The Regions for Economic Change annual conference, organized by the European Commission, will be held on 20-21 May 2010 in Brussels.

Entitled "Regions For Economic Change – Building sustainable growth", the conference will have three main themes:

• Sustainable energy
• Sustainable ICT solutions
  
• Greening Europe's cities.

The conference will include a high-profile political event with keynote speakers, politicians and practitioners discussing the future of European cohesion policy within the new EU2020 framework.

Specific thematic workshops will examine the challenges, opportunities and policy responses for each of the three main themes of the conference.  The new Commissioner for Regional Policy will present the prestigious  'RegioStars' awards 2010 to projects displaying good European practice and innovation in regional policy.

Registration for the conference will be possible from mid February onwards. This issue, sustainable growth in regions, was already studied at the Open Days 2009.

The 'Regions for Economic Change' initiative started in 2006. The purpose is to boost innovation by bringing European regions together into strong partnerships and to help them take advantage of experience and best practice.