Podkarpacka Cluster Academy

The Foundation supports the launch of Cluster Academy of Podkarpacka Region in Poland

Over 80 participants took part in the Podkarpacka Cluster Academy that was organized by Rzeszow Regional Development Agency. The first conference of its kind in Poland, the event integrated a workshop to raise awareness on the strategic challenges modern economies are now facing and how Cluster Excellence Management can bring valuable answers. The conference reviewed the most advanced training programs in Cluster Excellence addressed to cluster managers and cluster policy makers. Among them, the Foundation's training programmes were highlighted and strongly recommended.

The conference was moderated by Piotr Zawada, Vice-President of Rzeszow Regional Development Agency. It was opened by the Chancellor of Podkarpackie Province who invited the keynote speakers to exchange on the important role of Cluster Excellence Management in regional development: 

• Janusz Fudała, President of Rzeszow Regional Development, Agency.
• Reza Zadeh, Executive Director of the European Foundation for Cluster Excellence.
• Dariusz Dziadzio, Vice President of the Parliamentary Group for Cluster Policy.
• Justyna Choińska-Jackiewicz, Senior Expert at the Polish Ministry of Economy.
• Adam Hamryszczak, Director of the Regional Operational Programme at the Marshall Office.
• Tomasz Leśniak, Vice-President of the Polish Cluster of Innovative Companies.

After the conference, local Cluster Managers and representatives of the Polish Public Institutions had the chance to participate in a Cluster Excellence Awareness Workshop. The workshop gathered professors and cluster experts from the European Foundation for Cluster Excellence, including Reza Zadeh, Professor Zbigniew Bochniarz and Gloria Ferrer, instructor at the Foundation.

Podkarpacka Cluster Academy was run under the high patronage of the Polish Ministry of Economy and the Parliamentary Group for Cluster Policy.

European Cluster Conference 2014

The 2014 European Cluster Conference took place on October 20-21, with a programme to discuss the latest challenges and trends of modern cluster polices, and the priority areas for a new European Cluster Strategy for Growth.

Collaborators at EFCE attended the 2014 European Cluster Conference where they gave a lecture, sharing the main highlights of Foundation's 2015 training programmes. Please take a look at the conference keynotes and read through the final text of the declaration voted at the end of the conference.

Final programme and links to the speakers’ presentations are available on the European Cluster Observatory webpage. You may also watch the video presenting the activities of the European Cluster Observatory and the video covering the conference.

CIP Call 2013/2014 - 4th Training Week

Week 4 of the Train-the-Trainers programme: visiting Igualada

Friday October 17 saw the conclusion of a successful but intense 4th week of the Train-the-Trainers programme. Participants continued to progress in their respective field-projects, gaining practical experience while observing "live" the outcome of a well-led cluster initiative.

During the training week, a day-trip was organized to Igualada, a mid-sized town in the outskirts of Barcelona, famed for its centuries of tradition in tanning. 20 years ago, however, the city's tanning industry was on the verge of complete disappearance. While many local companies died, some learnt to survive and managed to turn-around their strategy. Today this group of survivors is hugely successful and delivers products to top-fashion designers all around the world.

On that day, participants had the opportunity to ask questions and learn directly from the business owners, workers, and experts who took part in the strategic reinvention of Igualada's tanning cluster.

Spirits were high as participants travelled back home with images and testimonials from a city that has lived the ups and downs of industrial adaptation. From their respective countries they would continue their field-projects and get prepared for the fifth in-class session taking place in Linz, next November.