Sterea Ellada

PROJECT TOTAL ERDF ERDF URL - WEB ADRESS POPULATION STEREAACRONYM BUDGET CONTRIBUTION OBJECTIVE RIS of Sterea Ellada ECU 500,000 50% 1 581,280

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES Evia, Lamia and Evrytania; Chambers of Commerce & Industry of the prefectures of Viotia, Evia, Evryta- Sterea Ellada is a region of contrasts both in term nia, Fthiotida and Fokida; Association of Industries of geography and social and economic conditions of Central Greece; Technical Educational Institute of with industrial and mining sectors co-existing with Lamia; Technical Educational Institute of Chalkis; agricultural activities and a dynamic tourism indus- Hellenic Industrial Development Bank S.A.; Co- try due to the existence of significant archaeologi- operative Bank of Lamia; National Foundation of cal sites (Delphi) and famous ski resorts (Mount Par- Agricultural Research (NAGREF); Hellenic Organi- nassos and Karpenissi). Covering an area of 15,549 zation of Small & Medium sized Enterprises; Tech- km2, the region borders Athens, and is divided into nical Chamber of Greece; Labor Union; Consultancy five prefectures: Evia, the second largest island in Agencies; Economic Chamber of Greece; Labour Greece after Crete in terms of size, has intensive Institute, Lamia; Clothing Textile & Fibre Techno- industrial activities linked to the mining and quarry- logical Development S.A.; Food Industrial Research ing sector as do the neighbouring prefectures of & Technological Development Company S.A.; Fokida and Viotia. In the latter area, approximately Ceramics & Refractors Technological Development one third of Greek aluminium is produced by “Alu- Company; Hellenic Aerospace Industry S.A. minium de Grece”. In the prefecture of Fthiotida, especially around the capital city Lamia, there is sig- DEVELOPING A REGIONAL nificant industrial activity particularly in the food INNOVATION PARTNERSHIP industry while the fifth prefecture, Evrytania is largely mountainous without significant industrial units. These original objectives have proved to correspond to the actual needs of regional companies as well as The dual nature of the economy is also reflected in the priorities of the different actors of the regional the business environment. Due to the concentration economy. This has ensured an active participation of large industrial companies along the “national of the regional actors in the different actions and road” north of Athens (e.g. Hellenic Aerospace meetings of the RIS (Steering Committee, workshops Industry, etc.), the region has one of the highest lev- and forums). A satisfactory level of partnership of els of business expenditure in R&D of the non- local actors has been achieved between public and metropolitan Greek regions. However, these figures private organisations in particular through the hold- do not reflect the reality of innovation activity in the ing of regular meetings and conferences in various majority of regional companies, traditionally small, cities of the region. Moreover, press releases and family run concerns. In terms of innovation, there is media coverage together with the wide distribution lack of local support infrastructure, largely due to the of explanatory leaflets have also reinforced the sup- proximity to Athens, where a large majority of rele- port of the business community and other key actors. vant institutions and organisations are located. As It is encouraging, that the RIS of Sterea Ellada has a consequence, the overall challenge of the RIS gained wide support from the most influential exercise was to develop an innovation strategy rel- regional and national actors. evant to the regional profile. The operational objectives fixed for the RIS included: FIRST RESULTS AND PILOT PROJECTS • raising awareness among local entrepreneurs, concerning issues related to innovation and An initial step taken, with a view to avoiding dupli- technology management; cation of effort and money, was to clarify the cur- • encouraging support organisations, whether based rent situation concerning the region’s economic in the region or not, to take a pro-active approach development through the collection, analysis and to work with ‘’traditional’’ non-innovative SMEs; evaluation of the results and conclusions of exist- • investigating the possibilities of intra and inter- ing studies. The analysis concluded with the cre- regional co-operation between local organisa- ation of two combined databases, one containing tions and firms. information on regional socio-economic data and indicators and another one providing information on STEERING COMMITTEE quantitative and qualitative data of the 1200 largest Chair: General Secretary of the Region of Sterea regional industrial, tourism and services firms. The Ellada. databases provide a tool for identifying firm’s needs Members representing: Prefectures of Viotia, Evia and facilitating policy decisions. and Fthiotida; Local Development Agencies of 52 On the basis of this data, the analysis phase