Reconstructing the theory behind Smart Specialisation Strategies in Europe

Abstract

The objective of the thesis is to provide general overview of the reasoning behind S3 Strategies in Europe – in particular the RIS3 (Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation). In recent years, following the financial crisis that has shaken the European and world economies, the need has re-emerged to devise a new industrial policy model capable of generating a sustainable development path that resolves the macroeconomic, environmental and industrial imbalances that plague the European economy. Up to the Lisbon Strategy, political inability on the part of European and national institutions has failed to draw up an effective vision and strategy capable of waking up the continent from its stagnation. This is the context in which the Smart Specialisation concept came up, taking the form of a regional strategy capable of bringing out local entrepreneurial expertise and connecting it to the stakeholder complex (regional authorities, knowledge insitutions, civil society). The thesis will try to analyse the main concepts and contributions behind the concept of Smart Specialisation and its application through RIS3 regional strategies; a deeper level of scrutiny is given to the Italian and Veneto contexts to portray actual examples of such dynamics at work.