ECRN members gathered for a first official meeting in Brussels on 2-3 February 2016. Collaborative strategic planning over the past months has resulted in an action-packed outline for the year to come, with activities on topics such as bioeconomy, smart specialisation and cross-border collaboration across regions and networks. The expert debate on REACH held in January was the first event to kick off the year and numerous additional initiatives are in the pipeline. The next ECRN meetings will be held in June: a Permanent Working Group on 15 June and Executive Board meeting and the ECRN General Assembly on 16 June in Brussels.