Where are the European and Nordic showcases?

If you ever been to Shanghai, the feeling that the future is already there might have struck you – the dynamics of the city is a mixture of dynamic atmosphere, European architecture and Asian hi-tech. Shanghai is not like the rest of China as it takes form of the Communist regime’s own show room. But it doesn’t change the fact that all the other cities and nations in the world will be forced to measure up against China and Shanghai in terms of competitiveness. Democratic countries need to demonstrate that its polity deliver long-term economic growth.

In Europe 2020, the future growth of EU comprise of three areas: smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. According to the new five-year plan of China, the People ’s Republic has similar plans as well. Will it be a win-win game globally, or will we have a winner and a loser year 2020? For Europe’s sake, we’re hoping for the first alternative.

Innovation and sustainable growth are concepts that go hand in hand. According to a recent study from the Royal Academy in the UK, China has climbed from sixth to second place on a ranking of published research articles in scientific journals. This has happened in less than ten years. Sweden is one of the countries that traditionally performed well in these rankings and will need to address these new challenges as it is competing for global innovation.. Discussions in Swedish media have been critical both towards the Swedish and European research programs. The same is happening in Finland, a country that quite recently has established itself as a research and innovation nation.

Would it then be better to establish innovation partnerships between European and Chinese cities instead of inside of the EU? Many countries are already doing this with a hope for new business opportunities for the European enterprises. The conditions from the Chinese side are harsh and many European cities have found themselves financing a build-up of Chinese cities and municipalities. Co-operation is great, but this will not be the winning concept for the Europeans.

If Shanghai is the showcase of China, EU inclusive Sweden and Finland have to find their equivalent success stories. Two of the most frequent ideas in Europe 2020 are the ones of bench marking and best practices. They demonstrate the will to find the showcases but at the moment this goes slowly and the question is if we can afford with it?