The Assembly of European Regions is proud to present its annual Activity Report for 2024.

The theme of this year’s report is ‘How Regions Drive Innovation – Place-Based and International’. Throughout 2024, AER regions showcased how their grassroots expertise plays a vital role in sparking and sustaining sustainable innovation across sectors, driving business growth and interregional cooperation. The AER supported this by fostering conditions that enabled member regions to engage in peer learning, build coalitions, and develop strategic partnerships.

The report cover, designed by Habile Studio, showcases the diverse yet impactful extent to which European regions can lead innovation. From the capacities of innovation leaders to the energy of strong innovators to the flexibility of moderate innovators to the ambition of emerging innovators, regions demonstrated the ability to level the playing field of innovation policies.

The period January 2024-December 2024 was remarkable for the wide geographical outreach of AER-led initiatives. The two flagship events of 2024, the 8th Black Sea Summit in Batumi, Ajara – General Assembly and Spring Bureau 2024 (Georgia) and the Summer Academy in Bodø, Nordland (Norway), illustrated how regions can foster innovation in very different ways, from promoting rural development in protected natural areas to sponsoring culture as a means to facilitate youth engagement in regional democracy.

Read the Activity Report 2024