Registration open!
The Annual I3 Instrument Forum 2026 will take place on 1 October 2026 in Brussels, bringing together the I3 community to showcase project results, strengthen interregional value chains and discuss the future of the Instrument within Cohesion Policy.
The Forum will highlight concrete achievements, with particular attention to the contribution of less developed regions and the impact of interregional innovation investments across Europe.
Please note that registration does not constitute automatic confirmation of participation. To ensure balanced representation across regions, sectors and stakeholder groups, all registrations will be reviewed individually and confirmed by the organisers.
The annual meeting of the I3 coordinators aims to bring projects together, introduce them to one another and foster synergies. It will provide a platform to exchange implementation experiences, explore complementarities and identify concrete cooperation opportunities across regions and value chains.
The meeting will offer a dedicated space for peer learning, including sessions of the I3 Discussion Groups and the Capacity Building Heroes Working Group, facilitated by the I3 Support Facility. Overall, the day will strengthen the community of practitioners, foster closer connections across projects, promote shared learning and enhance the impact of I3 investments across regions and value chains.
The Annual I3 Instrument Forum 2026 aims to reflect on the achievements and regional impact of the I3 Instrument across European regions, foster networking across the extended I3 community, and provide evidence to support a strong I3 Instrument within post-2027 cohesion policy.
The Forum will open with a high-level session marking the mid-point of the I3 Instrument and reflecting on its results and impact across European regions. The programme will feature a plenary on achievements and portfolio trends, followed by panel discussions on strengthening regional innovation capacity, scaling investment outcomes across value chains and mainstreaming I3 results into Cohesion Policy programmes. The day will connect concrete project experience with forward looking policy reflections on the future of interregional innovation investments beyond 2027.
Speakers
Moderator
Sander van der Molen
Managing Partner of Startup & Innovation Ecosystems, CIVITTA
Sander van der Molen is Managing Partner of Startup & Innovation Ecosystems at Civitta and a member of the I3 Instrument Support Facility team. He has extensive experience in innovation policy, digitalisation, technology transfer, innovation ecosystems, and startup and scale-up development. Within the I3 Instrument Support Facility, he contributes to stakeholder engagement and networking activities, helping to strengthen connections, collaboration, and knowledge exchange across the I3 Instrument community.
Representative from the European Commission
To be confirmed
Representative from the European Commission
To be confirmed
Moderator
Sander van der Molen
Managing Partner of Startup & Innovation Ecosystems, CIVITTA
Sander van der Molen is Managing Partner of Startup & Innovation Ecosystems at Civitta and a member of the I3 Instrument Support Facility team. He has extensive experience in innovation policy, digitalisation, technology transfer, innovation ecosystems, and startup and scale-up development. Within the I3 Instrument Support Facility, he contributes to stakeholder engagement and networking activities, helping to strengthen connections, collaboration, and knowledge exchange across the I3 Instrument community.
Jose Carlos Caldeira
Advisor of the Presidency, INESC TEC
José Carlos Caldeira is advisor of the Presidency of INESC TEC. He is member of the MANUFUTURE High Level Group and Chairman of its Implementation Support Group. He is also member of the Board of EFFRA – European Factories of the Future Research Association and member of the Association Delegation of IAM-I – The Innovative Advanced Materials Initiative. He is invited professor at Porto Faculty of Economics, on Innovation Policies. Between October 2014 and January 2018, he was the President of ANI – the Portuguese National Innovation Agency.
Eva Nussmüller
Deputy Head of Unit, European Commission
Eva Nussmueller is acting Head of Unit at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO), currently leading work on smart and sustainable growth, regional competitiveness, and the Just Transition Fund. With over 15 years of experience in EU cohesion policy, she has contributed to key initiatives including urban policy, the New European Bauhaus, or cross border cooperation. Eva holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the Vienna University of Economics and Business and has lectured on regional innovation.
Francesca Doria
Head of Unit, EISMEA
Francesca heads the unit implementing placed based innovation support schemes for the benefits of regions, cities, clusters and other ecosystems in Europe and beyond. Her team is responsible for the European Innovation Ecosystem programme in Horizon Europe and for the I3 programme in the European Regional Development Fund.
