The conference involved projects funded under the BMBF’s Region.Innovativ scheme and revolved around community-driven discussions on how to strengthen rural areas’ human, infrastructural and innovation-related capacities while placing local needs and priorities at the center of development strategies. It was hosted by Leipzig University’s Faculty of Economics and Management Science and organized by Dr. Ana Beatriz Ribeiro, Prof. Utz Dornberger and their team in collaboration with the DLR Projektträger.
An event highlight was a series of workshops with the direct participation of community members from the districts of Nordsachsen and Meißen (Saxony) and Burgenlandkreis (Saxony-Anhalt) on Day 2 of the conference. The interactive sessions and the networking in between gave these local practitioners and the projects’ researchers from all over Germany the opportunity not only to exchange valuable insights and experiences but also to form connections for future collaborations.
Among the presenters providing tools for greater community involvement in local innovation ecosystems were Björn Bloss (WeCreate), Katrin Schade (Leipzig University) and Frank Wältring (Mesopartner).
For more information on SEPT’s related ongoing research project on regional innovation, visit the link.
