In its first year (2019-2020), POLISS focused on the initial phase of its program, which included recruiting 14 ESRs from multidisciplinary backgrounds, establishing the management and infrastructure of the project, and building the POLISS community. The program set the groundwork for its core activities, which involved training the ESRs and creating a solid foundation for future collaborations and research.
Over the next years (2021-2024), the POLISS Network organized a series of training activities designed to support the development of the ESRs and enhance their expertise in Smart Specialisation and regional innovation policies. These training activities included 6 compulsory courses (3 method courses and 3 content courses), as well as several training schools and additional training courses:
• First POLISS Summer School in Utrecht (September 2021)
• Training School in Milan with GEOINNO (July 2022)
• Training School in Pécs (August-September 2022)
• Text Mining Course in Valencia (November 2022)
• Training School in Stavanger (January-February 2023)
• Training School in Valencia (June 2023)
• Future of Innovation Policies Workshop in Geneva in collaboration with WIPO (March 2023)
• Migration and Innovation Research Agenda Course in Milan (May 2023)
• Advanced Text Mining Course in Valencia (July 2023)
In addition, ESRs engaged in academic and non-academic secondments to apply their research in real-world contexts.
Dissemination efforts in POLISS were strategically targeted at three key stakeholder groups to ensure the research reached the right audiences:
1. Scientific Community: This included scholars in innovation, science and technology policy, economic geography, and regional studies. Dissemination was through peer-reviewed publications, conferences, and platforms like X (Twitter). POLISS members attended major conferences, such as the 6th Global Conference in Economic Geography (2022) and the Geography of Innovation Conference (2022), presenting their research.
2. Policy-makers: Targeting regional governments, EU institutions, and development agencies, POLISS engaged through policy briefs, policy conferences, and workshops with organizations like OECD and Technopolis. Events such as the Training Schools in Utrecht (2021) and Milan (2022), as well as the Future of Innovation Policies workshop in Geneva (2023), facilitated direct collaboration with policymakers.
3. General Public: Including business communities and non-profits in regional development, dissemination was via social media, the POLISS website, and expert networks, ensuring the research had a practical impact beyond academia.
A key feature of POLISS was its collaboration with the non-academic sector, especially regional policymakers. This included panels with organizations like the OECD and the European Commission's JRC, and private-sector companies like Economics 505 and Deliveroo, aimed at applying ESRs’ research to Smart Specialisation policy.
Other key stakeholders included:
• Rabobank, Province of Utrecht, LE2C Cluster (Italy)
• Banka Intesa and the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (Hungary)
• JRC of the European Commission (Spain), TechnopolisGroup, OECD
• Mercadona, Port Authority of Valencia (Spain)
• WIPO, EPFL, UCLA
POLISS members were present at over 50 conferences and events, including the RSA Annual Conference (2023) in Ljubljana and DRUID Conference (2023) in Lisbon. A tracker monitored these efforts, showing academic workshops and seminars had the highest attendance, with 42% of events hosting over 100 participants. Many events also attracted both academic and policymaker audiences.
Regarding publications, POLISS members published 35 articles in peer-reviewed journals, with more papers under review. This strong output reflects the network's commitment to advancing Smart Specialisation research.
