Author: Chiara Davalli

Back in October 2021 in the framework of the European Week of the Regions, CHERRIES organised the second webinar series: “Shaping responsible healthcare ecosystems in Europe”.

Designed as a peer learning opportunity, the series aimed at showcasing the policy experiments in the healthcare sector held in the three CHERRIES regions: Murcia (ES), Örebro (SE) and the Republic of Cyprus (CY).

Over three sessions, the regional stakeholders presented their regional ecosystems, and the way CHERRIES methodology is implemented in each specific context.

If you missed the CHERRIES webinar series 2021, you can still watch them on the following links:

• Örebro
• Murcia
• Cyprus

CHERRIES project promoted a panel discussion at the EBN Congress 2021: “Using challenge-driven approaches, co-creation and co-design methodologies for a green, digital and fair transition”.

A bottom-up approach is required to develop effective and tailored solutions to market and societal demands. The challenges we face are more and more complex and cross-sectoral. A demand-driven approach to innovation, following co-design & co-creation methodologies creates solutions that are lasting, sustainable, green, and in accord with the digital transformation in society. The panel explored how the EU|BIC community, with its business models and service offering, is ideally positioned to connect innovators and promote challenge-driven, co-created and co-designed innovation. With a focus on experiences addressing climate neutrality and health, the panellists shed light on:

• Why regions should invest in demand-driven innovation and how co-creating solutions can bring about change;
• Why we need to embed demand-driven innovation in incubation, and how co-creation methodologies can drive towards efficient, fair and sustainable responses;
• How to implement these methodologies in decision-make processes adopted by local authorities, incubators, start-ups, and business.

In this occasion Laure Raso from CEEI Murcia presented the CHERRIES methodology and activities in front of policy intermediaries, entrepreneurs, investors and researchers. The aim of the session was to discuss the importance and future co-creation and co-design methodologies to address regional challenges.

Moderated by Andrea Di Anselmo, META Group, the panel saw the participation of Laure Raso (CEEI Murcia Project Manager), Roberta Dall’Olio (ART-ER EU Policies International Territorial Cooperation Social Innovation Head of Unit and EURADA President), Tom Boyle (Climate Action Network Head of Network Development), Agnieszka Włodarczyk-Gębik (Krakow Technology Park Project Manager).

You can find the recordings of the panel at EBN Congress 2021 here.

On February 15^th 2021, the CHERRIES project launched three open calls for recipients of financial support.

The calls closed on the 15th of April, at 17h00 (CEST).

We are now glad to announce the results of the call “Provision of medical services to the Cypriot citizens that live in rural and remote areas and do not have easy access to healthcare services and prescribed medicines” – CYPRUS CHALLENGE

A total of 12 applications were received for this call, 12 of them being eligible for funding.

The evaluation and selection have been completed and the selected solution is: Doctors Hello, a peer-to-peer ecosystem, which
provides innovative telemedicine services developed to support real-world healthcare based on real-time distributed data.

All solution proposers have been informed about the evaluation results for their proposal for financial support.

More details are available here: CHERRIES_T4.2_PUBLIC EVALUATION REPORT_CYPRUS

On February 15^th 2021, the CHERRIES project launched three open calls for recipients of financial support.

The calls closed on the 15th of April, at 17h00 (CEST).

We are now glad to announce the results of the call “BREAKING AND PREVENTING INVOLUNTARY LONELINESS AMONG ELDERLY” – ÖREBRO CHALLENGE

A total of 8 applications were received for this call, 8 of them being eligible for funding.

The evaluation and selection have been completed and the selected solution is:

Seniors leading seniors to a more meaningful and healthier everyday life in Laxå municipality, by Laxå Municipality.

All solution proposers have been informed about the evaluation results for their proposal for financial support.

More details are available here: CHERRIES_T4.2_PUBLIC EVALUATION REPORT_ÖREBRO

On February 15^th 2021, the CHERRIES project launched three open calls for recipients of financial support.

The calls closed on the 15th of April, at 17h00 (CEST).

We are now glad to announce the results of the call “EARLY DETECTION OF PROGRESSION IN MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS – MURCIA CHALLENGE”.

A total of 7 applications were received for this call, 6 of them being eligible for funding.

The evaluation and selection have been completed and the selected solution is:

MS CARE – Multiple Sclerosis care by PULSO EDICIONES S.L.

All solution proposers have been informed about the evaluation results for their proposal for financial support.

More details are available here: CHERRIES_T4.2_PUBLIC EVALUATION REPORT_MUR

CHERRIES engages ecosystems in South-West Europe (Murcia ES), Northern Europe (Örebro SE) and South-East Europe (Republic of Cyprus CY). The territorial preconditions and development paths are varying. While the size and population of the territories are similar, the administrative, economic, and innovation systems have major differences.

