Week of Innovative Regions in Europe 2011
The Week of Innovative Regions in Europe 2011 (WIRE2011) conference – which was dedicated to possible relationships between research infrastructures and cluster policy, was held between 7-9 June 2011 in Debrecen, Hungary. The event was supported by the Hungarian EU Council Presidency and was jointly organised with the European Commission.
The conference – which considered the documents ‘EUROPE 2020, a strategy for a smart, sustainable and inclusive development strategy’ and the ‘Innovation Union Flagship Initiative‘ – focused on questions related to knowledge, innovation and competitiveness in economy, with respect to research infrastructure investments, clusters and their effects on how they could support smart growth in different regions.
During the conference round-table discussions were organised, aiming at different aspects of research infrastructures, clusters and regional policy. Topics included:
- research infrastructure development and clusters;
- synergies among European, national and regional policies in the field of research infrastructures;
- the future of cluster policies;
- regional dimension of the Innovation Union;
- smart specialization at regional level;
- financial and legal challenges related to research infrastructures.
The European Physical Society was represented at the conferences by the current president, Luisa Cifarelli, and the chair of the Nuclear Physics Division, Zsolt Fulop.
As a satellite event to WIRE2011, a meeting of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures was also held, on 6 June, in the nearby Institute of Nuclear Research of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (ATOMKI).
As the closing act of the three-day conference, on 9 June, the Debrecen Declaration was adopted, aiming to enhance the competitiveness of Europe by improving the integrated research and innovation policy, primarily with the help of regional-level developments.
