Collaboration for identity-based economic development

Programme 2007 - 2013 North West Europe

Date of latest update: 2021-04-06

Description

Description (EN):

AIM To contribute to the economic prosperity. sustainability & cultural identity of NWE in increasingly competitive global markets. This will be done by forming & supporting new clusters in the Cultural. Creative. Countryside. Recreation. & Hospitality(CCCRH) sectors using uniqueness of place as a binding force & overcoming barriers to regional & transnational collaboration. THE PROBLEM Globalisation creates homogeneous businesses often unconnected with a region’s locality or cultural identity. A place’s uniqueness is a potential asset for enterprises to develop distinct products & services & to collaborate. Rural areas. in particular. face economic hardship with declining populations & disappearing traditional landscapes. This requires careful economic restructuring to strengthen their economies & protect their landscapes. cultural diversity & traditions. Europe has an important economic & social asset: its rich cultural diversity.Despite the EU breaking down barriers to trade across local. regional & national boundaries. CCCRH enterprises do not work together as effectively as in other parts of the world. In a rural area of South Africa. formerly of low economic diversity. an arts/hospitality trail grew from 10 enterprises collaborating into a thriving consortium of 180 complementary enterprises within 10 years. There is little evidence of such models in Europe. CCCRH enterprises (40-65% of private sector workers) mostly operate independently & in competition to one another. This does not maximise the potential of an area or collective marketing/trade benefits. APPROACH COLLABOR8 will use cultural identity as a powerful device for collaboration across regions & mixed sectors to offer a ‘critical mass’ of products/services. Partners will support consortia to use new technology & sustainability/quality standards to give them leading advantages & link them regionally & transnationally by a common code of practice that contributes to sustainable economic prosperity.

Achievements (EN):

80 Cluster involving more than 2,500 enterprises leading to the development of 62 new joint products and services and 26 new brands. More importantly, the project has resulted in the establishment of 19 transnational initiatives. These numbers speak for themselves. The Collabor8 project has proven to have been hugely successful and has far exceeded its original targets. These clusters consisted of businesses involved in the Cultural, Creative, Countryside, Recreation and Hospitality sectors and were brought together in order to contribute to the economic prosperity, sustainability and cultural identity of NEW using the uniqueness of place as the binding force. Most of these clusters continue to thrive and develop including the Go Kerry initiative in the lead partner area of South Kerry. This initiative has actually succeeded in uniting the county of Kerry as a whole with the businesses involved coming together to market their regions and their neighbours as strongly as they market themselves. The use and promotion of local food was also a theme that united businesses in clusters and one which enabled much transnational learning transfer amongst the partners. To the fore here were the Flemish Land Agency in Belgium (VLM) who worked with local producers and restaurant owners to produce the “de Merode Box” idea of local products and the South Downs National Park Authority who developed the Sussex Breakfast concept of sourcing locally produced food to serve in the local businesses. Indeed SDNPA also developed a range of recipe cards using local products that was picked up on and used by Tourism East Flanders. The whole concept of utilising local food products and the multiple opportunities that exist to present these in different ways for the visitor was further promoted in a pilot TV programme developed by SKDP in conjunction with the New Dutch Waterline and SDNPA. Another key area of collaboration between the partners and indeed one that produced a successful long term output was in the area of recreation. Angling in particular proved a source of inspiration for the development of clusters with the exchange of the Angling Passport idea from the Westcountries Rivers Trust to SKDP who then went on to develop the Go Angling Kerry on-line booking system for the region. The BBNPA, MTCBC and SDNPA were also strongly involved in this initiative. Utilising new technologies effectively was another key concept in this project and Studio VMK provided excellent training and advice to all businesses involved, not just on the technology but they led by example on demonstrating the benefits for all involved in working together through clustering. It is a tribute to the project that many of these clusters continue to thrive and develop and the links established between the different partner areas are still in place to this day. They all still promote the key cornerstones of the project - sustainable development, quality, utilising new technology and above all, promoting the unique sense of place that makes each area special. C8 - helping to sustainably enhance the economics of rural regions in North West Europe. The COLLABOR8 success story – for more check out http://www.collabor8.me/media/9640/2387%20-%20collabor8%20final%20report%201o%20final%20approved%20version.pdf Further information: Lead Partner +353 66 9761615 (Sean de Buitlear)

Website: http://www.nweurope.eu/

Expected Results (EN):

