Involvement of wide groups of stakeholders in the RIS process, the role of communication

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Involvement of wide groupsof stakeholders in
the RIS process, the role of communication
Zoya Damianova, Applied Research and
Communications Fund, Bulgaria First
Methodological Workshop for the new RIS
projects 7-8 July 2005, Vilnius, Lithuania

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Contents of the presentation

• Background information
• Information on the South Central Region of
  Bulgaria
• Regional stakeholders
• Our approach
• Communication tools employed during
• Stage 0 of the project
• Conclusions and recommendations

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Background information

• In 1999 the adoption of the Law on Regional
  Development and the National Plan for Regional
  Development (NPRD) laid the grounds for the
  development of a coherent regional policy in
  Bulgaria.
• NPRD specifies 6 regions for planning in terms of
  implementation of the regional policy. They
  represent the territorial framework for
  development and implementation of regional
  development programmes.
• Conclusion regions have been set up
  administratively, not historically emerged

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Background information

• The region that made the first step - the RIS
  project for the South Central Region of Bulgaria
  was a pilot initiative and the only one from the
  first generation of RIS-NAC projects
• Building up the regional identity!

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Information on the South Central Region of
Bulgaria

• The South Central region, covering 27,553 km²,
  represents approximately a quarter of the total
  surface of Bulgaria. The region has 2 million
  inhabitants and has borders with Greece and
  Turkey. The region is composed of six districts -
  Plovdiv, Pazardjik, Haskovo, Stara Zagora,
  Kurdjali, and Smolyan. There are six universities
  on the territory of the region.
• The industrial sector accounts for 26 of
  regional GDP, while services represent 58 and
  agriculture 16. Food, beverages and tobacco are
  the most prominent industries. Other important
  industries are those of metal processing, machine
  production, wood processing, textiles and
  footwear.

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The Bulgarian Planning Regions

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Regional Stakeholders

• The Commission for Economic and Social Cohesion
  of the South Central Region
• The District Authority of Plovdiv
• The District Authority of Pazardjik
• The District Authority of Haskovo
• The District Authority of Smolyan
• The District Authority of Stara Zagora
• The District Authority of Kurdjaly
• The municipalities in the region
• The regional SMEs
• The business associations and branch chambers
• The regional development agencies
• The research and technology organisations
• The universities
• The banks
• The media

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RIS Definition Stage - Specific tasks for the
South Central Region of Bulgaria

• Setting up the management structure of the
  project Steering Committee
• Setting up an Advisory Committee with the task
  to support the process of regional consensus
  building and the acceptance of the project
• Awareness raising in the South Central region on
  the objectives of the project and the potential
  benefits for the region.
• Building regional consensus
• Definition and fine-tuning of the project
  methodology for Stage 1 and Stage 2
• Elaboration and fine-tuning of the work programme
  describing the tasks, steps and deliverables of
  the actions to be undertaken during Stage 1 and
  Stage 2
• Desk research of existing data, documents,
  studies and analyses concerning the regional
  innovation system and economic tissue

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RIS Definition Stage

• The most important task is to build regional
  consensus on the objectives of the RIS project
  and to gain the trust of the regional
  stakeholders.
• HOW?
• Involve the regional stakeholders in the RIS
  process, make them your partners widespread
  ownership of results.

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Our approach for work in the region

• Bottom-up approach strengthened dialogue and
  discussions among all regional stakeholders.
• Regional approach responsive to the regional
  needs and demand for innovation.
• Strategic approach elaboration of concrete
  short-term, medium-term and long-term actions and
  launching pilot regional and trans-border
  initiatives to ensure the sustainability of the
  RIS/SC-Bg.
• International approach cooperation with EU
  regions, use of the RIS methodology
• The concrete task was to involve as many as
  possible regional experts during the
  implementation of the project.

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Communication tools employed during the
Definition Stage

• Communication Strategy personal and
  non-personal communication tools
• Communication Plan for the Definition Stage
  concrete steps for promoting the project, raising
  awareness and building consensus around its
  objectives

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Communication tools employed during the
Definition Stage

• A high-level launching policy conference on
  November 30, 2001 in Plovdiv with 86 participants
  
• A series of 5 awareness raising seminars in the
  region
• 61 meetings with regional key actors in all 6
  major districts to build consensus around the
  project objectives and to discuss the methodology
  and the work programme for the next stages, thus
  gaining their support for the next two stages of
  the project. Identification of experts for the
  Advisory Committee.
• A series of 11 meetings with national and
  regional experts to discuss the methodology of
  the regional studies.
• Desk research Economic Profile of the South
  Central Region, identification of 10 driving
  sectors of the regional economy

