ABSTRACT
The first phase of smart specialisation focused on development of regional place-based strategies, including analysis of regional domains, governance, priorities and monitoring, enabling entrepreneurial discovery processes. Based on evaluations of results from this period, the next step is to grow larger, stronger and more dynamic regional and transnational innovation ecosystems. This is achieved by connecting regional partnerships to macro-regional and European knowledge networks, such as transnational thematic partnerships. This chapter documents key steps made by the European Commission, regional partners and clusters in organising these networks, through scoping, mapping, monitoring and multi-level systems of governance. The relation between these transnational networks and the experiments with pilots undertaken in 2018 is mentioned. Various cases, such as textile, agriculture, photonics and 3D printing are used as examples. The chapter presents a conceptual framework for analysing how this experiment may have impacts on transnational learning, entrepreneurial discovery processes and innovation ecosystems through the concepts of regional knowledge space, relational knowledge space and third space. A successful case of institutionalisation, co-management of a knowledge commons within photonics, is presented.
