Forest Clusters Development and Implementation Measures of a 6-Region Strategie Joint Action Plan for Knowledge-based Regional lnnovation The European forest-based sector plays an important role in a sustainable society. Shaping the future markets by strategie integration of research and technological development, therefore, is a prime European objective. The European Commission expects substantial effects for the forest-based sector by cross-linking regional clusters.
IN2WOOD joins 13 partners from 6 European regions in an open process. Additional “mentoring partners” will be integrated into the IN2WOOD work process.
The IN2WOOD coordination activities are carried out by a “triple helix” of research, regional authority and business (SMEs) representing the forest-based sector in each partner region. Their overall working program comprises new methods for sustainable forest management, urban timber construction and efficient use of wood energy, logistics, innovation systems and a trans-regional information system.
The main instrument to realize these objectives is the IN2WOOD 6-region strategie joint action plan which paves the way for the implementation of several pilot concepts in the respective working areas.
Working Areas
• as identified by the IN2WOOD partners through regional SWOT analyses:
Sustainable SiMculture
• Climatechange
• Wood mobilization
• Short rotation forestry
• Harvesting technologies & know-how
• Non-timber forest products/services lnnovation & Information Systems
• Raisinginnovation awareness
• Regional networks and clustering
• International knowledge exchange, cooperation
• Forest sector information systems Urban Wood
• Timber construction in urban context
• New products and technologies
• New and growing markets
• Qualification & education Logistics
• Supply Chain Management
• Technological progress (RFID, GIS)
• Massfluxanalysis
Mentoring
A main task of the ROK work program is the “Mentoring” process. Within IN2WOOD we understand “Mentoring” as the cooperation of clusters on different levels of struc- tural development. The six IN2WOOD regions differ in terms of pre-requisites, approaches and strategie de- velopment. The varying distribution of strengths and opportunities provides the background for fruitful coope- ration activities. On this basis, we invite to participate in an open process to form a strategie cooperation of European Wood Clusters.
At the International Wood Fair Klagenfurt (26.-27. August 2010), a first mentoring conference has been organized with participants from Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia.
A next meeting will take place in the course of the LIGNA 2011 Wood Fair in Hannover, Germany (May 30 – June 3, 2011) .
Working towards a European Wood Cluster Cooperation
The IN2WOOD consortium uses the projects lifetime to start an initiative for establishing a strategie cooperation platform of European Wood Clusters.
To link regional clusters by a struciu red exchange of strategie conside- rations will be an essential contribution to the innovation process within the European forest-based sector.