After two years of exploration, experimentation and collaboration, x-Inno Radar has completed the implementation phase of its pilot actions.
The project focuses on strengthening the skills needed for innovation, industrial transition and entrepreneurship. Its central message is clear: innovation needs more than technology and technical knowledge. Skills such as communication, collaboration, creativity, adaptability and initiative are equally important.
27 LOCAL ACTIONS IN EIGHT COUNTRIES
To put this idea into practice, the x-Inno Radar partnership implemented 27 local actions across eight Central European countries, divived in four pilot approaches:
- Strengthening transversal soft skills and cross-sectoral inspiration in industrial regions: developing creativity, communication, cooperation and self-reflection through creative training and collaboration between creative and technical professionals.
- Integrating maker skills in innovation ecosystems of industrial regions: connecting maker communities with innovation ecosystems and strengthening skills such as improvisation, experimentation, low-budget problem-solving and entrepreneurship.
- Reviving industrial society’s pioneer skills as a basis for transformation: strengthening open-mindedness, boldness, positive thinking and a hands-on mentality through educational activities and pioneer labs for young people and citizens.
- Improving skill capacities in industrial regions through territorial cooperation: building regional skill networks and connecting local stakeholders, providers and diaspora to strengthen cooperation, knowledge exchange and regional capacity.
Despite their differences, all pilot approaches shared one ambition: to test practical ways of bringing soft skills into everyday innovation and entrepreneurship.
LOCAL ACTIONS, LOCAL IMPACT
The 27 local actions took very different forms, reflecting the needs of their local regions.
In Upper Austria, Limburg, Chemnitz and Veneto, Connecting the Soft Skills Dots mapped soft-skill providers in the regions and created opportunities for regular exchange between organisations.
In the Kosice region, Creative Trainings for Innovation strengthened transversal soft skills through eight creative workshops. Participants used creative methods such as design sprints or LEGO serious play and thereby developed skills with a focus on hands-on learning and real-life application.
In Silesia, From Passion to Business helped makers turn creative activities into sustainable businesses through workshops on branding, business basics and pitching.
Other local actions used creative workshops, student idea labs, hackathons, maker safaris and outdoor experiences to develop skills through practice.
The lesson is clear: soft skills do not have to be taught as abstract concepts. They can grow through real-life experiences, collaboration, making, problem-solving and entrepreneurship.
All local actions are displayed on our x-Inno Radar Toolbase. Users from all over Europe can explore the local actions and filter them by criteria such as budget, duration, format and intended outcomes. Organisations, innovation ecosystems, educators and policymakers can use our local actions as inspiration and adapt them to their own context.
We will also synthesize our experiences into easy to take up blueprints allowing other regions to foster soft skills development on their own (to come soon).
FINAL PHASE AHEAD!
We are now entering the final phase of the project. The next step is to transfer our experiences into future-oriented regional strategies and transnational policy recommendations.
The question is no longer only “What can we do?” It is now “How can these approaches become part of our regional systems and policies?”
The pilots have shown what is possible. The final phase is about turning these lessons into lasting change. Stay tuned!