Pilot programme “Innovation and Structural Change”

The pilot programme Innovation and Structural Change (German: WIR! – Wandel durch Innovation in der Region) promotes the development of regional innovation concepts and supports the so-called weak regions throughout the East and the West through approaches that traverse disciplinary, industrial, institutional and administrative lines. It aims to collaborate with universities, research institutes and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in particular, to generate the necessary impulses for dynamic development within these regions. The programme also extends to those stakeholders who lack experience in innovation and operate in the margins of innovation centres. The programme also embraces social and non-technical innovation, focusing on civic engagement.