10th Regional Leaders‘ Summit: ‘Seven Leading Regions‘ discussed smart strategies for a sustainable world
Upper Austria hands over the RLS chair to Shandong Province
In a highly competitive global economy, regions that are open to the world, willing to exchange ideas with others and striving to compete with the best, stand to be at the vanguard. This is exactly what the seven RLS regions have achieved in their long-standing network. Together, they want to seize the opportunities of the smart revolution that is happening around the world for their regions, their environment and the people in those regions.
On November 11, 2021 at the 10th Regional Leaders Summit hosted by Upper Austria that goal has been officially reaffirmed. For the first time due to the worldwide pandemic the leaders met virtually.
Befitting the summit’s theme ‘Smart Region’, a multilateral best practice collection was created together with all Bavaria, the US state of Georgia, the Brazilian state of São Paulo, the Canadian province of Québec, Shandong Province in China and Western Cape in South Africa.
Upper Austria as the host region implemented this project under the motto ‘connect the best’. It was presented at the summit by Dr. Johann Lefanda, head of the Upper Austrian Future Academy. This smart project collection is now available on the homepage www.smart-region.at.
In addition to the smart region exchange, the summit showcased the work of the joint RLS-Sciences science network. The year before, politics and science had already met for an exchange on COVID-19 and – at the behest of Bavaria – set the starting signal for the ‘Digital Health Initiative’, which has evolved into an independent research group.
Dr. Florence Gauzy, RLS-Sciences Lead Management in Munich and Dr. Sebastian Goers as the president of RLS-Sciences provided insights into the network’s successes to date and the current and upcoming of this global and innovative network. Read more at: www.rls-sciences.org
The highlight of every two-year RLS presidency is the signing of the joint final declaration. By linking technological and social innovations, we can strengthen economic competitiveness, increase people’s quality of life and reduce the consumption of resources.
For almost 20 years now, the constant exchange between the seven economically strong regions has been designed to ensure that a joint, efficient and sustainable response is made to new opportunities and challenges. This path will be followed together in order to continue to push the future viability of the regions with smart projects. This commitment was also again inscribed in the joint declaration.
You find detailed information on: www.smart-region.at