Salma Mhamed Hichri (p)

Since the mid-1980s, small businesses have returned to the heart of local development analysis and have begun to attract the attention of researchers and policy makers around the world. These companies create jobs, wealth and innovation. In brief, they hold the keys to economic growth in the future (Amable, 2006).
In developing countries, and in Tunisia in particular, these small enterprises operating in the field of ICT technologies should play a particularly important role as agents of industrial regeneration and technological catch-up. They are at the heart of government strategies for a "knowledge-based economy". Clusters are at the heart of these strategies for the competitiveness of companies and territories. They are considered as powerful catalysts for innovation and competitiveness.
Tunisia has deployed material, financial and institutional resources to promote the emergence of these supposedly pro-innovation environments. The creation of technoparks and industrial zones is part of this government strategy.
However, these environments are controversial, both conceptually and practically. It was first the economists who began to express their concerns about the enthusiasm of policy makers. Indeed, there is almost unanimity among the latter to consider local development and clusters as a matter of course. Second, there is not enough distance from the expected economic benefits of these policies. Thus, there is no evidence to admit that clusters promote the innovative capacity of companies.
Systematic evaluations of these impacts are then necessary. The purpose of this communication is, on the one hand, to assess the interest of high-tech companies in clustering in geographically and sectorally well-defined territories. On the other hand, to compare the factors affecting the innovation capacity of companies benefiting from a simple industrial agglomeration policy (industrial zone of the North-East of the Lake) and those benefiting from a technopole policy (Elgazala technopole).

Joep Steegmans (p), Marc Schramm (p), Neil Reid

The paper investigates the effects of geographic proximity and network linkages on product innovation in the craft beer industry. We focus on craft breweries because of the collaborative culture of the industry, which is highly regarded by most brewers, allowing knowledge to be easily disseminated. We apply the conceptual framework of local buzz and global pipelines; thereby, distinguishing between knowledge that can be acquired by simply being located in each other’s vicinity and knowledge that can only be acquired through actively collaborating.

We use data on Dutch craft breweries over the period 2010-2018, which contain for instance the physical locations of breweries and information on the beers brewed. Our data set contains 682 Dutch breweries and 11,489 unique beers, among which 820 collaboration brews (when including aliases, we have 12,225 beers, among which 847 collaborations). The collaboration brews are of special interest as these allow us to identify the so-called pipelines. Buzz is identified through regional clusters based on the location of the breweries.

We estimate a regression model that quantifies the spread of new beer styles within the Dutch craft beer market; that is, we analyze how new beer styles spread within the Dutch craft beer industry and to what extent its diffusion can be contributed to local buzz and global pipelines. Of main interest is the expansion of India Pale Ale (IPA) through the market. We chose IPA because of its popularity among both craft brewers and craft beer drinkers alike. It is also a style that has been the subject of significant innovation in recent years, including the creation of new sub-styles. The spread of other increasingly popular beer styles, such as imperial stouts, porters, and barley wines, are used for robustness purposes. We also check the robustness of the results by defining local buzz and local clusters in terms of network linkages instead of geographic proximity; that is, we define a network as being a member of the same brewery organization, etc.

Andrea Omizzolo (p), Luca Cetara, Maria Coronato (p), Maria Prezioso

Networks of Protected Areas are well-known for playing a role in ensuring nature conservation and enhancing regional ecological connectivity. However, they show impressive governance capacities extending beyond the narrow field of ecology and nature management, especially if analysed in the perspective of EU green infrastructure policies (EC 2013a and b).
We intend to present the results of a targeted analysis focused on Systems of Protected Areas across Europe developed under ESPON Programme, particularly concerning an assessment of the competences available within Protected Areas’ management structures and their networks to support the development of SMEs and the creation of regional green jobs (Prezioso et al. 2018).
Based on ecosystem services and corporate ecosystem services reviews, authors aim to show how the materiality of the assets and resources stored in Protected Areas for specific business activities can be evaluated. Authors also aim to propose how the resulting outcomes can be used for shaping appropriate policies for attracting SMEs by using standard categories of policy instruments.
More in general, we show the potential of Networks of Protected Areas to enhance the sustainable utilization of regional ecological, economic and cultural assets stored in Protected Areas, also by analyzing specific case studies in Europe.
We describe the characteristics of, and skills required by a governance model for Protected Areas and their Networks, which may support consistent private decisions and public policies concerning SMEs’ location and regional economic growth, based on distinctive ecological assets and ecosystem services available or originating in Protected Areas (Bishop 2012, EC 2018, WRI et al. 2008). We also recall a set of non-strictly environmental policies formally linked to the EU Green Infrastructure approach (EC 2013a) that Protected Areas and some specific categories of their Networks show the competence to implement – that we tried to formally assess.

Elena Goosen, Sergey Nikitenko, Olga Kavkaeva (p)

Extraction and processing of natural resources is a sphere where the violation of the natural environment is most active. The greatest burden is experienced by the so-called resource territories and regions in which large extraterritorial mining companies operate. They negatively affect the natural environment, form a destructive and unstable trajectory of development. This negative trend is particularly bright in emerging markets, including Russia. The way out of this state is associated with the transition of resource regions to the circular economy. The key actor of this model should be special Entrepreneur-Gatherer, based on supply chains of a new type. An important element of such circular economy is an active, mutually beneficial partnership between science, business and the state. Today there are no such ready-made entrepreneurs in the Russian resource regions, but there are little sprouts of the circular economy, in the field of industrial waste processing.
The purpose of this report is to show the problems and prospects for introducing the principles and elements of the circular economy in Russia. The research is based on the concepts of Triple Helix. Siberian acted as an object of analysis.
The report shows the features of replication of resource regions, describes a special Entrepreneur-Gatherer model, shows its functions and possible forms. The example of four cases involving large, medium and small companies, as well as research organizations and representatives of regional and local authorities describes the achievements and barriers to its implementation in practice. In each of the cases a description of the project is given, strengths and weaknesses are shown. Particular attention is paid to the stages of the formation of new branched supply chains, the analysis of their influence on the formation of industries processing of waste from enterprises of various industries, and the creation of a network of local small industries. The real and potential abilities of large companies, small companies, special engineering firms and special regional and local authorities to act as project coordinators are assessed. A reasonable conclusion is drawn that small engineering business companies are the most successful in coping with the tasks of implementing such projects.
The report was prepared with the financial support of the Russian Science Foundation the project № 16-18-10182, Federal Target Program № 14.604.21.0173.