RESOLVO participated in the 4th interregional meeting of the LOTTI project (Local identity driving traditional industry transition) held in Galway, Ireland from 26-27 September 2024, hosted by project partners NWRA (Norther and Wetstern Regional Assembly) and WestBIC (Official EU Business and Innovation Centre for Ireland’s Border, Midlands and Western Region). The meeting gathered project partners and stakeholders from Finland, Italy, Poland and Spain, while the new partners from Serbia and Albania joined virtually.
The LOTTI project has completed its initial phase focusing on enhancing high-road competitiveness, facilitating industrial transition and fostering local identity.
Project partners shared analyses on local identity and tradition to promote a fair transition, identifying best practices for policy improvement. The agenda included discussions on challenges, evaluations of policy contexts, and the identification of success factors related to high-road competitiveness and place-based strategies.
Key activities included open debates assessing drafts of high-road maps, as well as a survey aimed at understanding capacity needs for staff and stakeholders. This survey explored crucial topics such as citizen engagement techniques and the integration of findings into policy measures, as well as foresight capacities linking local identity to opportunities for industrial transition.
A workshop was held to evaluate how good practices (GPs) of interest could be adapted in other LOTTI regions through potential testing activities, particularly focusing on local identity in relation to industrial transition within the Smart Specialisation (S3) sector of the importing region. The outcomes of this workshop will pave the way for bilateral meetings in the coming weeks. The 4th LOTTI interregional meeting also included a steering committee session with all project partners to align on next steps and strategies.
As part of the event, the hosting partners organised the following study visits relevant to the project:
- Platform94, Galway: a non-profit business and technology centre that supports businesses in western Ireland to scale and grow;
- Údarás na Gaeltachta, Furbough, Spiddal, Co. Galway: the regional authority responsible for the economic, social and cultural development of the Gaeltacht committed to preserving the Irish language for future generations.
- GTEIC Innovation Centre, Spiddal, Galway: a state-of the-art-innovation and digital hub that fosters creativity and innovation rooted in Gaeltacht culture.
- PorterShed, Galway: a co-working space designed for ambitious tech start-ups and scaling companies;
- Bia Innovator Campus, Athenry, Co Galway: Ireland’s leading food incubation and innovation campus, supporting ambitious food with cutting-edge production facilities and essential technological and business support for innovation and scaling.
This interregional meeting highlighted the collaborative efforts of the LOTTI project in promoting local identity and facilitating industrial transition, setting the stage for future initiatives and partnerships.
