The LEAD ERA project is aimed at fostering the coordination of a series of trans-regional programmes dedicated to research and innovation within the highly innovative and technology based themes of the EU Lead market initiative. Through a process of intensive knowledge sharing of the regional competences and programmes, LEAD ERA partners will develop a joint Scientific and Technological strategy and the mutual tools and methods to foster RTD cooperation amongst their regional RTD stakeholders. The main objectives of the project are to launch ambitious RTD calls for proposals and therefore to fund trans-national projects involving RTD actors from the private or the public sector which will provide them new resources to collaborate at a European level.

The project is under the coordination of the experienced Walloon Region (involved in 7 ERA-NET) and brings together the following innovative and science based regions and national agencies: Veneto, Galicia, Franche-Comté, Lower Austria, Alsace, Basque Country, Navarra, Andalusia and Corallia - the national Hellenic Technology Cluster Initiative, Western Greece, Västra Götaland and OSEO.

During the 36 months of the project, the partners will focus on the topic of the 6 Lead Markets identified by the European Union named hereafter as protective textile, renewable energy, e-health, recycling, sustainable construction and bio-based products. All of them are at the crossroad of a number of scientific and technological fields which are difficult for a single region to master. It is therefore economically and scientifically relevant to link the research competencies (ICT, health, chemistry, nanotechnology, energy, etc.) from the various regions to achieve new technological and knowledge breakthroughs. The current proposal LEAD ERA seeks to link the two initiatives (Lead Markets and ERA-NET) by adding the research dimension to the support provided to the Lead Markets.