Skills for Smart Specialisation

The significant role of human capital and higher education in place-based development and innovation in response to the twin transition is increasingly recognised within the European policy and funding context. This research attempts to quantify the extent to which the ERDF – as one of the most significant sources of public investment for research and innovation – and ESF – as Europe's main instrument investing in human capital – supported the provision of high-quality education and training relevant to the needs of territories and their smart specialisation (S3) domains in the 2014-2020 programming period.