TOWARDS AN ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY FOR SMART SPECIALISATION STRATEGIES: SPATIAL ECOSYSTEM FOR INNOVATORS' HOTSPOTS

The place- based development, as advocated by the European Commission through the Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3), is more than just an economic development strategy since its benefits allow for the achievement of more sustainable local economies. This paper presents an intermediate step in the achievement of the goals of an EU H2020 granted project, namely MAPS led, which stems from the assumption that spatially-led strategies can better meet the intentions of a place-based approach. After having developed a method to visualize socioeconomic data at a level of granularity consistent with a place-based approach, the project is now entering its second fundamental stage which is about developing a novel assessment method to approach Smart Specialisations. This is undertaken by incorporating social innovation and civic engagement in the process of policy making and implementation. In detail, the paper focuses on the spatial factors and related triggers, which allow a full exploitation of the S3 in order to design a framework for a comprehensive assessment of the S3 potential. In so doing, it draws from case studies in the US to corroborate findings and conclusions with a robust empirical dataset.