Santiago Donat
I3 Support Facility
Jan-Philipp Kramer
I3 Support Facility
Moderator
Susana Elena Perez
Senior Researcher & Policy Analyst, EFIS Centre
Susana Elena-Pérez is a senior researcher and policy analyst with over 18 years of experience in research and innovation policy, smart specialisation, regional innovation ecosystems, interregional cooperation and knowledge transfer. As a senior expert at the EFIS Centre, she has contributed to several European Commission initiatives, including the S3 Community of Practice, the Policy Support Facility and the I3 Support Facility. Currently, she coordinates the I3 Support Facility Policy Lab and its Discussion Groups. Previously, she worked for over eight years at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Seville.
Karolien de Bruin
Teammanager Innovation Energy & Europe, Regional Development Agency East Netherlands Oost NL
Karolien de Bruin is Team Manager Energy & Europe for the Regional Development Agency of the East Netherlands, Oost NL. Responsible for accelerating regional innovation in SMEs driving the energy transition and European collaboration, based on the Think East Netherlands Innovation Compas on the themes Smart Energy, Digital Industry & Technology, Smart Food Production, Circular, and Medtech& Prevention. Proud to represent two European Regional Innovation Valleys: Gelderland and Overijssel. She has extensive experience in European collaboration, as former chair of the Vanguard Initiative. Active in EURADA, the European umbrella organisation of RDAs.
Adam Priechodsky
Project manager, Autoklastr
Adam Priechodsky is Project Manager at Autoklastr, the Czech Republic’s automotive cluster organisation, where he leads European initiatives supporting innovation, resilience and competitiveness in the automotive sector. He coordinates the Bridge & Shift project, bringing together partners and automotive ecosystems across European regions and overseeing strategic implementation, work packages and EU grant requirements. His expertise spans cluster development, regional innovation strategies, and facilitating knowledge exchange between advanced and emerging automotive ecosystems.
Cristina Baghiu
Hub coordinator, Digital Innovation Zone
Cristina Baghiu is an innovation ecosystem builder and Coordinator of Digital Innovation Zone, the European Digital Innovation Hub for North-East Romania. She has over 25 years of experience in business management, digital transformation and cross-sector collaboration. As founder of Atelierul de Idei and GoodTech Living Lab, an ENoLL-accredited Living Lab, she supports SMEs, public organisations and innovators in responsible AI adoption, societal readiness and access to innovation funding. Her work focuses on connecting European instruments, regional ecosystems and practical experimentation to accelerate sustainable digital transformation.
Representative from I3 Strand 1 project DeremCo
To be confirmed
Moderator
Wolfgang Münch
Senior Expert, Deputy Head of Unit (ff), European Commission - DG REGIO
Wolfgang is a Senior Expert and acts as Deputy Head of Unit in DG REGIO's Smart and Sustainable Growth Unit.
Representative from the European Commission
To be confirmed
Ročāns Kristaps
Senior policy officer, Interreg Europe Joint Secretariat
Senior Policy Officer in Interreg Europe Joint Secretariat, focus on the topics of S3, Innovation, Digitalization and Industrial transformation. Previous experience in Project management in various EU fund programmes and Bioeconomy Cluster coordination and internationalization role.
Moderator
Rene Wijlens
Executive director, Cluster Sports and Technology
René Wijlens, MSc in Biomedical Engineering (University of Twente), is Director of Cluster Sports & Technology and Executive Director of the European Platform for Sports Innovation (EPSI). With over 25 years of experience in innovation ecosystems, cluster development, and SME support, he has led numerous regional and European initiatives connecting industry, research, and public authorities. René co-leads European Smart Specialisation Partnerships in Sport & Vitality and Health Resilience and is Coordinator of the I3-InShape project, building a network of Innovation Hubs to accelerate business creation, scale-up, and market uptake for SMEs across Europe.
Paolo Sospiro
CEO, Director, Assistant professor, adjunct professor and associate researcher, EUInnova, EUAbout, Università eCampus, Università Politecnica delle Marche
Bachelor in Political Economy and PhD in Development Economics. Assistant professor of management enginnering at università ecampus. Adjunct professor at università politecnica delle marche and associate researcher at the Centre for innovation and entrepreneurship of the università politecnica delle marche. director of the think tank euabout brussels which is specialized on twin transition on services of general interest. Ceo of the consulting company euinnova brussels which is specialized on supporting SMEs, local authorities and research centres on twin transition.
