Pamplona hosted the closing meeting of the European project ARIES4. This initiative has brought together for three years the regions of Navarra (Spain), Värmland (Sweden), South Denmark (Denmark) and Gabrovo (Bulgaria) with the aim of strengthening business sustainability through innovation and training.
Among the main achievements of the project is the development of a free self-assessment tool that allows companies to measure their level of sustainability, compare themselves with others in the same sector and receive personalised recommendations. Collaboration between university and vocational training students has also been promoted through workshops, in which real challenges proposed by local companies in the field of sustainability have been addressed.
In this context, the UPNA hosted the final day of the project on 10 April, which included strategic meetings of the Project Steering Committee and the AGB, as well as a visit to the Jerónimo de Ayanz Centre, home to the academic institution's research institutes.
The consortium learns about the InnovaRSE model
The programme began on 8 April at the headquarters of the Mancomunidad de la Comarca de Pamplona, with the presentation of the progress of the different work packages and a guest lecture. At this conference, the InnovaRSE model, a sustainable business management tool developed by the Government of Navarra, was presented to the members of the consortium. The presentation was given by two representatives of the Department of Social Rights, Social Economy and Employment of the Government of Navarra: Iñaki Mendióroz Casallo, Director General of Social Economy and Employment, and Javier Zubicoa León, Director of the Employment Service.
The following day, the Baluarte Conference Centre hosted the international workshop "Towards S4", focusing on innovation policies and industrial sustainability. At this meeting, the results of the mid-term evaluation of the Sustainable Smart Specialisation Strategy (S4) of Navarre, drawn up by the consultancy firm Ayming and coordinated by SODENA, were presented, reflecting significant progress in the implementation of sustainable policies in the region.
Smart specialisation strategies are regional economic development models promoted by the European Union that seek to concentrate resources in areas where each region has significant competitive advantages, considering its economic and scientific-technological potential, as well as the evolution of demand.
The ARIES4 project has concluded by reaffirming the commitment of the participating regions to a sustainable transition. They all share some socio-economic characteristics such as being peripheral and sparsely populated regions. The importance of interregional cooperation and smart specialisation strategies to meet the challenges of sustainable development in Europe has also been underlined.
