Innovation Valleys
Six regions. Two nexuses. One connected innovation ecosystem.
VIVA brings together six regional Innovation Valleys across Northern and Eastern Europe, combining complementary strengths, infrastructure and expertise to turn good ideas into real solutions.
What is an innovation valley?
A regional ecosystem for real-world innovation
An Innovation Valley is a regional innovation ecosystem where businesses, research and knowledge organisations, public authorities, innovation intermediaries, investors and civil society work together to develop, test and bring new solutions into practice.
Each Innovation Valley builds on the distinctive strengths and smart specialisation of its region. At the same time, it creates stronger connections between the organisations, infrastructure, expertise and investment needed for innovation to progress.
The European Innovation Valley model recognises that innovation does not happen within individual organisations alone. It depends on an environment in which knowledge can be exchanged, partnerships can develop, and innovators can access the support and resources required to move from ideas towards implementation and market uptake.
Six regions with complementary strengths
Rather than applying one standard solution everywhere, VIVA builds on what each region already does well.
Every Innovation Valley leads a flagship pilot linked to its regional strengths, while contributing knowledge, infrastructure and practical experience to the wider VIVA network.
The six flagship pilots provide real regional environments for testing VIVA’s methods. They are not isolated demonstrations: they are connected through shared learning, testbeds, digital infrastructure and structured cross-regional partnerships.
Nordic Innovation Nexus
Østfold, Norway
Human-centric robotics and sustainable manufacturing
Østfold focuses on robotics and intelligent manufacturing systems designed to work alongside people. Its Innovation Valley explores how human-centric technologies can support flexible, efficient and more circular industrial production.
Västra Götaland, Sweden
Circular textiles, smart automation and material optimisation
Västra Götaland builds on its strong textile, manufacturing and research ecosystem. Its work focuses on extending the value of textile materials through circular production, flexible automation and more effective use of data and technology.
Österbotten, Finland
Renewable energy and industrial symbiosis
Österbotten contributes expertise in energy technology, renewable energy systems and industrial cooperation. Its Innovation Valley examines how industries can share energy, infrastructure and resources to support net-zero development and new circular value chains.
Eastern European Innovation Nexus
Alba Iulia, Romania
Digital transformation and smart manufacturing
Alba Iulia brings experience in smart-city development, data infrastructure and public–private innovation. Its work focuses on applying digital technologies and artificial intelligence to manufacturing, resource optimisation and regional innovation.
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Circular bioeconomy and agricultural resource valorisation
Plovdiv builds on its agricultural, food-production and bioeconomy strengths. Its Innovation Valley explores how agricultural resources and side streams can be transformed into sustainable bio-based products and new regional value chains.
Central Transdanubia, Hungary
Digital and sustainable agri-food innovation
Central Transdanubia focuses on digitalisation, resource efficiency and innovation in agriculture and food manufacturing. Its activities support smarter production, improved traceability and more sustainable use of agricultural resources.
Two Innovation Nexuses
Stronger together
VIVA brings together three Nordic innovation-leading regions and three Eastern European emerging innovation ecosystems.
The regions differ in their innovation profiles, industrial structures and areas of expertise, but those differences create the opportunities for mutual learning and cooperation.
The two Innovation Nexuses provide a structure for cooperation within the Nordic and Eastern European groups, while remaining connected through the wider VIVA partnership.
The six regions cooperate through two connected regional groupings.
Nordic Innovation Nexus
Østfold
Västra Götaland
Österbotten
Eastern European Innovation Nexus
Alba Iulia
Plovdiv
Central Transdanubia
Nordic Innovation Nexus
The Nordic Innovation Nexus brings together:
- Østfold
- Västra Götaland
- Österbotten
These regions combine complementary strengths in robotics, advanced and circular manufacturing, renewable energy and industrial symbiosis.
The Nexus supports cooperation between regional ecosystems, shared learning, infrastructure access and the development of joint innovation activities. It also creates opportunities to connect automation and manufacturing capabilities with circular-material and clean-energy systems.
Eastern European Innovation Nexus
The Eastern European Innovation Nexus brings together:
- Alba Iulia
- Plovdiv
- Central Transdanubia
These regions contribute complementary expertise in digital transformation, artificial intelligence, bioeconomy, agriculture and food manufacturing.
Their cooperation connects digital tools and infrastructure with practical industrial, agricultural and bio-based applications. It also strengthens the capacity of regional innovation actors to support businesses, develop new partnerships and participate in European innovation collaboration.
Sister-region partnerships
Stronger links for greater impact
Alongside the two Innovation Nexuses, VIVA pairs Nordic and Eastern European regions with complementary areas of specialisation.
These sister-region partnerships provide focused pathways for knowledge exchange, joint learning, innovation development and long-term institutional cooperation.
Østfold
Robotics & advanced manufacturing
Alba Iulia
Digital transformation & AI
Västra Götaland
Circular textiles & material optimisation
Plovdiv
Bioeconomy & agri-innovation
Österbotten
Renewable energy & industrial symbiosis
Central Transdanubia
Digital & sustainable agri-food
Østfold and Alba Iulia
This partnership connects Østfold’s human-centric robotics and advanced manufacturing expertise with Alba Iulia’s digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence and smart-city experience.
The cooperation creates opportunities to develop and test cyber-physical systems that combine intelligent technologies with real manufacturing and regional application environments.
Västra Götaland and Plovdiv
This partnership links Västra Götaland’s circular textile and manufacturing ecosystem with Plovdiv’s agricultural and bioeconomy capabilities.
Together, the regions can explore connections between bio-based resources, circular materials, automation and sustainable manufacturing value chains.
Österbotten and Central Transdanubia
This partnership combines Österbotten’s renewable-energy and industrial-symbiosis expertise with Central Transdanubia’s agri-food manufacturing and digital-production capabilities.
The cooperation can support new approaches to clean energy, resource optimisation and circular production within agriculture and food systems.
How innovation moves across the Valleys
VIVA combines two complementary forms of integration.
Vertical integration
From prototype to implementation
Prototype
Validate
Prepare
Implement
Scale
Supporting innovation at every stage, from early ideas to real-world impact.
Horizontal integration
Connecting regions, sectors and value chains
Regions
Industry
Research
Public sector
Infrastructure
Bringing together diverse actors to create new opportunities across borders.
Supporting innovation from prototype to implementation
Through its vertical innovation-scaling approach, VIVA helps innovators examine more than whether a technology functions technically. The project also considers whether a solution is ready in terms of sustainability, market conditions, regulation and digital maturity.
This broader perspective helps identify the barriers that may prevent an innovation from moving towards real-world use.
Connecting regions, sectors and value chains
Through horizontal integration, VIVA connects businesses, researchers, public authorities, innovation agencies and other regional actors across sectors and borders.
The regions exchange knowledge, share infrastructure and explore industrial symbiosis—where energy, materials, expertise or by-products from one activity can create value elsewhere.
Together, these two dimensions strengthen both the individual innovation and the ecosystem needed to support it.
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