Meeting new partners from other Reference Sites might be a daunting task. In order to help the community, create new connections, the IN-4-AHA consortium has launched the Pairing Initiative, as a part of its 2022 Twinnings call. Nevertheless, the decision to form a twinning pair and apply together is up to the institutions themselves. 

To assure a level of regional influence and a holistic ecosystem approach to innovation uptake and scale up, the twinning program and pairing initiative are exclusively targeted at organizations having Reference Site status. You can check the current reference sites at EIP on AHA: Repository of innovative practices | Futurium (europa.eu). If in doubt if your institution belongs to a reference site, check the list (per region) and contact the Reference Site Collaborative Network (RSCN) at Home – RSCN . 

The AHA community has a long-shared history. In some cases, twinning pairs occur organically, as institutions observe the innovations implemented by fellow reference sites, and wish to adopt them themselves. For those cases, a submission form has already been developed (IN-4-AHA twinning schemes 2022 (google.com)). But this might not be the case for new Reference Site members, or even for others willing to try something new, or share their innovations with different partners. They are the focus of this Pairing Initiative.

To help adopters and originators find one another, two sign up forms are available: 

• For reference sites looking to try out an innovative practice in their region (Looking to adopt an innovative practice? (google.com)) 
• For reference sites looking to share, test, or implement their innovative practice in a new ecosystem (Wanting to share an innovative practice? (google.com)) 

The Pairing Initiative is open from November 23rd to December 3rd.

If an originator-adopter match is found, the participants will be invited to get to know each other via email to set up a possible partnership and submit their application for twinning. All twinning applications must be submitted by December the 10th.  

Want to know more about Twinnings? 

Our November webinar “Cross-border cooperation: Lessons from twinning and matchmaking events” offers a real example of innovative practice shared across multiple EU countries will be discussed, highlighting the impacts the twinning participation had in its development and growth. The event will be held on the 30th of November, 11:00 to 12:15 CET, and registrations are available in the link: Event – in4aha (tehnopol.ee)