5th Innovation and Inequality Forum - THE REGIONAL GAP IN EUROPE

The fifth edition of the Innovation and Inequality Forum brings together around twenty experts to analyze how regional differences in innovation affect social and territorial cohesion in Europe. This meeting, organized by the Fundación Cotec and the Ayuntamiento de Gijón, will be held on October 21.

The debate takes on special relevance when considering the data from the Regional Innovation Scoreboard 2025, which confirm that, although most European regions are improving, the gap between the north and the south persists. In addition, the forum will address the current context of negotiations in Brussels regarding the financing of regional innovation from 2028 onwards, including the future European Competitiveness Fund and the successor to Horizon Europe.

Objetivos del encuentro 💡

The forum seeks to foster dialogue between professionals and diverse groups through two main axes:

• Reflect on innovation as a tool to combat inequality and, at the same time, as a factor that can generate it if it is concentrated in leading territories.
• Offer an open space to share knowledge and experiences from multiple perspectives.

This event is supported by the conclusions of the Cotec report ‘Proceso de innovación y desigualdad territorial’, published in March 2025, which highlights how lagging regions maintain less than 40% of the innovation level of the leaders.