From 19 to 21 April, the SMART EUROPE INTERREG IVC project partners gathered in Manchester (UK) in order to exchange and discuss on how to build dynamic business environments and nourish open innovation. Led by Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), good practices from Avila (ES), Flevoland (NL) and Manchester (UK) were presented: the creation of clusters, the benefits of interregional cooperation, and the need for an integrated strategy on innovation were all put forward as ways to push for the creation of jobs in the innovation sector. Regions were also invited to use the MMU Action Learning technique to tackle issues related to the implementation of the recommendations of the Regional Peer Reviews hosted last year, in order to effectively improve policies in the employment sector.