What is the influence of these differences on the capacity of the regions to develop demand-driven health innovations; what are drivers and barriers, and what is the policy mix that supports territorial responsible research and innovation in healthcare?

Based on the mapping guidelines (D2.1), the three territorial ecosystems have been mapped by regional partners under the experienced guidance of CWTS, the Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Leiden University. The mappings scrutinised the central actors in the territorial healthcare systems, their innovation behaviour and capabilities, priorities, needs and observable trends. Further, the policy instruments determining the innovation policy mix were analysed. The methodology builds upon a mixed-method ranging from desk research, expert interviews to bibliometrics indicators and networks.

The European Commission (EC) describes its policy for responsible research and innovation (RRI) as diverse sets of societal actors
(researchers, citizens, policymakers, business, third sector organizations, etc.) that “work together during the whole research and innovation process in order to better align both the process and its outcomes with the values, needs, and expectations of society”. The major mechanism for bringing actors together is public engagement, one of the EC’s six RRI ‘keys’ along with ethics, gender equality, governance, open science,
and science education. The capacity to support territorial health innovations in an engaging and responsible way is central to the experimentation phase in CHERRIES.

The Regional Mapping Reports bring together the main findings from mapping the actors and stakeholders, the policy context, and mapping of context and content in relation to smart specialisation.

• CHERRIES Territorial Mapping Cyprus
• CHERRIES Territorial Mapping Murcia
• CHERRIES Territorial Mapping Orebro

Each report comprises an understanding of the specificities of a territory, including the peculiarities of its economic structure, the idiosyncrasies of its institutions, the character of its political culture and policy-mix and its relational connections as well as the status for RRI implementation. These territorial development paths serve a baseline for further interventions (WP3 and WP4) into these systems, and subsequent monitoring (WP6).

Murcia, in the framework of the CHERRIES project, has launched a call for digital health companies.

Following the CHERRIES model, the Region of Murcia has detected 1 healthcare challenge to be solved by technology. The selected company will have the opportunity to co-create the solutions hand in hand with healthcare professionals, IoT experts and patients and will receive funding – up to € 50,000.

The objective of the challenge is to achieve the early detection of the progression in Multiple Sclerosis by applying sensors to patients by the Internet of Things (IoT) further than the current test face to face every 6 or 12 months. The main aim is to carry out a controlled clinical trial with at least 30 patients for 5 months.

A webinar was organised last March 24th, 2021. It counted with the participation of the organizations that proposed the challenge and provided additional information on the call launched. At the end of the webinar, a question and answer session was opened.

On February 25th, Gorka Sanchez Nanclares (Servicio Murciano de Salud) was invited by the Region of Murcia to present CHERRIES project in the framework of the initiative CARM Europa Proyecto del mes.

Check out the webinar recordings to discover CHERRIES objectives and methodology, the stakeholders involved in the activities of Murcia region and the open call for solutions.CHERRIES Murcia is calling European companies to solve the “Early detection of progression in Multiple Sclerosis” challenge.

VIDEO (in Spanish)

Last week, on March 4th, CHERRIES hosted an info-webinar aimed at presenting the 3 open calls for solutions.

CHERRIES info-webinar aimed at presenting the three specific challenges, the application and selection process, and providing some highlights on the RRI dimension that applicants need to embed in their proposals – especially in terms of inclusive and participatory approaches.

If you missed the live streaming you can still watch the recording online.

CHERRIES Cyprus is calling European companies and organisations to solve the “Provision of medical services to the Cypriot citizens that live in rural and remote areas and do not have easy access to healthcare services and prescribed medicines” challenge

• Download the Presentation about Cyprus challenge: CHERRIES infowebinar Cyprus Challenge

CHERRIES Murcia is calling European companies to solve the “Early detection of progression in Multiple Sclerosis” challenge

• Download the Presentation about Murcia challenge: CHERRIES infowebinar Murcia Challenge

CHERRIES Örebro is calling European companies and organisations to solve the “Breaking and preventing involuntary loneliness among elderly” challenge

• Download the Presentation about Örebro challenge: CHERRIES infowebinar Örebro Challenge

For each challenge, CHERRIES will award one solution. Selected European innovators will:

• Co-develop and validate the solution with the challenge promoter
• Receive 50000€ to develop the solution over 10 months

As stated by Stefan Philipp (CHERRIES coordinator) in his introduction to the online session, RRI can help filling the gap between good innovative ideas and existing needs in the healthcare sector, facilitating the processes and dynamics that can result into the successful uptake of those ideas by regional stakeholders.

Don’t forget, applications’ deadline is April 15th 2021.