Actions for inducing SME growth and innovation via the ECoC event and legacy

Programme 2014 - 2020 Interreg Europe

Date of latest update: 2023-12-02

Description

Description (EN):

The ECoC-SME project recognizes the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) Programme as a yet under-utilised resource and opportunity for cities and regions to develop existing and prospective local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) via their early engagement in the event. The project focusses on the mega-event's potentials to trigger, strengthen and diversify local entrepreneurship by encouraging their creative, innovative cross-sectoral cooperation, clustering and networking, as well as their internationalisation. In the project, via an iterative process of interregional and local-participatory learning and co-creation, the Partners explore and share approaches and practices to invigorate their local-regional SME sectors and align them with the special contexts (phases, scope and themes) of the mega-event in their regions. Exchanges between past, present and forthcoming cultural capitals (Leeuwarden, Matera, and Rijeka, Timisoara, Kaunas), under the coordination of an expert team at the University of Eastern Finland, combined with twenty Local Learning Labs result in new practices and projects tailored to the five territorial contexts and their local/regional policy instruments: the (Regional) Operational Programmes of North Netherlands, of Basilicata Region in Italy, of the West Region of Romania and the local development strategies of the Municipalities of Rijeka (Croatia) and Kaunas (Lithuania). Action Plans will be drafted to enrich these instruments, and selected measures will be implemented in the participating cities and regions during the third year of the project. There is growing interest from the part of both the EU Commission and the partaking cities in the efficient use of local and EU resources and the maximization of benefits from the ECoC. Yet, currently there are no concrete guidelines offered to ECoC hosts for the engagement of local SMEs. Therefore, experiences will be shared also with the ECoC Programme.

Achievements (EN):

In terms of activities, the project has organised a total of 39 policy learning events. It has also identified 11 good practices, produced 5 action plans and led to the increased capacity of 95 people. In terms of results, the project has succeeded in improving 4 regional development policies for a total amount of funds influenced of EUR 152,800. 00.

Website: https://www.interregeurope.eu/interreg-europe-2014-2020

Expected Results (EN):

Overall Obj.: to bring together Eur. regions/cities and various Stakeholder Groups (SGs) for knowledge exchange & co-creation, place-based action-planning & -piloting regarding the enablement/promotion of new/existing SMEs via and after the ECoC mega-event and its special ‘brand’ offered to the cities/regions. The ECoC-SME Rationale: Successful mobilisation of local resources by a mega-event requires strategic planning & embedding within a longer-term timeframe. Integration of ECoC achievements with multiannual local/reg. funding programmes & strategies ensure their sustainability. Thus, adopting strategic thinking & producing Action Plans dedicated to SME-engagement & promotion via ECoC is imprtant for the participant cities/regions and for higher-level policy-makers (nat.governments, EU) alike, in order to harness the mega-event for boosting local/reg. competitiveness and innovation. In light of the steps in this creative process, the nature of ECoC & the diverse stakeholdership concerning the Rationale, Specific Objectives are to: (Ph1:): 1) pool the context-specific experience of former ECoC hosts and the needs, ambitions of future ones linked to the ECoC-SME Rationale and five Focus Areas (see C.4) by project workshops (PWs) and inviting ‘old’ ECoC representatives for discussion 2) translate this pool of knowledge into practices for start-up generation, incubation and strengthening local/reg. SMEs by way of engaging a diversity of knowledgeable stakeholders (local SGs: public institutions, actors responsible for ECoC projects; organisations for SME promotion/consulting & businesses themselves, other sectors, e.g. 'knowledge actors', civil society, etc.). 3) develop local Action Plans (APs) targeting the specific PIs. (Ph2:): 4) implement, supervise, follow-up APs. 5) draft recommendations to the ECoC Programme on how to raise its positive impact on local/reg. economies. (both Ph1-2:): 6) disseminate identified good practices across the EU.

Expected Outputs (EN):

Linked to Spec. Obj. 1: - 5(+1) PWs for interreg. exchange & knowledge pooling among PP regions, - and an Open Seminar (OS1) for bringing in former ECoC practices. - Via PWs, about 30-35 experts from PPs and local/reg. SGs (incl. MA of IPs) participate in joint learning & co-development of good practices, providing substance for the Action Plans; they have the possibility to consult similar stakeholders from other ECoC host regions (OS1-2). - exchanges/synergies with at least 4 other relevant European projects: UpgradeSME, CREHUB & CHIMERA, RiHub via PPs 2-3 & 4 and 5. For Spec. Obj. 2: - 20 Local Learning Lab events organised in the 5 cities (4 in each) benefit from results and feed into PW and OS1-2 exchanges - These, engaging an estimated min. 100 representatives of SGs in the five cities/regions, facilitate the incorporation of SG inputs in order to craft place-based methods/practices for local/reg. SME promotion using the ECoC 'opportunity'. - Outputs under Spec. Obj.s 1-2: 4 Reports summarising inputs from PPs in Sem.1-3 on their contexts & achievements from LLLs, good practices (published at project website, in Newsletters, a Report). For Spec. Obj. 3: - 5 local/reg. Action Plans produced, 1 per participant region, to improve the IPs (with min. 2-3 new projects/practices in each) by the end of Ph1. - These incorporate outputs from the iteration of interreg. (PWs & OS 1-2) and local exchanges (LLL). For Spec. Obj. 4: - Implementing 5 Action Plans starts by piloting min. 5 projects in total (at least 1 / region) - 5 reports on the follow-up of the implementation of APs will be produced. For Spec. Obj.s 5-6: - Dissem. & Comm. Plan as a living doc. for guiding & monitoring, to ensure a high standard and frequency of these activities - Dissem. tools: 5 Newsletters, website with updates on results (the five main reports, news on events, multimedia - incl. clips about learning and exchanges, OSs, and in Ph.2, the piloting of selected practices). Displays, fliers e.g. on project's objectives & identified transferable good practices. - "Best practices for sustained impacts" report by the end of Ph1 is esp. for wider European interest as well as the Report to the ECoC Programme with. recommendations on how to raise its positive impact on local-regional economies: a first draft following OS2, in Sem. 5. (Finalisation in Sem.6 utilising experience from Ph2). - 2 Open Seminars (with about a total of 10-15 participants from other regions). - 1 final high-level policy dissem. event (Sem.6). Altogether ca. 10-15 new practices are expected to be developed for the 5 APs for boosting entrepreneurship & triggering internationalisation & creative cooperation of SMEs; min. 5 of these will be implemented in Ph.2 (1/region). Piloted practices/projects are assessed in terms of their local achievements & impacts: indicators are produced at the end of Ph1; documented, reported and widely disseminated in Ph2.

