WIRE 26 - FUTURE REGIONS: THE ROLE OF SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION IN EUROPEAN COMPETITIVENESS

The ""Week of Innovative Regions in Europe"" (WIRE) is a leading European policy forum focused on innovation and regional development. It is a key event where policymakers, regional authorities, research institutions, and businesses gather to discuss research and innovation practices, challenges, and opportunities across European regions. The event also enables stakeholders to address, develop and progress key topics of interest to the community and explores current and future EU funding programs related to research and innovation. The Technological University of the Shannon (TUS), in partnership with regional stakeholders, proposes to host the WIRE 2026 conference, on the 2nd and 3rd of December 2026, as an official event of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union (July - December 2026). Under the theme “Future Regions: The role of sustainable innovation in European competitiveness”, WIRE 2026 will co-create strategies for sustainable regional growth, showcase regional success stories and innovations from across Europe, facilitate knowledge exchange between EU institutions, regional actors, and Horizon Europe projects and strengthen collaborative policy development aligned with the EU Green Deal and smart specialisation strategies (S3).WIRE 2026 will be a two-day, high-level in-person event (with live streaming of keynote speaker events), hosted at the TUS Moylish Campus, in Limerick, Ireland and will convene European policymakers, innovators, academics, SMEs, and citizens to: Strengthen the regional dimension of competitiveness and innovation by aligning local action with EU priorities: Position regional actors as co-leaders in addressing global challenges: climate, security, decarbonisation, and technological transitions. Build momentum toward cohesive, inclusive, and resilient Europe Provide actionable insights and policy outcomes Build upon the outcomes of previous conferences in the WIRE series""