National-regional governance of STI

The Netherlands are a decentralised unitary state in which provinces and municipalities have extensive powers to their own internal affairs. These powers are anchored in Articles 123 to 133 of the Dutch Constitution. When it comes to STI policies, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK) is a central player in shaping and implementing policies at the national level, together with the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science (OCW) and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). These Ministries play a coordinating role in aligning national STI policies with provincial governments, municipal governments and regional development agencies. The Council on Science, Technology and Information Policy (Raad voor het Wetenschaps-, Technologie- en Informatiebeleid, RWTI) co-ordinates relevant policies and prepares cabinet meetings. An interdepartmental Committee on Science, Technology and Information Policy (CWTI), consisting of high-level civil servants, coordinates the work of all involved government actors and prepares proposals which are then presented to the RWT. The Top Team Science is a high-level advisory body that provides recommendations on strengthening the Dutch scientific ecosystem. It includes representatives from academia, industry, and government and is closely linked to the Top Sectors approach, whereby a limited number of economic activities are selected as strategic for innovation and economic growth. The Advisory Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (AWTI) is an independent body which advises the Dutch government and parliament on matters related to science, technology and innovation. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy launches a strategic guidance document about every four years. The most recent one dates from 2021 and is titled "Dutch Strategy to Strengthen Research and Innovation Ecosystems." The design and implementation of this strategy is subject to a continuous, intensive consultation process with various stakeholders, including from regional and local policy actors.

National and regional S3s: organisation and governance

There are four S3s for the Netherlands (i.e. for East, North, South and West Netherlands) There is no S3 at the national level. The four S3s are drafted relatively independently and there is no official coordination mechanism to align these strategies. At the same time, there are numerous platforms in which policy makers at the regional and national level of government participate, such as the Council on Science, Technology, and Information Policy. The priorities and policies in the S3 documents therefore reflect the national strategy to a large extent, given the close interaction of regional bodies in STI policy making. The S3s reflect the mission-driven innovation approach that has been established at national level. The process of drafting the S3 priorities is led by regional authorities, especially at the provincial level, and the strategies are thus developed to align with national innovation priorities.

For information on regional S3s, please return to the homepage: https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/assets/s3-observatory/index_en.html