The Foundation welcomes Messrs. Conejos and Madsen as new Trustees

Messrs. Jordi Conejos and Søren Madsen were named to the Foundation's board at the last general meeting. Two recognized cluster-based economics experts and practitioners, they both possess an impressive track record in policy formulation targeted at the support of regional and national competitiveness. Together they will bring to the Board of Trustees decades of expertise and vision for sound economic development applied at the highest level.

A partner and senior policy advisor at the Cluster Competitiveness Group, Jordi Conejos served in the government of Catalonia for 18 years, most notably as its Director General of Industry. Under his tenure the first Catalan cluster-based industrial policies were implemented, opening the way for many other countries in Europe.

A “Clusterpreneur” with over 30 years of experience, focusing on cluster and regional development in Denmark, Søren Madsen championed the first cluster reinforcement initiatives and formed the first cluster academy of the country: the RegX Academy. He is the man behind the Agro Food ecosystem and the Business Park Skejby, both located in the city of Aarhus.

The Foundation is honored to welcome them aboard.

Raising Turkey's competitiveness for more sustainable textile

Consulting company TABU Solutions together with the European Foundation for Cluster Excellence finalized “The Essence of Cluster Excellence Management” training which was addressed to stakeholders from the Sustainable Home Textile Cluster in Bursa, Turkey.

Class participants successfully completed the programme and their field project. They were mainly hailing from 4 regional institutions:

•     BUTEKOM (Bursa Technology Coordination R&D center),
•     Bursa Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
•     Demirtas Organized Industry Zone,
•     Bursa Eskisehir Bilecik Development Agency.

For Mr. Ekin TAŞKIN, faculty member of the European Foundation for Cluster Excellence and General Manager of TABU Solutions:

“When it comes to clustering, having the same vision and using the correct methodology is crucial because we are working on real businesses. Thanks to the training, all stakeholders from the home textile cluster in Bursa now share common understanding about competitiveness and regional development.”

The Competitiveness School 2018 successfully finalized its summer edition

From the 4th to the 8th of June, the 2018 Competitiveness Summer School took place in Barcelona. Organized by the European Foundation for Cluster Excellence and hosted by IESE Business School, this year's edition focused on a series of topics related to the growth of regions, cluster-based economic development, competitiveness and how to design compelling economic policies.

Classes and debates paced a rich and busy week with contribution from the Foundation’s faculty and from IESE Business School's professors.

Enjoying the top facilities at IESE Business School

On Thursday morning the training participants enjoyed a day out on the field with a case study on Barcelona Nautical Cluster focusing on high value nautical tourism. Insights on the business case were followed by a visit to some of the cluster's key players:

• MB92, a world’s leading company serving the finest super-yachts.
• The Royal Nautical Club of Barcelona, bringing a long history of maritime tradition to its most modern expressions.

This year again, the Competitiveness School proved to be a must-attend event for policy makers and senior economic development practitioners in search of high-caliber exchanges and new perspectives about regional competitiveness.