The proposal builds on the challenges facing public research on a European scale in regards to creating sustainable structures for transferring academic research into marketable innovations. Large sums of public money are invested in research, either directly or through different types of research programmes and as a consequence thereof, a significant amount of market relevant research projects and results are being developed. However, due to lack of motivation, incentives, know-how, resources and networks, research results that could form the basis for marketable products or new companies never get the chance to reach this stage. Through this project we propose to analyse and develop methodologies for addressing these challenges on a test bed level with participants from the South Baltic region. Today the existing tech transfer structures in the South Baltic region are fragmented and only a few carry out systematic valorisation activities and even fewer have the necessary resources and networks to actually implement the business strategies. In order to improve this, the proposal suggests forming a network with the purpose of increasing the critical mass of competencies, resources and established industry contacts. Working together will bring significant benefits including speeding up the learning process and help less experienced partners avoiding typical pitfalls. There are also substantial benefits in coordinating and pooling technologies on a transregional/transnational level in order to reach a larger customer base and to better attract investors. In order to validate this, all partners will work on carefully selected innovations from public research and to develop them to a marketable level (including IP rights, business plans and investment prospects). The projects direct objective include the joint develop and validation of a sustainable model for more efficient and effective transfer of research results to the market. This requires a number of preconditions, such as: • a policy environment conducive to promoting research-based innovations;• higher professionalism in managing the identification and development of research-based innovations in early stages; • access to resources and competences (e.g. VC and industry) necessary to further develop the innovations. A fundamental requirement for success is access to a productive network of researchers, technology transfer specialists and industry and to achieve policy buy-in. It is the ambition of the partners to cement the activities into an alliance, which will outlast the scope of the funded project and lead to increased cross-border interaction between the partners and the partner regions. Relevant activities for the alliance include: e.g. pooling innovations through a transnational technology database and thereby achieving critical mass, joint presentations for companies and for public and private financiers as well as joint R&D activities through European research projects. Achievements: Good collaboration within the partnership facilitated by several joint excercises, both through organised events (e.g. milestone workshops), but also through spontaneous support activities within the partnership (e.g. for assessing technologies and sharing experience, documents and networks), which also included successfully implemented and jointly developed knowledge building activities and tools within the partnership- Close & frequent contacts with stakeholders (policy makers, industry, valorisation institutions, researchers and investors)- High level of interest from policy makers and other stakeholders to interact with the project. This is reflected in the sheer number of face-to-face meetings, but also in the high level meetings held, e.g. PP2's meeting with the Swedish Minister of Education.- Good achievement rate of deliverables, overachieving several of the targets- VALOR has assisted in creating an improved understanding of the technology transfer process on regional level and among key stakeholders. As an example, PP4 states: "The year 2008 was the starting point for the development of the "Maritime valley" in Klaipeda. The valley programme's objective is to affect and improve the Lithuanian research and education landscape, however substantial investments into the research infrastructure should - and as e.g. argued by the project - be backed up equal investments into the knowledge/technology transfer structures accompanying such an investment. The VALOR project served as a tool for us to present and transfer validated best practice of the technology transfer process to the major research stakeholders in the region".- Partners report that VALOR has also become a driver for the regions' economic development. PP4, for instance, reports that this is especially true for Klaipeda's geothermal economy development. The geothermal resources have been an untouched subject in Klaipeda for a long time. But partly due to the activities and resources of VALOR and backed up by other resources, it was able to again emerge as one of the major subjects for the regions economical development on a policy and business level.- VALOR has provided an exponential added value. The project has allowed it's participants to provide increased value to its stakeholders and clients, which would not have been possible without the funding. The project has opted for a dual setup of the activities, inluding both face-to-face meetings and seminars targeting both the policy level and individual researchers, and by working directly and together with researchers on real innovations, the project has worked to change the mindset of its stakeholders to create a more open and conducive atmosphere for value creation of univeristy research through commercialisation. The results have been very positive, which has encouraged the partners to work towards overachieving indicators. Apart from "doing more" by identifying and developing further inventions, this activity has helped to spread the word about the project and its results within the scientific community - a factor which has allowed the partners to create exponential added-value for their future work in the regions.- VALOR has allowed for the removal of bad habits in the technology transfer process, helped partners to create a more structured and transparent process, which has had a positive effect on the level of trust from researchers towards the tech transfer office.