Welcome Catalunya: an international exchange event among clusters in Emilia-Romagna

An exchange of information, good practices and management models which involved the Clusters of two highly productive regions at the forefront of innovation such as Emilia-Romagna and Catalunya, to create connections and have an opportunity to networking. Two days organized by Art-ER spent in the setting of the Industrial Heritage Museum in Bologna, which it was possible to visit thanks to the guides involved, and at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello, where we mainly talked about the automotive, mechanical and innovation in services.

The study visit involved 13 Catalan clusters and 8 cluster associations of our region, which had the opportunity to show their activities and peculiarities with different angles and focuses to promote innovation actions at national and international level: how to promote an impactful engagement of members, skills and exploration of international contexts were the main themes that have emerged.

In particular, Clust-ER Health focused its presentation on the internationalization activities carried out from the beginning of its activity in 2018 in the United States, Japan, Europe and the Middle East, which the project manager Clémence Foltz showed in detail.

The networking moment was also very interesting for a more focused discussion where the italian Clust-ER Health, Agrifood and Tourism met the Catalan colleagues of Innovi, Catalonia Bio&Healthtech, Innovac, Cwp-water and Packaging clusters, with a fruitful exchange of experience and good practices also on the management of the clusters themselves.

We talked about the common needs and strategies that could be exploited, both on nutrition and above all of sustainability for water management and packaging, but also on the theme of air quality. Also interesting is the story of activities that some members have carried out, such as the use of grape waste in pig feed to reduce the use of antibiotics and an important project on the relationship between nutrition and mental health.

The great value of these international exchange actions lies in the opportunity to broaden the horizons of each regional ecosystem, understanding how other realities face their local challenges and promoting a culture of innovation based on sharing and mutual listening.