The KnowInG Project eNewsletter

Issue 4: Spring 2012

Getting Creative!Updates on the latest labs and workshops

Focus on the Calabria and Sicily Regions

1

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

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-to-

face 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.

2

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 CommunitiesThe 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.

EventsThe 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

3

SPOTLIGHT ON PARTNERS

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.

Focus on... The Calabria Region

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.

4

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:

• 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/.

SPOTLIGHT ON PARTNERS

Focus on... The Sicily Region

5

LABS AND WORKSHOPS

Tourism and Culture Debate at the University of AlgarveOn 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.

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

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.

FUTURE-ANDO/Laboratory of Creativeness 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

chosen as the winners of

the ‘FUTURE-ANDO for

efficiency and sustainability in

Rural Areas’ contest.

Capitalisation in CalabriaIn 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.

6

News in Brief

ACT for Culture in Europe2012 is a key decision-

making 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/

Reports on culture and the structural funds in some KnowInG Partner StatesThe 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/20120924-

reports-structural-funds_en.htm

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:

• reinforce artistic creation in the region;

• diversify and promote education;

• encourage dialogue

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

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.

Introducing…The Regional Directorate of Culture for the Algarve (DRCAlg)

Commission launches strategy to boost growth and jobs in cultural and creative sectorsCreative 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/20120926-

boost-growth_en.htm

The Best of the More Europe Debate in AmsterdamIf you’re interested in ‘Beyond Markets: Culture and Creative

Industries in the EU’s External Relations’, check out sound-

bites, images, video and more: http://www.culturalfoundation.

eu/news/3164