the danish-german region’s first innovation price how far can eu-policies reverse peripheral...
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The Danish-German Region’s first innovation price
How far can EU-policies reverse peripheral developments?
Martin Klatt, PhD.Associate Professor
Dept. of Border Region StudiesSønderborg
Starting point:
Peripheral (and border) regions are not innovative Low level of education Out-migration of the young, highly educated Not attractive as area of residence Lowly diversified, often traditional productive
fabric No “creative class”
Danish-German border until 1864
The Danish-German border region
A growth region?
http://www.vaekstcentret.eu/ http://www.dinregionsportal.eu/ http://www.dybboel2014.dk/
The Dybbøl Innovation Price
http://www.dybboel2014.dk/kalender/dansk-tysk-innovationsprisConditions: Strengthen Danish-German cooperation Demonstrate the potential of cross-border cooperation Demonstrate the potential for growth in the Danish-German region Support innovation and entrepreneurship in the Danish-German
regionThe projects/ideas had to be within the six priority areas of the project Sustainable energy Health economics and welfare technology Tourism and leisure economy Food Logistics and infrastructure Cross-disciplinary topic knowledge
Recipients
2 University institutes (University of Applied Sciences)
5 SME’s, start-ups 1 semi-public institution (a vocational training
centre) 1 municipality
Method
Contacted the price recipients Semi-structured interview with 6 of the 9
recipients (the other 3 did not answer) Issues:
Why in the border region? How does the border matter? Are the EU and regional support policies
suitable to create innovation Innovation and the border
About 90 applications, 9 recipients
Universities
Big, international companies
Start-ups (electronic devices/software) Two university spin-offs One industrial R&D spin-off One Danish SME expanding into the German
market (R2R) Border location:
Clear location factor for R2RClose to the primary investor in DenmarkFlensburg is the most Danish German city
More situational for the university spin-offs and the industrial spin-off”learning from Denmark (e-Health)Professor born in the border region, Danish minorityCompany based there – but closeness to the German
market important, too
Semi-public: vocational IT-training for autistic young peopleBorder had no relevance at all
Aim is to cooperate with Germans, but so far not really happening
Some trainees had internships with German firms Tønder Innovation House (public)
No cooperation across the border so far Intended to have Germans use the facility, tooThe municipality has a good network in Germany
Innovation and the border
The border is the ”other”Othering makes you think differentlyThe other can inspire
How to use it?
Spierings, Bas, and Martin van der Velde. 2008. Shopping, Borders and Unfamiliarity: Consumer Mobility in Europe. Journal for Economic and Social Geography 99 (4):497-505.
High rational differences combined with low emotional differences: High innovation potential
Low rational differences combined with high emotional differences: Low innovation potential
Unfamiliarity, borders and innovation
Conclusion
Borders as source of innovation work, if:Opportunities are within the ”Bandwidth of
Familiarity”A certain R&D capacity is in the region (industrial
and/or academic)