As partner of a European project dedicated to Healthy food issues (AHFES), Valorial had the responsibility to study the framework for innovation in the European Atlantic Area.
This project is based on the “4 Helices” concept, which means that four different kinds of actors are being involved in innovation: public authorities, companies, academics, and last but not least consumers.
The first task for the eight partners of this project, who come from Northern Ireland, Ireland, Wales, France, Spain and Portugal, was to identify the different types of cooperation used in their respective region, and the specific trends, methods, and policies influencing these observed types of cooperation.
Then each partner of the consortium had to promote a « case study » of a regional innovation project carried out on its territory and which has strongly involved the « 4 Helices », even the consumer helix.
The eight chosen regional innovation projects reveal 4 main challenges in Atlantic Europe: reducing obesity by improving nutritional quality and increasing physical activity, strengthening the protection of water resources and developing new agricultural and food chains, recruiting and strengthening skills for future innovators in healthy food, and developing innovation support services to improve the competitiveness of small businesses.
If you want to know more about this interesting study on innovation, or read a regional case study: you will find the global report here.