The process of building new forms of governance is of critical importance in Slovenia, where reforms have established regional development partnership structures to foster economic and employment development throughout the country. The comparison of Slovenian achievements with Irish and Finnish ones indicates that governance structures should link urban centres and the rural regions surrounding them to help to determine the specialisation of regions and stimulate their capacity for innovation. It also suggests that there is a lack of capacity in both technical and more strategic, bargaining and consensus building skills. The Slovenian analysis also points to the roles and responsibilities of national governments in providing a suitable strategic framework for local and regional initiatives and for setting up institutional structures that favour an implementation of policies that is consistent with shared goals locally.