Close involvement of all relevant stakeholders is crucial to successfully shaping structural change in the regions. The aim is to establish forward-looking transformation communities instead of reactive transfer companies.

To strengthen the industrial future of the regions, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) set up a service and advisory center for regional industrial initiatives in 2021. The resulting network of around 100 regional industrial initiatives (RII) and the exchange between these initiatives and their stakeholders – as well as public discourse – are to be further developed, expanded, and strengthened within the framework of this project.

To this end, GWS is conducting an empirically based analysis and developing a robust indicator system to support regional industrial initiatives in the industrial transformation process. This set of indicators serves to capture regional starting points more precisely, identify transformation needs, and make progress measurable. In addition, scenario and forecast calculations are carried out to identify possible development paths and options for action for the regions in a data-based and future-oriented manner.