CO-VALUE was presented at the 65th Congress of the European Regional Science Association (ERSA), held in Sofia, Bulgaria, one of the leading international forums dedicated to regional development and innovation. During the conference, Esteban Pelayo, CEO of the Parque Científico de Alicante, shared the results of the Alicante pilot experimentations, demonstrating how citizen engagement can become a practical component of knowledge valorisation and innovation processes. The presentation highlighted five pilot projects involving more than 50 citizens, six companies and the Atalayas business association, showing how structured co-creation can help companies better understand societal needs, improve product development and anticipate potential barriers to market uptake.

The ERSA presentation attracted interest from researchers on regional science by providing concrete evidence of how the Quadruple Helix model can be operationalised in practice. The Alicante pilots, covering areas such as artificial intelligence, water management, digital fraud prevention, circular economy and drone technologies, demonstrated that citizens can contribute valuable knowledge on trust, privacy, usability and social acceptance long before products reach the market. By showcasing these experiences to an international audience of regional development experts, CO-VALUE contributed to the growing European discussion on how citizen engagement can strengthen knowledge transfer to innovation ecosystems, reduce risks for startups and SMEs, and create more socially relevant and impactful innovations.