Improving efficiency and effectiveness of investments is among the top priorities of EWRC 2016. It is also the main focus of the three workshops, organised by the Competence Centre Administrative Capacity Building of DG Regional and Urban Policy.

The mission of the EIT RawMaterials is to foster innovation and entrepreneurship by driving and promoting projects all along the raw materials value chain. The philosophy of the Business Idea competition is to help future potential entrepreneurs in creating technologies and business models with a high growth potential within the raw materials sector and in all related fields.

The Commission has launched a new website portal,  the 'Better Regulation Portal', in order to listen more closely to the views of European citizens and stakeholders. The website portal provides the possibility for citizens to submit their views and opinions on future EU draft regulations and laws. It will become the main online tool for collecting any feedback on the law and policy-making process, which will then be taken into account by the Commission when further developing its regulations.

The info day addressed potential applicants to the calls for project proposals under 2016-2017 Horizon 2020 Work programme ‘Secure, clean and efficient energy’. Presentations covered, the work programme topics that will open for submission in 2016, in particular the novelties and changes in the updated work programme, the submission and evaluation process and best practice from successful applicants.

Innovation is a complex process. And during these times of digital revolution, the human factor is often overlooked. The European Workplace Innovation Network (EUWIN) conference on 10 October will give you a unique occasion to discover fascinating stories about companies who are champions in fully utilising the potential of their employees.

The autumn 2016 edition of Panorama is now available online. The main feature in this issue looks at the EU  Urban Agenda, as established by the Amsterdam Pact agreed during the summer. We examine how it plans to improve life for city dwellers across the EU. We also take a look at how the Commission’s new package of measures to promote the circular economy will help reduce waste and encourage sustainability. This time, our in-depth coverage of one European region features Puglia in Italy, and includes an interview with the region's president and a selection of recent successful projects.

Saving electricity costs and cutting greenhouse gas emissions is the main goal of Promoeener. The EU-funded project encourages municipalities and local councils to set up energy efficiency measures while using renewable sources of power. It focused on getting public administrations to use technologies harnessing local, natural resources such as geothermal, solar and biomass energies.

On 7 September 2016, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) organised a workshop on "Crowdfunding Opportunities and Best Practices in the EU" in Graz, Austria. The purpose of the workshop was to exchange views on the current state of crowdfunding across Europe with leading experts from all EU countries. They shared best practices on how to fully exploit the potential of this fast-growing form of alternative finance for SMEs.

The European MSP Platform is an information and communication gateway designed to offer support to all EU Member States in their efforts to implement Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) in the years to come. With the adoption of the EU Directive on Maritime Spatial Planning (2014/89/EU), all coastal EU Member States are required to prepare cross-sectoral maritime spatial plans by 2021. 

The list of evaluators who select the most promising projects for the SME Instrument has been published today. The list contains more than 1200 experts that have worked for us in 2015. Evaluators are categorised by nationality and topic. Publishing the list is meant to increase transparency and avoid conflicts of interest. This is of course part of a set of measures taken to ensure funds are distributed in an equal way. So how does the system work?