The KnowInG Project eNewsletter Issue 4: Spring 2012
Getting Creative! Updates on the latest labs and workshops Focus on the Calabria and Sicily Regions
Update on the Scientific Group: Scientific work on TOOLS
KnowInG deals with the common need of the MED regions to have access to better innovation management given the global challenges created by the current state of the economy. With this in mind, a survey has been undertaken by IRPPS-CNR based around actors, policies and tools for creativity, innovation and knowledge enhancement. This survey, in the form of a questionnaire, was sent to the partners and stakeholders from the different regions involved in the Project.
KnowInG project countries, through this survey, have identified tools consisting of public-private groups of organizations acting as facilitators for innovation, business incubators, as well as scientific and technological parks. These typically have begun at institutional level and capitalise on the synergies between new knowledge, cultural, technological and entrepreneurial development. The survey collected information on pre-existing tools and tools produced by the project, highlighting different categories of tools such as ‘BIC & technological park, incubator, consortium & cluster initiative facilitator’, ‘Events’, ‘Helpdesk and organisation for institutional 1
interface’, “Resource Centre”, “Agencies for innovation” and “laboratories”. These tools have been also divided into real and virtual; the former are tools which provide their services via face-toface means, while the latter provide online services enabling individuals to share information and services within social networks and virtual communities. The KnowInG project (and, in particular, Fernando Ferri of the IRPPS-CNR) developed the Resource Centre as a virtual tool, wherein each user could both find and provide information and services about actors (such as institutions, universities and enterprises), policies, funding tools on innovation and creativity for regions and countries in the MED area. The Resource Centre also aggregates the virtual communities associated with the Project on Facebook. Anyone interested in the Resource Centre can register at: http://150.146.33.122:8084/ Knowing/pages/userRegister. jsp.
What’s new at KnowInG Welcome to the fifth KnowInG e-newsletter. This article is designed to give you a very brief update on the very latest news from our Project.
The Website and Virtual Communities The KnowInG Project website collects, organises and provides (via the IRPPS-CNR, made up of Fernando Ferri, Patrizia Grifoni, Arianna D’Ulizia, Maria Chiara Caschera) information provided by the different partners on a monthly basis about the activities, events and news related to innovation, knowledge and creativity at local and transnational level. The website also provides links to the activities and news that the different virtual communities (there are Facebook pages for the KnowInG Project as a whole, and for the KnowInG communities in Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the UK) are undertaking. Additionally, the Project’s Resource Centre regularly uploads its latest data. The website is available at: www. knowing-project.eu.
Events The next project-wide event is the CONGRESS AND KNOWLEDGE FAIR, organised by KnowInG. This is scheduled to take place 26-27 October 2012, and will be held in Athens. All information related to this event will be made available by the various online communities listed above, and of course, on our website. We hope to see you there.
Editor Leah Tether Designer Sarah Channing-Wright Produced by
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SPOTLIGHT ON PARTNERS Focus on... The Calabria Region The Calabria Region is participating in the development of EU policies and the achievement of its objectives through contribution to EU programmes. As a partner of KnowInG, the Calabria Region is responsible for helping to achieve success in each component of the Project – specifically through KnowInG Pilot Projects 1, 2 and 3. In particular, it contributes to the development of the Steering Committees and Coordination and manages communication activities through the production and dissemination of brochures. It is also involved in the dissemination of project outputs, such as the Capitalisation seminar held in May 2012 at the Chamber of Commerce of Catanzaro.
PP1: Institutional Agreement: This was signed by the three departments of the Calabria Region concerned in order to implement common policies for development and innovation. We aim to share the objectives and methodology used in the Project, carry out policies and development plans aimed at stimulating business innovation activities, and support the regional innovation strategy. PP2: Laboratories of Innovation: These workshops are organised by Coser Calabrian, and work on the innovative application of ICT for companies operating in the strategic area of the Calabrian economy. The purpose of the workshops is to encourage the application of innovative methods for the recovery, enhancement and transfer of knowledge. PP3: Sprint Calabria: The Help Desk Sprint is an organ of the Calabria Region’s assistance Office for Calabrian Companies wishing to invest in innovation and the knowledge economy, and who want to increase their level of production for export to foreign countries. The Help Desk assists with entertainment activities, awareness-raising of local enterprises, activities to promote Calabrian exports, international collaboration and promotion aimed at attracting investment.
