Samenvatting

This paper will focus on important “soft” factors of regional innovation systems, namely learning, network development and network actors within a regional context. Their importance will be explored based on an extensive review of studies and worldwide good practice regions in Welter and Kolb (2006), and illustrated with “real life” examples from different European regions. For this, we draw on experiences made within the project “Creating a RTD Investment Policy for Regions in Emerging and Developed Economies” (CRIPREDE), financed by the EU within the “Regions of Knowledge 2” programme in 2006-2007. Regions from Ireland, The Netherlands, Great Britain, Germany, Latvia, and Slovenia, none of which could have been called “a leading innovative region”, have participated in this project.