Stakeholders' engagement beyond the EDP : the working-groups on governance and human resources in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace

The activities described in this policy brief were undertaken as part of a European Parliament Preparatory Action, which ran between September 2014 and November 2015. The Preparatory Action has built on the prior efforts and analysis carried out by the Greek region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (REMTh) between 2012 and 2014, with the aim of complementing and reinforcing them. It has revolved around three main aims: to facilitate the refinement and implementation of the S3 strategy in a region heavily hit by the crisis; to serve as a model for other convergence regions in Greece and Europe; to test theories on smart specialisation. These goals have been pursued through three, overlapping, streams of activity, aimed at: 1. Ongoing mapping, stocktaking and assessment of the development of the S3 strategy and identification of actions to ensure its smooth implementation; 2. Testing and optimising an entrepreneurial discovery process (EDP) by engaging stakeholders and policy makers in participatory exercises; 3. Bottom-up capacity-building for a sustainable S3 development and implementation. This brief focuses on the third of these streams. It details the establishment and outcomes of two working groups specifically set up under the preparatory action. The first sought to develop a regional governance system for RIS3 in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (Governance working group thereafter) and the second a strategy for the region to enhance human resources mobility both within the private and public sector and internationally (Human resources working group).