Thematic information

Clustering and economic cooperation SME and entrepreneurship

Specific Objective: Improve the implementation of regional development policies and programmes, in particular programmes for Investment for Growth and Jobs and, where relevant, ETC programmes, supporting SMEs in all stages of their life cycle to develop and achieve growth and engage in innovation

Thematic Objective: (03) enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs by:

Investment Priority: (03d) supporting the capacity of SMEs to grow in regional, national and international markets, and to engage in innovation processes

Partners (7)

Lead Partner: Itä-Suomen yliopisto

Department: Karelian Institute and Business School

Address: Yliopistokatu 2, 80101 Joensuu, Finland

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.uef.fi

Total budget: EUR 381 937.00

ERDF budget: EUR 324 646.45

Primăria Municipiului Timișoara

Name: Primăria Municipiului Timișoara

Department: Department for Implementing Cultural Infrastructure Projects

Address: Bulevardul Constantin Diaconovici Loga 1, 300030 Timișoara, Romania

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.primariatm.ro

Total budget: EUR 107 950.00

ERDF budget: EUR 91 757.50

Vytauto Didziojo Universiteto Verslo Praktiku Centras

Name: Vytauto Didziojo Universiteto Verslo Praktiku Centras

Address: Vytauto pr. 71-3, LT-44321 Kaunas, Lithuania

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.verslopraktikos.lt

Total budget: EUR 108 750.00

ERDF budget: EUR 92 437.50

Grad Rijeka

Name: Grad Rijeka

Department: Department of Entrepreneurship

Address: Korzo 16, 5100 Rijeka, Croatia

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.rijeka.hr

Total budget: EUR 111 049.00

ERDF budget: EUR 94 391.65

Gemeente Leeuwarden

Name: Gemeente Leeuwarden

Department: Economic Affairs

Address: Oldehoofsterkerkhof 2, 8900 JA Leeuwarden, Netherlands

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.leeuwarden.nl

Total budget: EUR 136 850.00

ERDF budget: EUR 116 322.50

Stichting Incubator

Name: Stichting Incubator

Address: Turfmarkt 11, 8911 KS Leeuwarden, Netherlands

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.inqubator.nl

Total budget: EUR 149 050.00

ERDF budget: EUR 126 692.50

Consorzio Materahub Industrie Culturali e Creative

Name: Consorzio Materahub Industrie Culturali e Creative

Address: Via L. Einaudi 73 b, 75100 Matera, Italy

Legal status: private

Website: http://www.materahub.com

Total budget: EUR 167 585.00

ERDF budget: EUR 125 688.75

Partners map

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Actions for inducing SME growth and innovation via the ECoC event and legacy

Project acronym: ECoC-SME

Project start date: 2019-08-01

Project end date: 2022-07-31

Project status: closed

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 1 163 171.00

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 971 936.85

Co-financing sources:

ERDF: Amount, EUR 971 936.85.

Documents

Documents on this project are listed below, and organised by category. Please note field "Data source", attached to each document. Keep.eu users are free to use these documents as long as they mention the data source and keep.eu.

Reports

City of Kaunas Local Action Plan Towards new perspectives for Kaunas

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/ecoc-sme/

Publication date: 2023-08-01

Document date: 2021-07-31

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Cultural and creative SMEs as catalysts for change Towards new perspectives for Leeuwarden

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/ecoc-sme/

Publication date: 2023-08-01

Document date: 2021-06-30

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Basilicata Heritage Smart Lab

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/ecoc-sme/

Publication date: 2023-08-01

Document date: 2021-09-16

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

City of Rijeka Local Action Plan to support Creative and Cultural Industries

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/ecoc-sme/

Publication date: 2023-08-01

Document date: 2021-07-31

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Municipality of Timișoara Action Plan

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/ecoc-sme/

Publication date: 2023-08-01

Document date: 2021-07-21

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Studies / surveys

Communication and Dissemination Plan of the ECoC-SME project

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Study / survey

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/ecoc-sme/

Publication date: 2023-08-01

Document date: 2020-01-15

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2014 - 2020 Interreg Europe

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2023-10-31

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

258 / 258 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

2 084 / 2 085 (99.95%)

Notes on the data

Information provided by the Programme.

The financial data featured in keep.eu for this programme, it's projects and its partners is not exact and should be taken as a reference only.

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Actions for inducing SME growth and innovation via the ECoC event and legacy

Description

Thematic information

Partners (7)

Partners map

Summary

Documents

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

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