Italian Innovation Week - Cluster Change and Improvement Workshop, 1 - 3 December 2003

Innovation Clusters: A Learning Process towards the Knowledge Society

A Facilitated Cluster Establishment Process for Innovation Projects of the Action Line
" NEW APPROACHES TO TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER"

A 3-STEP START-UP PROCESS:

STEP 3
Florence/Tuscany, 1st to 3rd of December 2003
Change and Improvement Workshop (CIW)
(Please register for Florence event at www.eucluster.net)

In Florence we follow up the Luxembourg event and the ongoing online clustering discussion process. Our agenda work will cover following items:
- Presentations of the clustering ideas and actions
- Selection of the core ideas and actions for the action plan
- Selection of clustering issues and problems
- Development of integrated cluster action plans
- Operationalisation of the cluster strategy and plan of the continued activities.
(See also the draft programme)

There will also be time for meetings between projects and local actors

BE ACTIVE IN THE BUILD-UP FOR FLORENCE
Fill out the Survey and Participate in the Cluster Sub-Groups

THE SURVEY
The euCluster online survey helps us to know in which fields you think that clustering between Innovation Projects makes sense, where you yourself can contribute and where you could wish complementary inputs from other project
After logging in with your Innovation Community User ID and Password, click on SURVEY on your left, and then just follow the instructions.
(If you are not already a member of the Innovation Community, please register first)

THE CLUSTER SUB-GROUPS
The Innovation Community has established a new discussion forum, where Cluster Sub-groups can elaborate upon drafts for clustering to a certain theme and also load up common documents etc.
The idea is that this shall help to focus the clustering processing before the upcoming Florence event. The cluster sub-groups are meeting places to be filled with our common activities and contributions.
For the moment we have four subgroups - resulting from the clustering discussions before and at the Luxembourg event:
* Competence and Learning
* SME growth and KM
* Innovation Management
* Dissemination and Marketing of Innovation/Stakeholder Involvement

You can join these, but you can also suggest other sub-groups.
Send your suggestions in an e-mail to: office@hippo.org

HOW TO BECOME A MEMBER IN A CLUSTER SUB-GROUP(s):'
Log in at www.eucluster.net, Click on Cluster sub-groups at your left, Click on your chosen sub-group(s), Click on seek membership and follow the instructions.'

ABOUT THE CLUSTERING PROCESS
The process is designed to give Innovation Projects the opportunity to explore, analyse and make choices on the possible modalities of cluster activities. This process is organised around two main events based on the CIW approach (Change and Improvement Workshops), connected through facilitated activities in the transition period.
The central objective is to support Innovation Projects (IPs) and their partnerships in establishing a collaboration cluster within the framework of the virtual innovation platform of the action line.
The role of the LIFESTYLE Accompanying Measure (AM) is to support and facilitate this participatory and collaborative process, introducing scenario-techniques and other valid methods, based on the experience and outcomes of work performed so far with the IPs.
The process is supported by the LIFESTYLE AM on-line clustering tool and Innovation Community on www.eucluster.net