2018 publication
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Winter 2018 European Energy Innovation  17

                                                                ENERGY SOCIAL INNOVATION

Summary of case studies analysed

Innovation/  Western                                  Central      Eastern EU             Southern EU          Norhrtn
Region           EU                                       EU    Energy poverty                                     EU

Innovation   Crowdfunding                         Energy coop.     (Hungary)                           Business (Finland)
Leaders        (Germany)                             (Croatia)

Strong       REScoop
Innovators   (Belgium)

Moderate                                                                                    Strategy
Innovators                                                                                and citizen
                                                                                          engagement

                                                                                              (Spain)

against climate change and the                    addressing energy action help to        EU highlight renewable energy and
protection of the environment.                    pre-identify smart specialisation       energy efficiency as focus areas of
                                                  priorities. With their focus on         specialisation. These choices need
(5) Business element, referring to                citizens' involvement, they ensure      to be accompanied by implementing
involving citizens and their know-how             the contribution from civil society     complementary actions operative at
in energy business. Such measures                 which is normally underrepresented      regional and municipal levels. l
are at an early stage of development.             in comparison to other actors of the
They can be implemented via various               quadruple helix (e.g. academia, public
citizen engagement methods, which                 and private sector).
bring company representatives in
direct contact with citizens.                     Finally, regional strategic thinking
                                                  and strategy development can
Policy implications for Smart                     underpin and lead to a multitude
Specialisation process                            of socially innovative actions. Many
Combining citizens' engagement                    smart specialisation strategies in
with innovation in firms within a co-
creation approach can be achieved                 More about the S3Platform
by including social innovation as a key
element of smart specialisation. Input            The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, through the
from citizens can be generated and                Smart Specialisation Platform provides support to EU regions and
matched with business requirements                Member States in the design and implementation of their research and
in the frame of Entrepreneurial                   innovation strategies for Smart Specialisation. Some of the services
Discovery Processes. This socially                provided by the S3Platform include: guidance and methodological
innovative approach may allow for                 material, identification and sharing of good practices; research analysis,
example local energy business to                  information to the whole policy-making process; peer-reviews and mutual
integrate citizens' requirements into             learning; access to relevant data and information sessions for policy-
their energy innovations.                         makers and stakeholders. One of the central activities of the S3Platform
                                                  is to facilitate inter-regional cooperation among regions with similar or
Bottom-up innovative citizens'                    complementary smart specialisation priorities. S3Platform website
initiatives have great potential
for advancing towards energy                      For further information please contact:
transition. Regulatory barriers must
be overcome at various governance                 Javier Gómez Prieto
levels in order to allow these                    @Jagopri
cooperatives and social innovation                Scientific Officer Smart Specialisation
initiatives to flourish and contribute            Joint Research Centre, European Commission
to identifying competitive advantages.
                                                  * The views expressed are purely those of the author and may not in any
Cooperatives and associations                     circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of the European
                                                  Commission
1 RIS3 stands for Regional Innovation Strategies
for Smart Specialisation

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