For the second year in a row, the Brookings-Rockefeller Project on State and Metropolitan Innovation identified the Top 10 State and Metropolitan Innovations to Watch—actions undertaken by states and metropolitan areas in 2012 that seem ripe for meaningful impact in 2013 and beyond, as well as for replication by other communities. (See our 2012 Innovations to Watch and a recap of their progress in the last year.)  Looking across the country, we find a nation teeming with smart, pragmatic solutions to national economic challenges: meeting a national goal of doubling exports, bolstering innovative industries, cracking the code on low carbon, growing a skilled workforce and increasing opportunity, and strengthening collaborative governance.

These innovations in policy and practices show that American problem solving does not rely exclusively on the machinations of the federal government. More than any other nation, we devolve ample powers and responsibilities to states and metropolitan areas that, in turn, smartly share governing with leaders in the corporate, civic, university and environmental sectors. View the related opinion.

• Exports

• Innovation

• Low Carbon

• Opportunity

• Governance