This report responds to the needs mentioned in Task 1.2 of the RUSTIK project:
The task aims to conduct a preliminary analysis of existing data and stakeholders' information to formulate a description of 14 Pilot Regions: functional characteristics and their position/needs about the three transition themes; relevant strategies for the future; elements of strength and weakness; data gaps and needs for additional information, etc.

This analysis relies on examining available data and documents, interviews of key actors, focus groups with local stakeholders involved in the Living Labs and existing literature on the selected Pilot Regions.

This task is structured in three steps:
1) A desk analysis of the existing literature on the Pilot Region
2) Focus groups with LL actors
3) First inventory of available data

All these steps are functional for collecting the needed information to draft the Pilot Region Report.

Desk analysis has been preceded in some cases by one or two preliminary meetings with significant LL actors to explore the most critical issues (relevant differences within the territory, strengths and weaknesses, relevant transitions, and strategies).
But there is no rigid procedure to follow in this respect: it depends on the research team's previous knowledge/relations. Therefore, desk analysis can also be implemented in parallel with a preliminary meeting.

The report is structured into two main sections.
The first section deals with a comparative analysis of the 14 Pilot Regions (PRs) characteristics based on data and information gathered by the research teams and the Pilot region reports' description. This analysis considers demographic and socio-economic information for the Pilot Regions to be explored and improved in the next steps of the research project. The analysis of the 14 PRs has been coordinated by the WP1 lead and is based on specific guidelines and reporting templates.
The second section explores the most relevant transition processes (socio-economic, demographic, environmental-climatic and digital) and related strategies to cope with transition challenges, as they have been explored through focus groups and interviews organised in each living lab. The section includes an analysis of the main information gaps emerging from the work conducted in this task in the different PRs.