The RegioStars 2012 Awards for project supported by EU regional policy is now launched.
The deadline for receipt of applications is 15 July 2011.

There are five RegioStars Award categories for 2012:

1. SMART GROWTH: Innovative projects or schemes supporting service innovation in its different forms.

2. SUSTAINABLE GROWTH: Investments in ecosystem services and green infrastructure leading to sustainable regional development.

3. INCLUSIVE GROWTH: Strategies, initiatives or projects addressing the challenge of demographic change and supporting active ageing. (2012 is the "European Year of Active Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity")

4. CITYSTAR CATEGORY: Integrated strategies for the development of deprived urban areas.

5. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION CATEGORY: Informing the public on the internet about projects benefiting from EU Regional policy.

Award criteria for thematic categories 1-4

• Innovative character of the project.

• Impact (or expected impact) of the project in terms of initial objectives.

• Expected sustainability of the project.

• Project’s results in enhancing local, regional and interregional partnerships Award criteria for category 5

• Effective use of a combination of different internet tools (photos, videos, GIS maps, etc) to spread information about the projects that have benefited from EU funding.

• User-friendliness of the list of beneficiaries (including data format, search function, frequency of updates, level of project details, etc.).

Guidelines and application forms are available here