Policies for business transformation: key learnings
On 2 July, the Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform organised a webinar on policies for business transformation. The rapid evolution of industrial landscapes across Europe demands a comprehensive approach to ensure a seamless transition towards a more digital, green, and resilient economy.
In the light of a rapidly changing environment, the Policy Learning Platform invited project partners to present the topic under three main angles:
- Digitalisation: The rise of digital technologies offers unprecedented opportunities to enhance industrial productivity and innovation. By leveraging AI, IoT, and big data, industries can improve efficiency, reduce costs, and open up new avenues for growth.
- Green Transition: Sustainability is at the core of the European Green Deal, aiming to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Industries must adapt to stricter environmental standards and embrace circular economy principles to thrive in this green future.
- Resilience and Sustainability: The recent disruptions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions, have highlighted the need for resilient and adaptable economies and societies.
Webinar recording
Webinar agenda
This webinar was designed and moderated by Luc Schmerber and Mart Veliste, Thematic Experts for a smarter Europe.
00:00:26 : Introduction of the Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform by Luc Schmerber
00:16:06 : Presentation by Ian Fox, from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine of Ireland, ORIGINN project, on the country's Food Vision 2030
00:37:23 : Q&A How do you arrange cooperation with consumers?
00:39:28: Q&A Did you see throughout the years a topic emerging as a bigger priority?
00:42:27: Presentation by Alessio Lupi, from Sviluppo Marche Region, Italy, TOURBO project, on the Let's Marche initiative for tourism operators
01:01:30: Q&A How big are the vouchers offered to SMEs?
01:05:23: Presentation by Anders Elmevik, from Region Skåne, Sweden, SKYLA project, on the Mind the Gap tool to identify skills needs.
01:21:43 Q&A Is the tool only suitable for SMEs, or also for students/startups who are pursuing an entrepreunarial dream?
01:22:55 Q&A Have you developed templates or toolkits for external facilitators?
01:24:22 Q&A Do you have a feedback, compiling all regional results, that identifies emerging trends?
01:26:09 Final roundtable with all the speakers
Key learnings
Discover the main takeaways from this webinar
The webinar illustrated different regional approaches that can foster industrial transformation by combining strategic vision, tailored policy instruments, and stakeholder engagement.
Ireland’s Food Vision 2030 demonstrates how a holistic, systems-based strategy can align environmental, economic, and social objectives. It highlights the importance of long-term planning, data-driven monitoring, and cross-sectoral coordination in transforming a traditional industry like agri-food into a globally competitive, sustainable system.
At the heart of Food Vision 2030 is a commitment to transition Ireland’s agri-food sector into a model of sustainable development. Its foundational idea is that food policy must be treated as a system—one that connects agriculture, climate, environment, nutrition, animal welfare, and economic competitiveness.
Both Marche Region’s voucher schemes and databases and the Mind the Gap project from Sweden show that supporting SMEs with concrete tools, incentives, and local facilitation is critical.
Marche’s TOURBO voucher scheme and Mind the Gap’s structured skills alignment tool illustrate how transformation becomes tangible when policy meets operational needs
Both the Marche Region example and Ireland’s Food Vision 2030 underscores the value of adapting transformation policies to a region’s cultural identity, geography, and economic fabric, leveraging rural traditions, slow tourism, and further assets for green, digital and social transitions.
All three cases highlight the importance of partnerships—among government departments, local communities, knowledge providers, and the private sector—in achieving systemic change.
Ireland’s Food Vision 2030 is a strong example of a stakeholder-led apporach to industrial transformation. A cross-sectoral committee involving farmers’ organisations, environmental NGOs, processors, academics, and civil society through public consultation and open policy debate played a central role in drafting the strategy
Mind the Gap emphasises that SMEs often lack the capacity to anticipate future skills needs, making tools that bridge business strategy and human capital planning vital. This approach is critical in ensuring that transformation is future-oriented and inclusive.
Role models can play a decisive role in motivating further comapnies to engage into transformation processes. It is therefore essential to ensure a wdie promotion of succesful businesses
Presentations
Download the presentations below.