28 March 2006 Successful RFO-Management: Conference Report Bologna, Italy – More than 100 representatives of regions across Europe met in Bologna’s Palazzo Ratta on 24 March 2006 to discuss about successful management of European interregional cooperation projects. The international conference was co-organised by the INTERREG IIIC East Secretariat and the Emilia-Romagna Region. RFOs are grant-giving “Regional Framework Operations” that support the strategic cooperation of regions across Europe. They support partnerships of several regions that launch subprojects involving different types of institutions, opening their way to international cooperation and stimulating innovative regional development practices in areas such as energy efficiency, entrepreneurship and research and development. In Bologna, eight regions from Italy, Austria, Germany, Greece and the Czech Republic presented and discussed good practices in working with other regions in the framework of EU-funded RFOs funded by INTERREG IIIC East. In a cross-fertilization workshop preceding the conference they discussed and identified key success factors for RFO management and elaborated recommendations for the next programming period. The regional representatives also learned that the EU will continue to fund interregional cooperation and networking in the next funding period 2007-2013 and that future EU-funded operations will mainly have to focus on improving regional policies to promote jobs and growth, improve regional innovation capacity as well as the environment. Discussing the future interregional cooperation programme, regional delegates called for a continuation of RFO-type of operations in the next programming period. "Regional Framework Operations focus on strong partnerships addressing real needs of the regions. They can better cover the main axes of regional development strategies in an integrated way than any other type of operations", as one of the Lead Partner representatives put it. INTERREG IIIC is an EU funded programme that helps Europe’s regions work together on common projects aimed at growth and jobs, a better environment and social cohesion. INTERREG IIIC currently supports 267 projects that connect more than 2600 institutions from regions across Europe. Sharing their experiences and know-how within INTERREG IIIC helps regions to find solutions faster and develop new ideas. As a result regions are better connected and improve their innovation capacity and competitiveness. SPEAKER QUOTES SPEAKER QUOTES "RFOs can better cover the main axes of regional development strategies in an integrated way than any other type of operation. They may become the method of choice to manage interregional actions inside future Objective 1 and 2 programmes" - Carlos Bolanos, JTS EAST "RFOs are probably the most intelligent of regional development programmes, the give regional partnerships the chance to have a real impact, as in our case through creating pioneer networks and professional service centres to foster and coordinate innovative initiatives with the stakeholders in the regions" through " - Engel Ruoss, RFO INNOREF "We are using the RFOs not only to achieve our climate protection goals but to involve local actors in EU programme structures and strenghten their knowledge and interest in EU regional policy" - Werner Sommer, Saxony, DE, RFO ENERCYREGIO "This RFO is a central driving force for us and our regions to prepare for the territorial development projects in the next programming period" - Biago Perretti, Basilicata, IT, RFO GRIPIT "Our subprojects are driven by the interest of companies and business stakeholders that have cooperation agreements with R&D institutions, putting innovation in our regions on the fast track." - Andreas Hubinger, Upper Austria, AT, RFO REGINS "RFOs allow for decentralised decision-making on subprojects. Through this they are much better suited for implementing innovative actions in the regions than any central decision-making process." - Heinrich Wedral, Burgenland, AT, RFO Sitar "We use our RFO to bring innovation to farming through linking farmers to information technologies and the Internet" - Petr Jakob, Mazowieckie, PL, RFO E-FARMER "From evaluating the RFO Enable with the bottle-neck analysis method we learned that in all participating regions partner institutions with similar levels of decision-making should be involved." - Katja Königstein, Taurus Institute, University of Trier, DE "Subproject creation in RFOs ensures mutual understanding and the close cooperation between regions and local actors." - Petra Schwarz, Sachsen-Anhalt, RFO Tourisme “The RFO GROW supports the Regional Territorial Plan and in particular the Emilia-Romagna ‘Pact for the Lisbon and Gothenburg Agenda’. Together with our partners we share the vision of smart growth.” - Paola Dosi, Emilia-Romagna, IT, RFO GROW “Our Minister of Economy praised the RFO ENABLE for being of strategic importance as it supports the international orientation of the region and contributes to establishing crucial management competencies for EU programmes." - Christiane Lichte, Thüringen, RFO Enable Please see the section below for slide presentations: Presentations RFO Forum Bologna (7.8 MB/) Agenda RFO Event (62.4 KB/) Participant list (130.5 KB/) Pictures RFO Forum 24 March (508.0 KB/) For more information contact Claus Schultze at the INTERREG IIIC East Joint Technical Secretariat, T: +43 1 4000 76142, Email: claus.schultze@interreg3c.net.