SPOT Nordic General Assembly: key points and next steps

SPOT Nordic Team at CBS (Denmark)

The SPOT Nordic General Assembly took place on 31 January, at 10:00 CET, in a hybrid format, with in-person sessions in Copenhagen (Copenhagen Business School) and Stockholm (Karolinska Institute), as well as online participation from Finland and Norway. The meeting was attended by around 30 SPOT Nordic members. All items on the agenda were approved unanimously.

Key highlights of the General Assembly

David Pereira de Castro (Chair)

1. Confirmation of SPOT Nordic’s strategic shift: The Assembly clearly confirmed SPOT Nordic’s strategic transition: from an association mainly focused on representation and events to a structured platform connecting science, industry, capital and public policy across the Portugal–Nordics axis. This positioning lies at the core of the forthcoming 2026–2030 Strategic Plan.

2. Science-to-industry as a structural pillar: The role of the flagship project “From Science to Industry – Portugal / Nordics” was reinforced as a central instrument to translate scientific knowledge into economic and societal impact, enabling project scaling, innovation de-risking and the structuring of transnational collaborations.

3. Evolution of organizational structure and governance: The Assembly approved the launch of a formal reflection process on the evolution of SPOT Nordic’s organizational structure, aligned with its growing scale of activity, expanding project portfolio and the need to strengthen executive capacity, while ensuring transparency and member participation.

4. Opening the discussion on national legal entities: The Assembly formally opened the discussion on the potential creation of national legal entities in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Portugal. This step aims to:

• Strengthen operational autonomy at country level;

• Facilitate direct participation in European and Nordic project applications;

• Increase local coordination capacity, while maintaining strategic alignment with SPOT Nordic as an international structure.

5. Phased statutory review aligned with the strategy: The launch of a participatory process to prepare a potential revision of the Statutes was approved, ensuring coherence with organizational transformation, the new operating model and the 2026–2030 Strategic Plan, with no immediate statutory changes.

6. Approval of management instruments:

• The 2025 Annual Report and Accounts and the 2025 Activity Report, confirming a financially positive year and continued institutional consolidation;

• The 2026 Budget, reflecting controlled growth, financial prudence and a focus on structured projects;

• The 2026 Activity Plan, operationalizing SPOT Nordic’s new strategic positioning.

SPOT Nordic Team at Karolinska Institute (Sweden)

The General Assembly of 31 January marked a key moment of strategic alignment and positioning for SPOT Nordic. The decisions taken lay the foundations for a new development cycle: more structured, more strongly embedded in the European context, and impact-oriented, reinforcing SPOT Nordic’s role as a reference platform connecting science and industry.

The full documentation of the General Assembly is available here.