08 June 2018
“The scope and scale of the project provide local development agencies with greater legitimacy to approach firms in their territories in order to better understand their problems”, pointed out James Wilson, senior researcher and coordinator of the Orkestra team working on Bizkaia Orekan.
He also added that “the implication of these types of firms is key, not only from the strategy perspective of RIS3 Basque Country but also in order to move forward with building a competitive and sustainable Biscay”.
These are some of the reflections that Wilson shared at a balance meeting held on 8 June with over 1000 agents. He spoke on the progress achieved with Bizkaia Orekan since it was implemented in March of 2016.
The initiative began with the Provincial Council of Bizkaia's development agency, Beaz, and now includes the participation of local territorial development agents and Orkestra. Its aim: move forward with the competitiveness of Biscay while taking its diversity into account.
“After two years of work, we began to talk about specific projects” stated Imanol Pradales, regional deputy for Economic and Territorial Development. During the session held at the AIC in Amorebieta, he spoke on the need to move forward jointly, shaping policies and actions to fit different realities. Thanks to this work, 14 challenges were identified, 4 of which have already been adressed.
Fostering communication and collaboration between institutions, creating a learning community with shared dialogue spaces, has been particularly important, according to James Wilson.
Wilson stated that these "soft spaces" hace made it possible to “move forward in different areas of Biscay in terms of boosting a culture of innovation between firms, understanding the opportunities for better collaboration in specific value chains or awareness of the potential to adopt Circular Economy business models”.
Wilson also highlighted the importance of the long term in projects of this type to ensure they work properly. The sucess of such processes lies in building trust relationships and a shared language between agents, which takes time.
More information #BizkaiaOrekan
Access here the whole presentation:
