1 February 2016
It’s been 10 years since Orkestra started work as an agent of change for the socio economic development of the Basque Country. Since then, the institute works by researching for elements to improve territorial competitiveness, and with it, the well-being of its citizens. The work carried out during this time has converted the Basque Institute of Competitiveness in an international reference in the generation of new knowledge on competitiveness and territorial development.
When Orkestra was founded, the economic and social scenes were totally different. We had, as we do today, many questions, but we had more certainties. Nowadays we find ourselves in a world that is constantly changing, in which we must constantly revise our beliefs and our way of doing things. Ten years ago, we started to work with a concept of competitiveness centred on clusters. Today we analyse concepts related to inclusive territorial development, with the main focus on the person, later the organisation and then the territory, system…
But we haven’t only moved forward in WHAT is researched, our research areas, but also in HOW we do it. As an agent that influences territorial competitiveness, the changes in our surroundings should not be external, and so our team works and interacts with those around us. In this way, during these years we have evolved towards research that has as its axis the interactivity, action research… with the aim of finding the best approach that allows us to work with different agents in the territory.
Orkestra is a live laboratory that transforms and blends with the environment, which looks at itself inwardly and evaluates itself so as to find mechanisms for improvement, as this is the only way to look to the future.
All of this, of course, would not be possible without the help of the sponsors and networks with which the institute collaborates.
