The Värmland Smart Specialisation Academy: An instrument for institutionalising regional leadership

Regional leadership emphasises the importance of collaboration between regional and local institutions and stakeholders for driving transformative policy change. This article examines whether the European Union policy instrument known as smart specialisation can be considered a pertinent instrument for implementing sustainable regional leadership processes. The article focuses on the Värmland Academy of Smart Specialisation, Sweden, assessing whether it can be considered an innovative platform for fostering regional leadership. The article finds that the Academy represents an attempt to institutionalise long-term regional leadership processes, as regional collaboration is no longer restricted to short-term strategy and policy formulation periods. The Academy provides a forum for regional and local institutional actors and stakeholders to meet regularly to continuously assess and re-evaluate shared regional development challenges and opportunities.