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Communication tools employed during the
Definition Stage

• Setting up the Steering Committee and the
  Advisory Committee and a joint working meeting on
  June 14, 2002 in Plovdiv, presenting the draft of
  the economic profile of the region and the
  revised methodology.
• A follow-up series of workshops in all 6 major
  cities in the region to discuss the economic
  profile and the regional priority sectors
  following the request of the Steering Committee
  and the Advisory Committee not initially
  planned.
• Finalisation of the economic profile, the
  methodology and the work programme and a meeting
  of the Steering Committee to approve them
• 2 issues of the bulletin Innovation.BG (7 in
  total for the project)
• Launch of the web-site of the project
  www.innovation.bg, one promotional leaflet.
• Study visits to the EU partnering regions the
  region of Thessaly and Saxony Anhlat/Lower
  Saxony, and working meetings with the EU partners
  jointly with the Chairman of the Commission for
  Economic and Social Cohesion, a study visit of
  the six district governors to the Region of
  Thessaly in Greece

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The commitment of the region during Stage 1

• 1 work group on the questionnaire for the
  demand-side
• 1 work group on the questionnaire for the
  supply-side
• 1 work group on the questionnaire for the
  intermediaries
• 10 thematic groups for the demand-side study
  composed of regional experts from industry and
  research (397 companies studied through
  face-to-face interviews, 8 focus groups
  organised) sectoral approach
• A series of thematic groups meetings in Dec 02
  Feb 03 devising the sector-specific parts of
  the questionnaire for the demand-side study (1
  common part and 10 sectoral parts)
• 6 working groups for the districts for the
  supply-side study (49 RTOs and universities, 18
  intermediaries) horizontal approach
• a total of 40 working meetings of the work groups
• 1 contact point in each district administration

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The commitment of the region during Stage 1

• 124 regional experts involved in the project
• Regional conference with 71 participants in April
  03
• 17 consultancy sessions with national and
  regional consultants
• 6 regional workshops to present the results of
  the regional studies of demand and supply
• Collaboration with experts from the Ministry of
  Economy to develop the sectoral analyses
• 8 focus groups for 4 sectors qualitative
  information, complementing the surveys
• 1 issue of the Innovation.Bg bulletin
• Maintenance of the web site
• Articles and announcements in the media
• 2 meetings of the Steering Committee and 1
  meeting of the Advisory Committee
• Strong support from the district authorities

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The commitment of the region during Stage 2

• 4 regional workshops to consult the regional
  stakeholders about conclusions and identified
  priorities upon completion of the analyses of the
  studies
• Information day on the forthcoming call for RIS
  projects held on December 5, 2003 at the Boyana
  Conference Centre (Sofia) with 132 participants,
  that was jointly organised with CM International,
  UK, the IRE Central Unit and DG Enterprise of the
  European Commission.
• Setting up 3 multi-disciplinary working groups to
  perform the SWOT analysis of the regional
  innovation system, to develop the innovation
  strategy for the region and the corresponding
  First Regional Innovation Plan, and the
  Evaluation and Monitoring System as part of the
  Strategy.
• Maintenance of the web site
• Articles and announcements in the media

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The commitment of the region during Stage 2

• A series of 5 working meetings for finalising the
  SWOT analysis in the period October 2003-January
  2004.
• A series of 10 working meetings for developing
  the RIS and elaborating the First Regional
  Innovation Plan in the period January -May 2004.
• 4 round table discussions to present the concept
  of the regional innovation strategy held in
  Kurdjali (17 February 2004), Stara Zagora (18
  February 2004), Smolyan (20 April 2004) and
  Pazardjik (21 April 2004) as well as to get the
  opinion and recommendations of the regional
  stakeholders about the proposed structure,
  priorities and time-horizon of RIS.
• Concluding regional conference on May 21, 2004
  with 80 participants, among which key actors from
  all 6 regions for planning in Bulgaria,
  representatives from the Ministry of Economy and
  the Ministry of Regional Development and Public
  Works, partners from the EU partnering regions,
  and others.
• 3 meetings of the Steering Committee and 1 joint
  meeting of the Steering Committee and the
  Advisory Committee
• 4 issues of Innovation.BG bulletin

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Conclusions and recommendations

• Involve the regional administration in the
  project implementation contact points,
  political support, coherence with the regional
  policy for economic development
• Involve industry from the beginning difficult
  but not impossible, acceptance of the project and
  its results
• Work with regional experts respond to the
  regional needs Organise joint industry science
  meetings
• Work with the media make them your promoters
• Have a regional conference and a press conference
  in the end of each stage communicate with all
  regional stakeholder groups, invite national
  stakeholders to ensure coherence with national
  policies