The EU-DRIVERS project, funded by the European Commission under the Lifelong Learning Programme for a period of three years (2010-2012), is designed to improve regional cooperation between universities, private sector companies and local governments in order to enhance the innovation capacities of European universities.

Universities are increasingly recognized as being drivers of the economic and social infrastructure in their region. There is growing awareness on how universities can contribute to regional innovation through collaboration with business, local and regional governments and other local actors.The Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs, as well as the Modernisation agenda for Universities, has focused attention on the need to strengthen the ‘knowledge triangle’ of research, innovation and education. The recently announced EU 2020 Strategy by the European Commission highlights regional development and reinforces the focus on the need for innovation: “Knowledge is the engine for sustainable growth. In a fast-changing world, what makes the difference is education and research, innovation and creativity”.

The EU-DRIVERS project seeks to:

 EU-DRIVERS will produce:

 This will be achieved through:

-    A Regional Innovation Virtual Community - A Community of Practice

-  Pilot Regional Innovation Partnership Projects – Universities, public authorities (local/regional government) and business or community organizations.

-   Four Two-day leadership workshops

-  Three Annual Reports on the latest knowledge on regional innovation issues, based on desk research, relevant literature review and example of good practices.

The Flagship initiative “Innovation Union” also stresses the need for an integrated approach between EU, national and regional policies for strategic and focused innovation.

This one-day EU-Drivers conference will review the policy context. It will debate how European regions can be most effective in leading the necessary changes, building on universities as the driving force in their process to collaborate closely with the private sector and regional government. It will also raise provide information on funding opportunities available under the new EU programming from 2013.

The conference is by invitation only for senior university leaders and CEOs of large companies, SMEs and representatives of regional authorities to engage a high level dialogue on new directions for regional innovation, with senior representatives from the European Commission.