The BRIDGES project implementation period ended on 31st March 2021. However, the project submitted an extension proposal under the 5th call of the Interreg Europe (IE) programme. The proposal was approved by the Monitoring Committee of the IE programme on 23.6.2021.
Therefore, we are happy to share the news, that we are still continuing BRIDGES related actions. To be more concise, we are piloting research findings showing that geographically diversified production structures result in reinforced regional clusters, contributing to the resilience of economies. The BRIDGES extension responds to EC’s New Industrial Strategy COM/2020/102 objective, on strengthening the autonomy of EU industry.
Our aim is to enhance partner regions’ economic resilience, challenged by COVID19. We base our approach on value chain analysis and identification of opportunities for expanding regions’ economic & innovation base, while re-defining long-term complementarities with inter-regional partners. Good practices on value chain analysis and exploration of re-shoring, in-shoring & near- shoring drivers (VCD:s, i.e. product design, technology development, technology integration, flexibility, quality, market proximity & addressing value chain weaknesses (e.g. Green Deal gaps) are supporting our efforts.
Benefiting from the preceding BRIDGES project experience and the pilot action, the BRIDGES 5th call builds on the potential of institutionalized inter-regional complementarities, through jointly agreed RIS3 calls criteria. Further, the BRIDGES 5th call will feed into the methodological tools and complementary actions of the BERRY+ S3 industrial modernisation partnership (https://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/berry and https://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/thematic-areas). A summary of the BRIDGES project additional activities can be found BRIDGES project, additional activities, summary.
We are warmly looking forward to the implementation of our 5th call action plan. We will be regularly providing updates on the progress of our 5th call actions.