#15 Find your regional match: online speed networking for stakeholders
The I3 Instrument, funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), supports interregional collaboration in shared smart specialisation areas, fostering innovation-driven industrial transitions and cross-regional value chains. As part of the Work Programme 2025–2027, the new Strand 2b call is open and will remain open until 19 March 2026. This call represents a significant opportunity for more developed and transition regions to strengthen innovation capacity, and for less developed regions to connect with broader European ecosystems. However, identifying suitable partners with complementary strengths and shared priorities remains a challenge. To help address this, the 15th I3 Support Facility virtual event provided a structured online matchmaking format to support early partnership-building for future I3 project proposals.
What this event offered
Participants had the opportunity to:
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meet potential partners from other EU regions considering engagement in I3 projects;
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explore complementarities and shared smart specialisation areas;
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launch early-stage discussions that may lead to concrete I3 consortia or other cooperation opportunities.
Event format
The session consisted of three networking rounds in small breakout groups (3–4 participants), each lasting around 20 minutes, supported by light thematic prompts to guide discussion. An optional fourth round was offered at the end for additional exchanges.
Moderators
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Justina Ivanova – I3 Support Facility, Civitta
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Simona Račiūnaitė – I3 Support Facility, Civitta
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Sander van der Molen – I3 Support Facility, Civitta
Participation at a glance
In total, 109 registrations were recorded, representing 98 unique organisations. Several countries were especially well represented, with the highest number of registrations coming from Spain and Italy, followed by Romania, France, Hungary and Greece (see country distribution graph).
What participants are looking for
Based on the descriptions submitted during registration, participants most frequently indicated interest in technology transfer and R&D collaboration and public–private cooperation/regional development (each mentioned by roughly one third of registrations).
This was closely followed by consortium building and project partner search, reflecting strong demand for concrete cooperation pathways beyond initial networking.
In terms of thematic focus, the most commonly referenced areas were Digitalisation/Industry 4.0 and Circular economy/Sustainability, alongside Health/Medtech and Energy/Clean tech (see topic breakdown graph).
Key takeaways
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Clear demand for applied collaboration: The strongest signals were around technology transfer, R&D cooperation, and public–private collaboration, suggesting participants are seeking implementation-oriented partnerships rather than exploratory networking alone.
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High interest in building consortia: Partner search and consortium building ranked among the most frequent needs, indicating readiness to move from matchmaking to structured proposal development.
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Strong alignment with core I3 priorities: Digitalisation/Industry 4.0 and circular economy/sustainability emerged as dominant themes, with additional momentum in health and clean-tech - areas where cross-regional value chains and demonstrators are particularly relevant.
Partner search profile
The table below compiles the partner-search entries submitted in the context of the event, including each organisation’s country/region, a brief profile, and their stated cooperation interests. These entries are intended to make it easier for participants and stakeholders to identify relevant counterparts for follow-up discussions and potential consortium-building.
How to follow up
If you identify a potential match in the table, please contact the I3 Support Facility via the Partner Search support form.