Santos, Domingos2018-12-132018-12-132018Santos, D. (2018), Building regional innovation systems in peripheral regions: lessons from the Região Centro, Portugal, in Proceedings of the International Conference on Regional Science, Valencia, AECR. ISBN 978-84-09-05604-0.978-84-09-05604-0http://hdl.handle.net/10400.11/6298Innovation has moved to the foreground in regional policy in the three last decades. Public policies have been shaped by “best practice models” derived from hightech urban-metropolitan areas and successful territories. Nevertheless, lessons learned from these examples are rarely transferable elsewhere. The regional innovation systems in peripheral regions, and the likelihood of their acting as instruments for territorial competitiveness, have seldom been the subjects of discussion. The main objective of the article is precisely to take Região Centro, in Portugal, as an example to enrich this analysis. The first part of this article examines the concept of regional innovation systems against the background of modern theories of innovation and regional policies, now that longterm regional competitiveness and sustainability has less to do with cost-efficiency and more to do with the ability of firms and institutions to innovate, or, in broader terms, to upgrade their knowledge base. The paper will then proceed with an outline of the Portuguese innovation system and an overview of the regional innovative performance, as well as a description of the institutional and economic fabric that supports it, including an analysis of its functionality and dynamic, taking Região Centro as a case study. A particular focus will be put upon the drivers of regional innovation. Finally, the author will focus some specificities that need to be addressed in the redesign of public interventions in order to improve regional competitiveness and sustainability, leaving new insights about possible policy interventions in peripheral regions.engRegional innovation systemsInnovation policyS&T policyPeripheral regionsRegião CentroPortugalbook part