began During the implementation period of the project clear ELLADAwith a SWOT evaluation of the regional economy and links to the actions of the EU’s mainstream Regional regional firms to provide a context for further inves- Policy programmes were established. It became tigation. In addition, a postal survey covering approx- obvious that the RIS project can result in a selection imately 1000 firms (diffused with the help of the local of projects and initiatives strengthening the region’s Chambers of Commerce) together with 100 technol- innovation and production capacity and hence also ogy audits contributed to a deeper understanding of contribute to the improvement of the effectiveness the need of regional companies. Lack of appropriate of the Regional Operational Programme. The Sec- financing and reliable intermediaries were highlighted retary General of the Region has stressed that the by SMEs as main barriers to innovation. A series of RIS project is considered as a valuable contribution studies were launched on the basis of the SWOT and one of the main elements for defining a concrete according to the following main topics: innovation strategy for the forthcoming CSF. • Horizontal innovation issues: a) industrial design b) environmental technologies; INNOVATION IN THE TOURISM SECTOR • Needs’ analysis should not be restricted to Cultural Tourism is an alternative form of tourism, dis- manufacturing: a) innovation in commerce- tinct from mass tourism, which offers the possibility transport sectors b) innovation in tourism sector of an harmonious and sustainable introduction of (special interest tourism, cultural tourism); tourism activities into the natural and built environ- • Innovation in the key regional sectors: tech- ment. Its distinctive characteristics are: the educa- nology trends in a) agricultural enterprises, b) food- tional aspect, since the motive for this kind of trip is beverages industry; c) plastics-rubber industry; the acquisition of knowledge; the independence from • Strengthening the supply side: exploitation of seasonal and geographical factors (thereby avoid- the opportunities for the establishment of a Uni- ing an over concentration of tourists in certain areas). versity in Sterea Ellada. It can also contributes to the development of distant On the basis of the analysis, five local working and remote areas, which are often financially and groups were formed including representatives of socially, as well as culturally, underdeveloped. Sterea public and private organisations to assess the Ellada offers great potential for the development of results and propose appropriate actions for RIS cultural tourism programmes, since it hosts many strategy. The main proposals of the working groups cultural sites the majority of which, however, remain include: financial support scheme for SMEs; con- unknown, inaccessible and not included in any tourist tinuous training programme in innovative fields; package. In the framework of the RIS, an in-depth measures to promote synergies between producers study formed the basis for a working group to exam- and users of innovation; integration of the databases ine several proposals and projects for the promotion of the Chambers of Commerce; Institute of Energy and development of Cultural Tourism in each of the Applications; Observatory of innovative actions in five prefectures of the Region. The proposals and proj- mountainous area; Institute of Archaeological and ects are innovative in character and aim to upgrade Historical Research (Delphi area); Environmental the infrastructure of the cultural sites and their attrac- Research Centre for controlling industrial pollution; tiveness. The projects have been categorised into six Research Centre for biological products. major types: establishment of Theme Parks, establishment of Innovative Museums, promotion and IMPACT ON REGIONAL POLICY management of the industrial heritage, creation of AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES centres of cultural information and cultural itineraries.

The Regional Authorities have already pre-accepted the above projects as main elements of the Region’s proposal within the context of Third Community Support Framework 2000-2006 (Regional Opera- ¨ CONTACT tional Programme). On the basis of the analysis three pilot projects were selected for further analy- Chronis Polychroniou sis of their feasibility: Secretary General of Region of Sterea Ellada • the establishment of an innovative University of 1 Ypsilandou str., Sterea Ellada focusing on innovation manage- GR- 35100 Lamia ment, technology transfer and small scales firm Tel: +30-231 32422 - Fax: +30-231 39622 Prof. Nicolas Konsolas development; Regional Development Institute • the broadening and diffusion of the database, Panteion University which will be used as an Observatory; 10 Syngrou Avenue GR-17671 Athens • the implementation of the proposed actions in the Tel: +30-1 9234448 - Fax: +30-1 9232979 sector of tourism (cultural etc.). E-mail: [email protected]