European Association of Development Agencies
Budget
€700 — €0
EP Access
3
accredited persons
Staff
10
8.75 FTE
EU Grants
€679,002
Mission & Goals
Founded in 1992, the European Association of Economic Development Agencies brings together professionals working on regional development in Europe. During more than three decades EURADA has been supporting the internationalisation of regional and local development agencies; they can network, advocate, and participate at both EU and international level. A Development Agency is an entity that carries out an territorial development mission characterised by the search of the collective or overall interest of a specific area (and not corporative or sectorial), and that is significantly linked with a local, metropolitan or regional authority with respect to management, financing or missions. A Development Agency is a designated public meeting place and/or orchestrator of local stakeholders with a dynamic structure oriented to support the innovation ecosystems. EURADA is their European well-established facility.
EU Legislative Interests
- DG REGIO: Regional policy, regional partnerships for innovation (RPIs), interregional innovation investments (I3) initiative, smart specialisation strategies and cohesion funds, talent harnessing platform, and Just Transition Platform. - DG GROW: Industrial modernisation platform, Defence and dual use industry, Small business act, SME envoys, access to finance, EEN, IPR-Helpdesk, Internationalisation, Cluster support, social innovation and social enterprises - DG RTD: Regional aspects of research and innovation, smart cities, seal of excellence, synergies with structural funds, widening participation, financial instruments, Horizon Europe ecosystems - DG CONNECT: Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) - DG EMPL: Erasmus+, VET, pact for skills - EISMEA: tenders and projects - EACEA: projects - Joint Research Center (JRC): S3 and Strategic Foresight, PRI and Innovation Valleys. - Multiannual Financial Framework and Cohesion Policy
Communication Activities
The largest annual conference of the year is AGORADA, held in Brussels, where members exchange best practices and establish direct contacts with new initiatives from the European Commission. Every autumn, AGORADA+ takes place in one of the members' territories to discuss and observe successful implementations of regional economic policies in practice. EURADA organises an annual brokerage event in March or April to assist members and other European development agencies in finding suitable partners for their project ideas. Since 2023, an annual Winter School has been organised in February in cooperation with the OECD. This event aims to deepen knowledge about regions and territories and serves as a forum for association members to discuss the evolution of place-based policies. Additionally, a Summer School is held each year to enhance members' skills in developing regional policies on various topics and preparing successful proposals for competitive programs. EURADA has participated and continues to participate as a partner in several projects and tenders, including several Horizon Europe projects such as CircSyst, CLIMAAX, K-CCRI, POCITYF, ToBe, Just Fashion, SPICE. Tenders and technical assistance: European Cluster Collaboration Platform (ECCP), I3 Support Facility, Harnessing Talent Platform, Smart Specialisation Community of Practice, Capacity Building and Experimentation for Innovation for Place-based Transformation, and UCORD Support to Ukrainian Regional Development Agencies. These projects facilitate the exchange of knowledge among Regional Development Agencies and their stakeholders, develop instruments embedded in EU territories, and refine EU Research and Innovation Strategies (RIS3) to align different economic actors with the goal of increasing innovation. EURADA also participates in European tenders and service contracts, which make valuable contributions to its members.
Interests Represented
Promotes their own interests or the collective interests of their members
Member Of
IEDC - International Economic Development Council (USA) www.iedconline.org/ INSME - The International Network for Small and Medium Enterprises www.insme.org/ Regional Studies Association www.regionalstudies.org/ EDA - Economic Development Australia www.edaustralia.com.au/ EDAC - Economic Developers Association of Canada www.edac.ca/about/about-edac/ CADZ - China Association of Development Zones SMRJ - ORGANIZATION FOR SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES AND REGIONAL INNOVATION, JAPAN www.smrj.go.jp/english/index.html EDANZ - Economic Development Association New Zealand www.economicdevelopment.org.nz/ ANIMA Investment Network https://anima.coop/en/ Foro ADR - ASOCIACIÓN ESPAÑOLA DE AGENCIAS DE DESARROLLO REGIONAL www.foroadr.es/ BULGARIAN ASSOCIATION OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES AND BUSINESS CENTRES – BARDA http://barda.bg/en/ SEKES - Suomen Elinkeino- ja Kehitysyhtiöt www.sekes.fi/ ROM Netherlands - National Association of Dutch Development Agencies https://www.rom-nederland.nl/en/#top NARDA - UKRAINE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES www.narda.org.ua/ CNER - CONSEIL NATIONAL DES ECONOMIES REGIONALES https://en.cner-france.com/ FADERLA - The Federation of Local Development Agencies of Argentina - La Federación de Agencias de Desarrollo Local de Argentina www.fadelra.org.ar CIOESTE - West Metropolitan Region of Sao Paulo Consortium, Brazil www.cioeste.net AMSDE - Asociacion Mexicana de Secretarios de Desarrollo Economico - Mexican Association of Economic Development Secretaries www.amsde.mx
Organisation Members
The updated list of members is accesible in the following link: http://www.eurada.org/network/members/
Additional Information
EURADA's annual accounts for the financial year 2025 have been finalised, and it will be audited in Spring 2026
Commissioner Meetings
No recorded meetings with EU commissioners.