The political discussion at the heart of the fall Bureau in Ankara from 15-17 December focussed on public sector innovation. At a time when governments are faced with tightened public budgets and knowing that an efficient and productive public sector is key to bring regions closer to their citizens, representatives from 25 regions from across Europe looked into the challenges and potential of subnational governments in this field. AER voices that regions are close to citizens but this requires constant effort and renewal to continue to meet citizens’ needs. Efficiency, better governance, faster delivery and better citizens’ involvement have been identified as key success factors.

Various prominent experts took the floor, including Ms KORELLA, member of the EU public sector innovation expert group and Ms RODOPLU from UNDP. Representatives from the region of Languedoc-Roussillon (FR), Norrbotten (SE) the Ministry of Development in Turkey and the President of the Middle East Development Network also shared their viewpoint. The debate aimed to answer questions such as what is public sector innovation, what are the trends in Europe, what is the role of ICTs, how to tackle red tape and equal opportunities in innovation.

In the afternoon, participants were invited to visit the Ankara Star Park, an innovative social urban regeneration project, identified as a state of the art initiative providing improved quality of life for its inhabitants.Resea