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SPOTLIGHT ON PARTNERS Focus on... The Sicily Region Based in Palermo, the Labour Department is part of the Sicilian Ministry of Labour, Social Policies and Family. Its main role is to formulate and implement the regional labour policies through technical and administrative actions, as well as the administrative and accounting management of the assigned resources. Among its many responsibilities, it has key interests in: •
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the inspection of and, vigilance regarding, the correct application of labour rules; institutional intervention amongst communities of immigrants; benefits procedures and protocols for temporarily out-of-work employees; promotion of public services for employment; monitoring survey data from the labour market; dealing with the relevant public corporate bodies
Due to its institutional character, the Labour Department, in its capacity as a KnowInG Project partner, has undertaken the assignment to analyse and appraise the existing innovation policy in the Sicily Region; to experiment and to pilot local innovation plans through the involvement of the relevant stakeholders; to create appropriate institutional conditions, through support and assistance plans, so as to increase investments in the market of knowledge. The General Director of the Labour Department is Dr Anna Maria Corsello, who is also part of the KnowInG Project Steering Committee. Find out more at http://www. regione.sicilia.it/lavoro/.
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LABS AND WORKSHOPS Tourism and Culture Debate at the University of Algarve On 16th March 2012, KnowInG partner University of Algarve organized a capitalisation seminar entitled ‘Tourism and Cultural and Creative Industries in the Algarve’. The event featured communications focused on these sectors, and was an opportunity for regional institutions to present their action strategies publicly. Three regional projects were presented as examples of good practice in entrepreneurship for regional development, much to public interest.
at the creation of a storyboard about Tourism and Culture in the Algarve region. Nuno Rodrigues was the winner, having written a storyboard for a mission-based game entitled “The Monk Warriors”, which is set in the Algarve of the twelfth century. Nuno will travel to Athens to participate in the KnowInG Congress and Knowledge Fair in October 2012.
Capitalisation in Calabria
FUTURE-ANDO/ Laboratory of Creativeness
Contest: Your creativity is our future! The University of Algarve also supported the contest ‘Your creativity is our future’ which ran 29th March – 31st May 2012. The contest was aimed
chosen as the winners of the ‘FUTURE-ANDO for efficiency and sustainability in Rural Areas’ contest.
The Valencian KnowInG Partners recently ran a lab aimed at raising awareness of ‘Trends and Opportunities for Savings and Efficiency in Rural Areas’, which had the participation of the Valencian Energy Agency and 39 other delegates. At the end of the session, of the 16 submitted ideas, the five best were 5
In April 2012, the Labour Department in Palermo, Calabria, set up a ‘Laboratory of Creativeness’: 10 young people spent 30 hours in a ceramics handicraft company, acquiring basic competencies in developing their own creative graphic projects, as well as in ceramic object creation and decorative art techniques.
News in Brief Commission launches strategy to boost growth and jobs in cultural and creative sectors Creative Europe is the proposed new EU programme dedicated to the cultural and creative sectors. The proposal is now under discussion in the Council of EU Ministers and the European Parliament. More info: http://ec.europa.eu/ culture/news/20120926boost-growth_en.htm
ACT for Culture in Europe 2012 is a key decisionmaking year during which the EU budget 2014-2020 will be voted upon. we are more – act for culture in Europe encourages individuals and organisations across Europe to get involved and stand up for increased support to arts, culture and heritage. Sign the campaign manifesto: http://www.wearemore.eu/ join/
The Best of the More Europe Debate in Amsterdam If you’re interested in ‘Beyond Markets: Culture and Creative Industries in the EU’s External Relations’, check out soundbites, images, video and more: http://www.culturalfoundation. eu/news/3164
Reports on culture and the structural funds in some KnowInG Partner States The European Commission asked the European Expert Network on Culture (EENC) to produce a critical analysis of how the unused potential of the cultural and creative sector might foster regional and local development in some Member States – including some which are KnowInG Partners. The reports contain an overview of available information on how structural funds have been used for culture, and on national and regional investment in the field. More info: http://ec.europa. eu/culture/news/20120924reports-structural-funds_en.htm
Introducing… The Regional Directorate of Culture for the Algarve (DRCAlg) DRCAlg is a governmental entity for culture. At regional level, it is our mission to create the right conditions for accessing cultural goods; we also support the structural activities of artistic production, and work to safeguard and promote cultural heritage. Our main strategies are to:
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reinforce artistic creation in the region; diversify and promote education; encourage dialogue
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between cultural agents; create conditions for the sustainability of cultural equipment; safeguard cultural heritage as a sector for development, and a generator of knowledge, self-esteem and wealth; identification emerging creative industries with potential.
With this in mind, DRCAlg has been invited by KnowInG 6
partner, the University of Algarve, to contribute to the project’s activities. The DRCAlg’s representative, Dr. Rui Parreira, presented a paper at the ‘Innovation Lab for Cultural and Creative Industries’ in June 2011, while the Director, Dália Paulo, presented an analysis of the Algarve’s cultural affairs in the seminar “Tourism and Cultural and Creative Industries in the Algarve”, March 2012, and was a jury member for the contest “Your creativity is our future” as well.