Smart Specialisation in Sparsely Populated areas - Challenges, Opportunities and New Openings

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1 Smart Specialisation in Sparsely Populated areas - Challenges, Opportunities and New Openings Alexandre Dubois, Jukka Teräs, Jens Sörvik and Martina Pertoldi SMARTER CONFERENCE Seville, Spain 2016

2 Paper in brief Our paper explores Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3) in Sparsely Populated Areas (SPA). The paper discusses Smart Specialisation in SPA from theoretical background, with empirical analysis of case study regions in Aragon (Spain), Lapland (Finland), Nordland (Norway), Highlands and Islands (Scotland) and Västerbotten (Sweden). The paper is based on: Teräs J., Dubois A., Sörvik J. and Pertoldi M.: Implementing Smart Specialisation in Sparsely Populated Areas. European Commission. Joint Research Centre. S3 Working Paper 10/2015.

3 Sparsely populated regions Gloersen et al. (2006): Areas characterised by low population located in scattered small settlement structure continuous land masses of open landscapes long distances to main urban centres often harsh climatic conditions (either cold or dry climate) together with the abundance of natural resources Sparsely populated regions to be found e.g. in the northern and eastern parts of the Nordic countries, North Scotland, middle parts of Spain

4 Smart specialisation and sparsely populated regions questions Are there differences in implementing smart specialisation strategy in sparsely populated regions compared to other regions? How to apply related variety when you have abundance of natural resources - but you lack critical mass of actors? How to apply smart specialisation when the geographical area is huge - but the number of people living in the area is small?

5 Smart specialisation and SPA: bringing together theory and practice In theory, the Smart Specialisation policy thinking is supposed to be applicable in any type of regional setting In practice, much attention to metropolitan and urban contexts - little evidence in the literature about the applicability of RIS3 in regions with geographic specificities, such as SPA. See e.g. Foray (2015) : lack of critical mass can be a major constraint for successful implementation of S3 Our study highlights critical issues to be addressed through the regional implementation of S3 in SPA

6 S3 implementation in the SPA operational issues (examples) Critical issues on SPA Entrepreneurial discovery Related variety Domains and Lead Markets Mobilization of extra-local resources Broadened view on innovation Not enough mid size innovative firms Better harnessing of the potential for natural resources processing may result into more diversified economies SPA as showrooms for new technologies, due to tougher conditions Large firms and trade associations are often the main brokers of market intelligence Flow of skilled technicians to be promoted in order to foster novel applications of science-based knowledge

7 EU JRC WORKING PAPER Case study regions: Lapland, Västerbotten, Nordland, Podlaskie, Aragon, Highlands & Islands Rovaniemi EU JRC Workshop 2014 in Rovaniemi, Finland on S3 in sparsely populated regions as the point of departure

8 Empirical setting

9 Regional S3 strategies in the North

10 The case study regions and Smart Specialisation Region Aragon (SP) Lapland (FI) Nordland (NO) Highlands & Islands (Scotland) Remarks & Findings Large firms play a crucial role More actors requested to support innovation and entrepreneurial discovery From S3 strategy to Implementation and Smart Clusters More smart people needed to create competitive domains KIBS to support the emerging/existing domains? (N.B. Non-EU region with S3 strategy document) Our chance in sub-sectors, lack of critical mass for entire sectors Västerbotten (SE) More global thinking into domain/lead market discussion?

11 Findings and recommendations Sparsely Populated Areas (SPA) should not be seen as regions lagging behind by definition but as regions with specific characteristics including challenges and opportunities. SPA have been able to create innovative environments in sparsely populated and remote areas SPA need to strengthen their competitiveness with extra-regional knowledge and networking pipelines and even more so than other types of regions in consideration of the lack of critical mass The specific characteristics and features of SPA often with abundant natural resources, but with limited human capital and lack of agglomeration economies need to be carefully studied and the regional actors need to be heard and invited to inclusive S3 processes.

12 SPA and sub-regional smart specialisation? In SPAs, there is often a great difference between main urban centres and peripheric areas. The strategy development is often designed for the whole territory and by representatives from the main urban centre, and may lack the involvement of entrepreneurial actors in more peripheral areas. As a consequence, opportunities for growth from all places rather than only certain cities or sectors could be missed A pilot of Local Smart Specialisation approach as part of EU Northern Periphery Programme (REGINA project ). Local Smart Specialisation seen as complementary to regional smart specialization programmes.

13 S3 and SPA: Final remarks We encourage regions to try to embrace entrepreneurial discovery process and avoid remaining with past picked winners Better connection between research centre and companies outside university cities should be promoted. However, upgrading the skills of low-skilled workers may be as important for growth Formal and informal intermediate institutions need to be actively engaged and supported through the S3 implementation. Intermediaries strengthen the SPA's voice in dealing with other regions and countries.

14 Thank you! Photo: Kjell Nilsson