©: Oliver Ziegler
On 13 October 2025, the TiCCA4Danu Task Force on Transformative Innovation Policy – Dominique Foray, Oliver Ziegler, Martin Eichler, and Sebastian Fastenrath – met at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) for a strategy workshop on Open Discovery Processes (ODP).
Held in Lausanne, the workshop focused on how the Open Discovery Process can help regions across the Danube become more resilient to climate change. The approach, developed at EPFL, builds on the experience of Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) – a participatory model where regional actors jointly identify priorities and innovation paths. In TiCCA4Danu, this model is being adapted to support Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and foster collaboration across sectors.
Working Together Across Regions
Complementing ICLEI’s work with Local Green Deals (LGD) in four Danube cities, the TiCCA4Danu team will facilitate a series of stakeholder workshops in their surrounding administrative regions:
These workshops bring together businesses, public authorities, researchers, and citizens – the so-called quadruple helix – to apply the Open Discovery Process at the regional level. The goal is to encourage new forms of cooperation across disciplines and sectors and to make climate adaptation a shared regional effort.
Building Climate-Ready Regions
Our TiCCA4Danu consortium partners – VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH, INFRAS, and the University of Vienna, work to advance transformative adaptation across the Danube Region.
The workshop in Lausanne was another step toward translating ideas into action – building practical tools and shared understanding to make regional innovation work for climate resilience.
➡️ Learn more about our work and upcoming activities at: https://ticca4danu.eu/news-and-events/
©: Oliver Ziegler