The project comprises 3 work packages that comprise the following MAIN ACTIONS: 1. Contribute to INCREASED CONSORTIA TRADING OPPORTUNITIES & TRANSNATIONAL TRADE NETWORKING through active support (and benchmarking) to improve practices & communications, and new technological applications that lead to increased economic prosperity. 2. Create a COMMON TRADING PLATFORM between CCCRH sectors in all partner countries, based on a transnationally developed & agreed code of practice that incorporates sustainability, quality & cultural identity. 3. Develop TRANSFERABLE METHODS, suitable for adoption EU-wide, of clustering complementary enterprises & consortia to form new alliances (regionally & transnationally) through pilots, training & exchanges, & sharing good practices / processes between partners. 4. INCREASE ADOPTION of the COLLABOR8 programme and INFLUENCE POLICY on regional and EU levels through marketing, promotion and the lobbying of activities. OUTPUTS ~A minimum of 60 consortia involved in implementing 24 initiatives across the partnership, in order to pilot the COLLABOR8 (C8) Programme: to increase trading, mixed cluster working, & regional/transnational networks. ~36 new consortia formed & 30% increase in new enterprises joining clusters. ~New technologies piloted by enterprises in partner areas to improve inter-business networking, publicity & marketing through shared expertise & resources. ~3 training courses developed & implemented in each partner country, designed to increase consortia working/networks; improve sustainability & quality standards, increase profile of cultural identity in products/services; & disseminate the COLLABOR8 Programme. ~Transnational COLLABOR8 Programme produced for CCCHR sector consortia, comprising a Code of Practice, Operation Guidelines & Verification Scheme. ~7 Reports on cluster methods disseminated by web/publications/final report/conference on regional/sector/economic performance.

Thematic information

Innovation capacity and awareness-raising Institutional cooperation and cooperation networks Knowledge and technology transfer

Partners (9)

Lead Partner: South Kerry Development Partnership Ltd

Address: The Old Barracks, Bridge Street, Cahersiveen, Co. KerryCahersiveen, Ireland

Legal status: n/a

Dienst Landelijk Gebied (DLG), onderdeel Nationaal projectbureau Nieuwe Hollandsche Waterlinie

Name: Dienst Landelijk Gebied (DLG), onderdeel Nationaal projectbureau Nieuwe Hollandsche Waterlinie

Address: PO Box 406, 3500 AK Utrecht, Netherlands

Legal status: n/a

Studio VMK

Name: Studio VMK

Address: Dunantstraat 1, 5017 KC Tilburg, Netherlands

Legal status: n/a

Toerisme Oost-Vlaanderen vzw

Name: Toerisme Oost-Vlaanderen vzw

Address: Stationsstraat 21, 9900 Eeklo, Belgium

Legal status: n/a

Vlaamse Landmaatschappij

Name: Vlaamse Landmaatschappij

Address: Gulden Vlieslaan 72, B-1060 Brussels, Belgium

Legal status: n/a

Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Merthyr Tudful

Name: Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Merthyr Tudful

Address: Civic Centre, Castle Street, Merthyr Tydfil, CF47 8AN Merthyr Tydfil, United Kingdom

Legal status: n/a

South Downs National Park Authority

Name: South Downs National Park Authority

Address: Victorian Barn, Victorian Business Centre, Ford Lane, Ford near Arundel, BN18 0EF Ford near Arundel, United Kingdom

Legal status: n/a

Brecon Beacons National Park Authority

Name: Brecon Beacons National Park Authority

Address: Plas y Ffynnon, Cambrian Way, Brecon, Powys, LD3 7HP Brecon, United Kingdom

Legal status: n/a

Westcountry Rivers Trust

Name: Westcountry Rivers Trust

Address: 10 Exeter Street, Launceston, Cornwall, PL15 9EQ Launceston, United Kingdom

Legal status: n/a

Partners map

Partners and Projects info

Dienst Landelijk Gebied (DLG), onderdeel Nationaal projectbureau Nieuwe Hollandsche Waterlinie

Collaboration for identity-based economic development

Partners and Projects info

Studio VMK

Collaboration for identity-based economic development

Partners and Projects info

South Kerry Development Partnership Ltd

Collaboration for identity-based economic development

Partners and Projects info

Toerisme Oost-Vlaanderen vzw

Collaboration for identity-based economic development

Partners and Projects info

Vlaamse Landmaatschappij

Collaboration for identity-based economic development

Partners and Projects info

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council

Collaboration for identity-based economic development

Partners and Projects info

South Downs National Park Authority

Collaboration for identity-based economic development

Partners and Projects info

Brecon Beacons National Park Authority

Collaboration for identity-based economic development

Partners and Projects info

Westcountry Rivers Trust

Collaboration for identity-based economic development

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Collaboration for identity-based economic development

Project acronym: COLLABOR8

Project start date: 2007-05-10

Project end date: 2013-11-30

Project status: closed

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 11 992 578.90

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 5 996 289.45

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

Financing programme

2007 - 2013 North West Europe

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

2015-12-01

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

114 / 114 (100%)

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

1 104 / 1 104 (100%)

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Collaboration for identity-based economic development

Description

Thematic information

Partners (9)

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Summary

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

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