REID contributed to the design and development of the Guide for the Design and Implementation of Innovative Sustainable Economy (ISE) Mission Transformative Innovation Policy Labs (TIPLabs), published in June 2025. The work was carried out in the context of Mediterranean cooperation on innovation and sustainability, with a focus on connecting place-based and interregional innovation ecosystems to address systemic challenges.

The Guide introduces TIPLabs as collective, challenge-driven policy and innovation processes, grounded in the Transformative Innovation Policy (TIP) approach. It recognises that challenges such as climate change, resource pressures and social inequality require not only technological solutions, but also changes in governance, institutions, behaviours and mindsets. TIPLabs are conceived as iterative and systemic processes that align local Smart Specialisation Strategies with wider Mediterranean sustainability missions.

As part of the assignment, REID Consulting drafted the first version of the Guide and supported the facilitation of the second edition of the TIPLabs process in the form of an Innovation Camp in May 2024 in Barcelona. The methodological framework set out in the Guide structures TIPLabs around four core steps: defining place-based challenges and preparatory analysis; preparing and delivering an innovation camp; co-creating a collective action plan; and establishing a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) framework.

The Guide provides a practical foundation for piloting TIPLabs during 2025–2026 within the D4I Interreg Euro-MED Project, supporting experimentation with new forms of governance and innovation that link local realities to Mediterranean-wide missions and foster inclusive and just sustainability transitions.

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Photo by Dorian D1 on Unsplash

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