1. Fryslân

2. Towards an S3 strategy for: [your region] Friesland, Living Lab Region Integral regional development through: …..development of a conscious society….. …..using culture and creativity, …..talentdevelopment, and …..societal digitalization The Netherlands Sevilla, 31 January 2012 Edith Nobel & Willem Reek

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16. Introduction Regional profile: –Gross Regional Product of 17,2 billion Euro –630.000 inhabitants of which 350.000 people live in the countryside –230.000 jobs mainly in our 30.000 SME’s –30.000 students in higher education. The region is governed by the Province of Friesland and contains 30 municipalities. We are making one strategy replacing a load of policypapers: thus creating an integrated vision on innovation.

17. Place based dimension of the RIS3 Our region is predominantly rural and declining demographically. The integral vision for the future of our region will become operational as a living lab for conscious regional development, based on efficient use of all natural resources, such as clean water, nutritients, biomass, energy, but also human capital including its cultural energy.

18. Achieving critical mass Our regional priorities emerge out of co creation within society. Our main challenge will be for the Province to participate in societal development processes as just one of the stakeholders. Priorities are based on: 1. criteria of the broad definition of culture 2. playing rules for living lab programs, which are projected on a wide scale implementation in society Learning with Living Labs rules: 1.Create an open innovationspace and process 2.Listen to all stakeholders and find out together what really matters 3.Create regional innovation agendas (policy tool) 4.Install regional living labs that work all over and not in one spot (scientific tool) 5.Apply a clear ownership pyramid (governance tool) 6.Apply a reflective “monitoring and evaluation” methodology to monitor and learn (feedback tool)

19. Play Creation Expression Interacting with environment Understanding Development Living Individual The Arts Talents Language Mental connection Health, Food Basic provisions for living Consciousness of culture Love / empathy Self understanding Knowledge deployment Culture points out to the pattern of human activities and the symbolic structures that make these activities meaningful. Conscious individuals take control of their life and personal development. The more conscious, the more self control 04-12-2011 Drs. Edith Nobel Drs. Willem Reek MCM Copyright 2011

20. Conscious societal development …..conscious of the holistic continuation of connected individual cultures 04-12-2011 Drs. Edith Nobel Drs. Willem Reek MCM Copyright 2011

21. Prospects for an “entrepreneurial process of discovery” The business community is intensely participating in regional strategy formation. Students are the future key players in our society. The region has an concerted valorisation agenda across all higher education institutions. Friesland can be characterised as a non-hierarchic society. With its 630.000 inhabitants Friesland maintains the sociologic features of a village.

22. Prospects for an “entrepreneurial process of discovery” Our University Campus Friesland (UCF) is a networked university of (inter)national universities and colleges, living labs and incubators, which together with our technology and innovation centers form the infrastructure for mainly SME’s (new and existing) to leap ahead and explore. Hotspots: –Multilingualism –Watertechnology –Life sciences –Sustainable energy –Agriculture (Dairy Campus) –Tourism In Friesland there are some acknowledged key entrepreneurs and 5 innovation support centers that take others alongside or lend them entrepreneurial space or breeding ground. The regional authoritiy and the 4 main cities provide knowledge support and high quality development areas for emerging business.

23. Outward-oriented aspects of the RIS We have a wide range of international projects (Intereg, such as Vital Rural Areas, Cradle to Cradle and Smart cities, FP7, European Knowledge networks, NPLD, EROC). We have a European based knowledge cooperation strategy. We assess our strategy regularly vis-à-vis competitor and partner regions in the setting of a wide range of European projects. The province of Friesland is very eager to learn form others at any state of the process we are in. The only way a rural peripherical region can innovate is with open arms.

24. Future orientation of the S3 process Implementation scenarios: –Regional learning living lab (L3) –Regional Smart Specialisation (S3) –Regional Digital Agenda Friesland –Hot spots valorisation program (UCF) –Biobased Society (on a regional scale) Flexibility towards emerging challenges is created by shared holistic responsibility for all partners: cooperation. We have learned from our history of agriculture and finance co operations, which are strongly embedded in Frisian society. Monitoring mechanisms from European partnerships and projects together with international knowledge institutes are used for evaluation and comparison.

25. Summary and next steps S3 is implemented on short term by participating in European calls together with our Vanguard partner regions Catalunya, Helsinki and Flanders with a joined Smart Specialisation Agreement. An overview of comparable regional development agendas of partner regions in Europe will provide us leads on a medium term to develop a regional innovation strategy for smart specialisation. Our main challenges: –not to let smart specialisation narrow the path of our integral regional development. –to change our own role as regional government. What we hope to gain from this meeting: The conception of a integral European regional, innovative, cultural, research and development and digital policy to connect to our own integral strategy with an implementation strategy that will work on a regional scale.