Working4Talent deals with the employment policy issues related to the local and regional innovation systems. INNOVATION IS NOT JUST A TOOL FOR COMPETITIVENESS AND GROWTH, which therefore helps to create more and better jobs. INDEED IT IS, BUT IT HAS ALSO BECOME A VERY IMPORTANT SOURCE OF EMPLOYMENT IN ITSELF. This is evident in developed regions, where innovation demand (innovative companies, public and private research centres) has boosted the number of innovation related jobs. In less developed regions, innovation demand is lower, and innovation related jobs are not so abundant, driving many talented young people to emigration. Project will try to identify the employment policies responding to such new realities; policies that help matching talent supply and demand; policies providing the right incentives for talent creation and attraction, and to make talent mobility an instrument for talent growth.Partnership includes 11 local and regional authorities from 9 MS (5 NMS)and a Norwegian partner. Most of them have a long experience in interregional cooperation, and they are closely dealing with employment and innovation issues, from different points of view. The variety of perspectives makes this project particularly attractive, as it ensures that every aspect of the policy issue will be considered. The project is particularly attractive for local and regional authorities from peripheral and less developed areas, which are facing this problem more acutely. The project is organized around a strong Exchange of Experience component. Based on common guidelines, partners will firstly look inside to detect the strengths and weaknesses of their employment markets connected to their local/regional innovation systems. Thematic workshops and seminars will raise the partners awareness about policy implications, and study visits will allow them to have a deeper understanding of policies implemented in other areas.Then, partners will produce a compilation of Best Practices and a Policy Document. A limited number of Pilot Projects (3) will be implemented to further illustrate policy options. The project will set up a High Level Advisory Board that will help raising project profile and ensuring relevance and transferability of policy conclusions.The project has got a clear and solid communication strategy based on well thought communication objectives, target groups and messages, according to project objectives. Project communication will be addressed simultaneously to local stakeholders in partner areas and a wider audience of policy makers and practitioners. Once the project had produced the main outputs, communication will focus on policy transfer, including an active dissemination of the products and findings near the European institutions and the European networks that may help to multiply the impact of the project, to bring its core issue into European employment policies. Achievements: Component 1:. This reporting period has been very intense on terms of management and coordination. Since the project was approved under conditions, in January 2012 the Lead partner was working to fulfill all requirements requested in the conditions form. The lead partner attended the meeting with the JTS officers organized in Copenhagen (Denmark) on the 23rd and 24th January 2012 to clarify the issues. The following months the Lead partner, in cooperation with the project partnership, prepared the kick off meeting held in San Sebastian on the 21st and 22nd March 2012. In April, the Lead partner was informed by partner nº 5, Basingstoke and Deane of its withdrawal from the project. From this point on, the Lead partner worked very actively on the UK partner search. After several weeks and negotiations with potential partners, a new UK partner was identified, partner n.12 Enterprise Plymouth.and its participation in the project was approved by the JTS on July 2012. The second coordinating meeting was held on the 14th June 2012 in Drammen (Norway) with the attendance of all partners (except partner nº10). During this meeting the new UK partner was presented, the project activities implementation were assessed and the main financial issues to prepare the report 1 were discussed among partners. Component 2:. During the reporting period, partner nº 9, ASTER, as the partner in charge of the project logo and corporate image, has discussed, presented and organized the tender for this activity. The final logo was selected among three preselected options by the partners by means of an on line questionnaire. All partnership enriched the project logo with comments and remarks during its creation. Partner nº4 CIT presented the activities, schedule and outputs of this component during the Kick off meeting in San Sebastian on the 21st and 22nd March 12 and during the next months, they draw up the communication action plan for the project During the second meeting held in Drammen on the 14th June 2012, partner nº4, CIT, presented the project communication strategy.(objectives – internal and external-, target groups, internal communication, external communication – project website, project branding- and materials to produce). Component 3: The schedule, activities, methodology and project outputs were presented and discussed by the partnership during the kick off meeting held in San Sebastian during the morning session on the 21st of March 2012. On the same day, during the afternoon session a study visit was organized to the Talent House (Residence for Researchers) and to the Pi@, Audiovisual and Digital Innovation Center. The study visit was completed with three presentations delivered by the Lead partner on its vision and strategy on Research and Development, Retention strategy and knowledge based entrepreneurship. The first project workshop was organized in Drammen (Norway) on the 15th June 2012: Talent Creation and Growth Policies with the attendance of 40 people. The objective of the workshop was sharing good examples of Triple Helix partnership building, diversity, gender, multicultural environment, culture and creativity as key sources for regional innovation. The workshop was divided into two strands: Strand A: Talent Retention in Civil Society/ Third Sector and stand B: Talent Creation ¬ Retention in business. To enable clustering with other Interreg IVC projects, project managers from the projects UNICREDS and Brainflow presented the main conclusions of its projects. .During the stay in Drammen a study visit was organized to Papirbredden Innovasjon by Eva Fabry and Sigrid Hilsen, partners were also informed on the main features the innovation system in Buskerud County Council by Ms. Elisabeth Trælstad, Advisor EU AffairsDuring the working group meeting held in Drammen, common methodology and scope for the Local Analysis were discussed and approved by the partnership.