INNOVAge aims to increase the effectiveness of regional development policies in the field of eco-independent living for elderly by networking and mentoring activities at regional and interreg.level.Ageing is considered part of an overall strategy of mutually reinforced INNOVATION policies and regional competitiveness.Ageing poses significant challenges to regions dependent on traditional policy division of competencies and traditional industries:demographic trend demands innovative policy approach,strengthening creative interaction in the knowledge triangle(business-private-research);from economic point of view,intelligent home solutions means cutting local edge techn- and system-level approach to design new electromechanical systems merging mechanical,electrical control and embedded software design.Recognizing the important role of ICT in dealing with these challenges,pj focuses on:1.INDEPENDENT LIVING:aim at helping elderly people to live independently for longer in their homes,increasing their autonomy and assisting them in carrying out their daily activities.2.ECO INNOVATION applied to SMART&SUSTAINABLE HOME:making smart choices,home becomes more accessible and comfortable for elderly,with a valuable contribution to minimize the environmental impact of daily life.Despite the potential of independent living and relative eco-innovation solutions,its benefits and technical maturity are still limited.INNOVAge turns abovementioned requirements into strength matching more innovative Partners(Mentoring group)with less innovative(Learning Group).15 partners from 14 EU countries join INNOVAge representing innovation driven clusters,regional authorities and technical partners with highexperience in the project field.Project foresees following main activities:1.identification-selection of GP as learning process that not only share experiences but also transferring them,re-design policies and approaches to be more innovative,users needs centric and multidisciplinary2.activities supporting the exchange of Good Practice,promoting the innovation driven cluster governance model to overcome traditional lack of cooperation between triple helix actors,to integrate policies-research in a multidisciplinary approach.Strategic partnership are the core of clustering governance model where policy solutions to support independent living are elaborated according to Open Method of Coordination.Strategic partnership are build up through the following activities:n.14 regional INNOVATION HUB to link regional authorities to innov.stakeholders,to PPs InnoHubs and to EU inno. driven clusters;n.6 WORKSHOP to engage innovation stakeholders;n.5 STUDY VISIT,open to external technical expertise from LGregions;n.3 INTERREG.TRAINING SESSION to support policymakers to better understand their requirements and facilitates the transfer of GP,relative success and durability3.comm.activities supporting pj through information+publicity activities to ensure pj results disseminat. Achievements: Ageing poses significant challenges to regions that depend on traditional policy division of competencies and traditional industries. Demographic trend demands innovative policy approach and more creative interaction in the knowledge triangle, also directly involving the user needs representatives in the policy definition process. Moreover, from a Research/Innovation point of view,regional policies have to effectively sustain the development of new intelligent home solutions:making smart choices, home becomes more accessible and comfortable for elderly people, with also a valuable contribution to minimise the environmental impact. Recognizing the important role of research and innovation,the INNOVAge project (three-years EU project 2012-2014,funded by INTERREG IVC Programme) intends to increase the effectiveness of regional policies in the field of eco-innovation applied to home solutions for improving the independent living of elderly through networking, mentoring and clustering activities at regional and interregional level. In particular, the project aims to: 1.improve the governance model facing in a new and more efficient way the problem of independent living of ageing people based on the Research&Innovation Driven Cluster 2.provide a methodology and instruments that enables regional decision-makers to implement an efficient multidisciplinary/multisectorial/integrated policy, involving the end users' needs representatives in the policy definition process through the application of the Open Method of Coordination.Where strategic partnership already exist, they are improved and better coordinated by win-win cooperation and exchange of experiences at interregional level that enhance skills and competencies of local innovation stakeholders 3.To create EU network of clusters to share experiences and knowledge and to tackle EU fragmentation to favour the diffusion of common standard and to enhance synergies among EU policies, instruments,funds and institutions to support research&innovation infrastructures in the field of eco-independent living for elderly.The project involves 15 EU partners who are committed to sharing their experiences and new good practices: Marche Region–Project Leader (IT) with the support of SVIM–Sviluppo Marche Spa the Regional Development Agency acting as General Secretariat; ADEBAG (FR); Culminatum Innovation Oy Ltd (FI);Sofia Municipality (BG); Region of Central Macedonia (EL); Regional Management of Social Services–Junta de Castilla y León (ES); Geroskipou Municipality (CY); SEHTA (UK); Development Centre Litija(SI);Lithuanian Innovation Centre-LIC(LT); INTRAS Foundation (ES); Regional Development Agency of South Bohemia RERA, j.s.c. (CZ);Rzeszow Regional Development Agency (PL); Netherlands Organisation for applied scientific research TNO (NL); Blekinge Institute of Technology (SE). On 14-16th May, the project was launched in Ancona (IT) and Partners met for the first time.It was the occasion for a public workshop during which the representatives of quadruple helix model reviewed their experiences for user oriented solutions to improve energy efficiency and elderly independent living at home; and also for the Study Visit to i-Live cluster. On June, the Partners met again for the second study visit in Netherland organized by TNO to show Dutch practices in the field of eco-independent living and smart homes and visit the ageing-in-place showcase dwellings. The first main activities implemented are: - sharing experiences through the presentation of the regional mapping and SWOT analysis; -launching at regional level the Innovation Hub as the new regional centre of innovation and knowledge creation, core of regional broad-based innovation strategy to coordinate innovation stakeholders, to plan and implement innovative initiatives and to create and disseminate the culture of innovation