Municipality of Gabrovo: engaging the public in a plan for innovation

Gabrovo’s innovation eco-system lacks public engagement regarding Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3). This leads to insufficient knowledge and weak initiatives on the part of community actors regarding generating and implementing innovative solutions relevant to the territory.

With the realization of a transformative experiment, the RRI notion will be introduced in the territory among local stakeholders. This will lead to positive change in the institutions, involved in the experiment, making them inclusive and responsive to territorial needs. Regarding the participants in the co-working process, their views and ideas will be voiced and shared, their potential realised and their knowledge deepened.  New links and relations will be formed in the community and new territory-related capacities developed. The R&I concept will be brought closer to people and their territory. The main local actors will become more sensitive and responsive to the societal needs and considerate to the existing territorial reality. 

The territorial experiment will explore the means and approaches to achieving public response and involvement in S3 development through the structuring and implementing of a Public Engagement Plan for S3 development. The Plan’s co-design process will consist of 4 main stages with different purpose (a general introductory meeting, three bilateral meetings, writeshop and summit), interrelated and complementing each other in achieving  awareness about the RRI concept and building motivation for co-working and sharing innovation capacity among the main territorial stakeholders.

This video bellow looks at the work being carried out in the Municipality of Gabrovo (Bulgaria) in the framework of the project.