Wallonia
Presentation of the Region
Wallonia is one of the 3 Regions of Belgium, which is a Federal State. Wallonia is a region that is naturally open to the world, a place where languages and cultures meet. It is very export-oriented and particularly welcoming. The region has a strong industrial tradition, and has developed strong industrial specialisations based on the one hand on reconversion of traditional industrial sectors (e.g. advanced manufacturing, new materials) and on the other hand on cutting-edge research excellence (biotech and life science). Strong axis of our regional policies are the development of Competitive Clusters in key sectors (life sciences, agri-food, engineering and new materials, transport and logistics, aeronautics and space, and environmental technologies), a comprehensive strategy for digitalisation – Digital Wallonia, and more recently, the Region has endorsed strong ambitions in deploying circular economy through Circular Wallonia.
RIS3 Priorities
Wallonia has recently adopted a renewed Smart Specialisation Strategy (2021-2027) – An innovative, competitive, collaborative Wallonia at the service of affirmed economic and societal ambitions. It took as its starting point the response through innovation to the main societal challenges for Wallonia and the analysis of its distinctive strengths. Five strategic innovation areas have been identified :
– Circular materials
– Innovations for enhanced health
– Innovations for agile and safe design and production methods
– Sustainable energy systems and housing
– Agri-food chains of the future and innovative management of the environment
More info can be found here.
Political Representatives
Willy BORSUS
Vice-President of the Government Minister of Economy, Research and Innovation, Digital, Agriculture, Town Planning and Regional Planning and Competence Centers
Regional Contact Persons
Director
Director of the Economic Policy Directorate at the regional administration for Economy, Employment and Research
vincent.lepage@spw.wallonie.be
Senior advisor
Advisor in the Economic Policy Directorate at the Walloon administration for Economy, Employment and Research. In charge of the follow-up of European policies related to innovation and industry and of the regional smart specialisation strategy.
Regional Address
Place de Wallonie 1 5100 Namur Belgium
Brussels Office Address
Rue Belliard 65 1040 Brussels Belgium
Our Pilots
Latest Updates
Vanguard Initiative High Level Directors Meeting
On 17 June, the directors from the Vanguard Initiative’s member regions met online for the High-Level Directors’ Meeting of 2021. During the meeting, the directors participated in fruitful discussions on the future development of the network and engaged with speakers from the European Commission and…
Vi First Meeting I3 Expert Group
The first meeting of the Expert Group which will assist the EC in the I3 work programme preparation took place on the 15th of June. It allowed the first exchange of views on this new instrument’s draft work programme 2021-2022.VI is represented by Wim de Kinderen, from South Netherlands, who has bee…
Vi Member Expert Group Interregional Innovation Investments I3
The Vanguard Initiative, represented by the Vanguard Pilot Monitoring Task Group lead Wim de Kinderen, has been selected by the European Commission as a member of the Expert Group on Interregional Innovation Investments (I3). This is an important acknowledgment for our network, recognised as a relev…