Executive Summary

• Drivers of collaborative regional leadership: Exogenous shocks, caused by both natural and human phenomena, can create periods of crisis and a sense of uncertainty and urgency around unknown challenges which cannot be managed by a single actor and require a collaborative multi-actor response. New political, policy, and funding directions resulting from elections, referendums, and new EU and national policy frameworks, can provide a window of opportunity to stimulate new regional-level collaborations. Similarly, the identification of shared regional challenges and opportunities and new entrepreneurial ideas can provide the catalyst for cooperation between regional public and private actors. There is a dynamic relationship between these key drivers of collaboration, as they can occur separately or simultaneously, sometimes working in combination; for example, exogenous shocks and new political, policy and funding directions can foster new collaborations on their own, but they can also present new challenges and opportunities that bring stakeholders together and/or cultivate entrepreneurial ideas and solutions. As such, regional public and private actors need to be alert and adaptive to changing exogenous and endogenous contexts that might provide a window of opportunity for instigating collaborative activities at the regional level. 
  
• Challenges facing collaborative regional leadership: A lack of institutional capacities and resources in regional and municipal authorities presents a significant obstacle for collaborative regional leadership processes. These authorities often play a key role in facilitating collaborations, but this role can be more challenging if they 1) lack responsibility, legitimacy, or a mandate to initiate collaborations in a specific policy area; 2) have limited experience of managing multi-actor collaborations; 3) possess little knowledge and expertise of the thematic policy area; and 4) lack access to sufficient funding. Institutional fragmentation both within and between these authorities can prove a significant obstacle to building collaborations, highlighting a lack of a systemic and holistic approach to policymaking at regional level. There is a need to identify collaborative policy synergies across departments within individual authorities, while also establishing where it is feasible to coordinate strategies and policies between regional and municipal authorities. A weak collaboration culture within a region has ramifications for building trust and social capital between public and private actors. Levels of collaboration are often lower in larger urban regions where public and private actors have the capacities and resources to work alone. Differences in stakeholder ideas, opinions, priorities, and values will also create tension and obstacles in the formulation and implementation of collaborative activities. Limited stakeholder engagement can significantly weaken collaborations if key stakeholders are underrepresented or not included. The leaders of collaborative ventures need to ensure that all voices and interests are represented; this involves engaging regional and local politicians and providing support to stakeholders that traditionally lack the time and resources to participate, including SMEs, NGOs, and civil society groups. Sustainable and long-term collaboration is the exception and not the norm across the Nordic regions. Permanent regional collaborative leadership platforms are needed to build holistic, long-term collaboration between regional actors. 
  
• Enablers of collaborative regional leadership: Both formal (i.e. public authorities) and informal (i.e. industries, businesses, universities, NGOs, and societal groups) place leaders are essential for facilitating effective collaborations. Place leaders must possess certain characteristics that enable them to effectively assist collaborative initiatives, including: 1) possessing strong local networks; 2) experience of multi-actor management; 3) being empathetic and adept at facilitating dialogue between different stakeholders; 4) being politically savvy; 5) being bold with high levels of enthusiasm and inspiration; 6) a mandate to make things happen; 7) knowledge and expertise in the policy field. Collaborations are most effective if they are built around overarching regional and strategic policy planning. Similarly, taking a policy thematic approach is advisable, with collaborations constructed around the key policy themes and regional issues outlined within broader regional policy strategies or plans. Assigning clear roles and responsibilities to partners at the outset of a collaboration is crucial. This ensures that participants understand their roles in relation to specific collaborative activities and tasks, which reduces the potential for disputes during the implementation phase. An existing culture of collaboration within the region can facilitate cooperation; strong collaboration cultures often exist in smaller rural regions where actors know each other and have built up trust and social capital. The proactive stakeholder engagement of all relevant and interested actors is crucial. The inclusion of a wide range of voices is vital to avoid a situation where one actor or group dominates discussions or determines the direction of collaborative activities. Proactive stakeholder engagement is also important to ensure that collaborations are based on local knowledge and expertise that address regional challenges and meet the needs of citizens. Regular interactions and clear communication using a variety of stakeholder engagement tools (e.g. face-to-face meetings, digital meetings, workshops, seminars, and conferences) are essential for building trust and social capital between partners in a collaboration. 
  
• Benefits of collaborative regional leadership: Regular cooperation between public and private stakeholders strengthens collaboration and builds networks at the regional level. Identifying common challenges and opportunities and sharing knowledge and expertise helps to build coherence and synergies between actors and policies, while also enhancing trust and social capital. Direct involvement in collaborative activities can foster the development of a more holistic mindset amongst participants, which promotes collective thinking over individual interests. Participation in EU-funded collaborative activities can help enhance the visibility of participants at local, national and EU levels. Participation builds the capacities of stakeholders by exposing them to new knowledge, ideas, and tools, while also helping to reduce financial costs by sharing funding resources. Regional collaborations facilitate the identification of place-based policy solutions. Similarly, building a critical mass of stakeholders around a key regional policy priority can increase the influence of the regional level in multi-level governance policymaking processes dominated by national and EU actors. Finally, collaborations often yield positive results and help regional actors achieve their shared goals and objectives. Positive outcomes can help sustain collaborations as they encourage actors to continue to invest their time and resources. Collaborations can quickly be disbanded if positive results are not achieved. Highlighting the results of cooperation is crucial for long-term, sustainable collaborations. It is, therefore, important that regional actors widely communicate and advertise key collaboration outputs and achievements.