The president of Ámbito B30, Josep Monràs, and the rector of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Javier Lafuente, share the success story of the B30 Hub during the final conference of the European SeeRRI project.

The B30 Hub, a project that Ámbito B30 promoted and founded, was presented as a European success story during the final conference of the SeeRRI project. The initiative to promote innovation in the B30 territory has served as an example to show how collaboration between economic agents, public administrations and generators of knowledge and R&D can promote social and economic growth.

During the session, Josep Monràs, president of the Ámbito B30 Association, stressed that "the B30 Hub was an initiative that Ámbito B30 helped to promote as a catalyst, and we are satisfied with the success of the project". In this sense, he highlighted the participation of Ámbito B30 as a unifying force to give a territorial dimension to the Hub project. "We need to strengthen the links between the university, society, the business world and the territorial public administrations, with the emphasis on sustainability," said Monràs.

On the other hand, the rector of the UAB, Javier Lafuente, emphasised the UAB's desire to become a driving force for economic development in the B30 area. "We believe in territorial cooperation" said Lafuente and for this reason it is necessary "to promote spaces for collaboration between the agents of the quadruple helix - companies, universities, administrations and citizens - such as the B30 Hub".

The aim of the B30 Hub is to promote economic and social development in the B30 area by offering innovative solutions, based on interaction and collaboration between entities and experts, in a multidisciplinary and multisectorial environment of co-ideation and co-creation. The Hub acts as a connector of the territory based on four axes: innovation, cooperation between all agents, resilience to have the capacity to adapt to uncertainty and competitiveness of the territory.

The final conference of the SeeRRI project brought together policy makers, regional stakeholders, researchers, SeeRRI members and related projects, EU officials, citizens interested in the future of Europe and inspiring guest speakers to exchange knowledge and reflections on the future of responsible regional planning and responsible research and innovation (RRI) in Europe and beyond.

The SeeRRI project

The aim of the project is to move towards a model of more sustainable R&I ecosystems, which include all the actors in the territory (research and education, business, administration and citizens, the so-called quadruple helix) and incorporate the principles of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI).

In addition to universities and research centres, the project involves regional governments and business associations. Three European territories with different smart specialisation strategies, one of which is the B-30 area, have been selected as case studies. The UAB and the Generalitat de Catalunya have co-designed a pilot project in this area, together with actors from the territory, to evaluate how to make it compatible to be a highly competitive territory with a decarbonised and waste-free economic development model.