Science, technology and innovation policy governance in the Baltic sea region

This paper will discuss the governance of science, technology and innovation (STI) policy in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). With the publication and implementation of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, the governance of this macro region should be discussed. STI policy is implemented on local, regional, national and transnational (EU) level and now the new macro region is emerging. The multi-level governance of STI policy in the BSR has not been studied widely. However, there is a need for this kind of analysis. Two parallel governance levels require coordination, but when national and transnational levels are complemented by local/regional policies, the coordination becomes even more relevant. It is important to understand the coordination process and functioning of multi-level policy system. The paper will first analyze the governance of the BSR from the conceptual perspective by summing up the discussions in the literature. To understand the macro region governance level development in STI policy, national strategic policy planning documents available in the ERAWATCH database will also be analyzed. The results of the STI policy documents analysis show that the role of the BSR in the STI policy planning is very limited and in terms of multi-level governance analysis, BSR should be considered as a part of national or supra - national policy making and not as distinct policy level