Sebastian García Galán
Full professor, University of Jaén
Professor García Galán holds a PhD in Telecommunications Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and is a Full Professor at the University of Jaén. His expertise focuses on the application of artificial intelligence to engineering. He served as Dean of the Linares School of Engineering from 2012 to 2020 and has been an advisor to the Spanish National Agency for Evaluation and Foresight (ANEP) since 2009, contributing to the assessment of research projects in the field of Electronics and Communications Technology. He currently coordinates the I3 project “Sustainable Innovation Investment Catapult for Permanent Magnets” (SICAPERMA).
Lucia Gusmaroli
EU Projects & Internationalisation Area Manager, Catalan Water Partnership
Lucia Gusmaroli is EU Projects and Internationalisation Area Manager at the Catalan Water Partnership (CWP), the cluster for the sustainable use of water in Catalonia, Spain. CWP brings together over 170 water-related organisations to promote R&D and innovation, networking and internationalisation. Lucia leads the development and implementation of EU-funded projects within the cluster as well as internationalisation activities. She has a background in Chemistry, a PhD in Water Science and Technology and an MBA. Before joining CWP she was a researcher at the Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), focusing on emerging contaminants in wastewater and surface water.
Kalliopi Kravari
Assistant professor, International Hellenic University
Kalliopi Kravari is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Information and Electronic Systems Engineering of the International Hellenic University (IHU), specializing in Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Expert and Multi-Agent Systems. Her research background includes a postdoctoral fellowship at AUTh (IKY scholarship) on agent-based trust management in the Internet of Things (IoT), and a second postdoctoral research at DUTH focusing on knowledge-based and intelligent agent solutions for environmental challenges. She is a member of the Hellenic Committee of the Blue Shield and the Hellenic Artificial Intelligence Society. From 2021 to 2025, she was the CEO of RESHUB LTD.
Moderator
Sander van der Molen
Managing Partner of Startup & Innovation Ecosystems, CIVITTA
Sander van der Molen is Managing Partner of Startup & Innovation Ecosystems at Civitta and a member of the I3 Instrument Support Facility team. He has extensive experience in innovation policy, digitalisation, technology transfer, innovation ecosystems, and startup and scale-up development. Within the I3 Instrument Support Facility, he contributes to stakeholder engagement and networking activities, helping to strengthen connections, collaboration, and knowledge exchange across the I3 Instrument community.
Wolfgang Münch
Senior Expert, Deputy Head of Unit (ff), European Commission - DG REGIO
Wolfgang is a Senior Expert and acts as Deputy Head of Unit in DG REGIO's Smart and Sustainable Growth Unit.
Representative from the European Commission
To be confirmed
Taking stock
The morning session will celebrate the I3 Instrument at its mid point and focus on concrete results and regional impact. Through keynote interventions, project testimonies and a panel on advancing innovation capacity in regions, discussions will highlight how I3 projects have strengthened innovation ecosystems, supported policy change, and built interregional value chains, in particular in less developed regions.
The session will combine strategic overviews with practical lessons from capacity building and investment projects, illustrating how targeted capacity building actions and innovation investment efforts translate into tangible regional transformation.
Looking forward
The afternoon session will shift the focus towards policy perspectives and future priorities. It will explore how I3 Instrument results can be mainstreamed into regional and national programmes, how synergies with other EU instruments can enhance scale and sustainability, and how project outcomes can continue to generate impact after EU funding ends.
Through expert inputs and a forward looking panel on scaling results across value chains and markets, the discussion will contribute to shaping the role of the I3 Instrument within Cohesion Policy in the post 2027 period.
I3 Instrument in practice
I3 Coordinators' Day focuses on several closed sessions for the existing I3 community. It will bring together all I3 coordinators and inspire them to share their best practices and challenges, while also diving into interactive breakout sessions on key areas related to digital, green, and smart manufacturing.
I3 Discussion Groups and Capacity Building Heroes working groups will meet to tackle thematic, policy, and capacity building topics, discuss the future of the I3 Instrument, and enable projects and regions to learn effectively from each other by sharing challenges and good practices.
Venue
The event will take place at two locations in Brussels. Both venues provide ideal spaces for engaging in insightful conversations, fostering collaboration, and sharing best practices:
Invitation only.
EISMEA
Bd Simon Bolivar 34,
1000 Brussels, Belgium.
Open to all.
DoubleTree by Hilton Brussels City
Rue Gineste 3
1210 Brussels