Local Entrepreneurial Systems in the Global Economy - Training programme for Professionals from Latin America

 

Venice-Ferrara-Parma-Prato, Italy, 6 - 17 February, 2006

participants were presented with opportunities to work together during and after the course

Participants at a two-week UNIDO training programme in Italy on Local Entrepreneurial Systems in the Global Economy left the course reassured that Latin American companies operating in local entrepreneural systems do indeed still have good prospects for a global role. They have seen at first hand how local entrepreneural systems in Italy are dealing with the challenges and opportunities and have taken the message home. The training programme was attended by 32 professionals from Latin America, including university professors and deans, mayors from three cities from Nicaragua, representatives of small and medium enterprise (SME) support institutions and associations, and a representative of the Inter American Development Bank.

The programme (6 - 17 February, 2006) was coordinated by TeDIS (Center for Studies on Technologies in Distributed Intelligence Systems) of Venice International University. Since its establishment in 1999, TeDIS has been carrying out applied research on innovation and competitiveness of enterprises and SMEs in industrial districts. It has a lot of experience with industrial districts, clusters and local development and is part of a rich network of institutions and companies from a range of industrial districts. An impressive number of universities and institutions contributed to the programme: Università di Ferrara; Università degli Studi di Parma; Polo Universitario, Città di Prato; Duke University; Università di Bari; Università di Padova; Università di Udine; Observatorio de Prospectiva Industrial del Departamento de Trabajo e Industria de la Generalitat de Catalunya; and Parco del Taro. Through these partnerships, the course offered by the host university was enriched by the contribution of international experts and guest lecturers, among them Professor Gary Gereffi, who accompanied the participants throughout the whole duration of the course. The agenda and other information on the programme are at www.unido.org/clustertraining.

Learning opportunities were presented in lectures, presentations and group meetings, study tours to industrial districts and interactive working sessions with local institutions and enterprises. The group moved from Venice to Ferrara, to Parma and finally Prato to witness the variety of ways in which these different localities are promoting cluster development and SME competitiveness. They saw how districts organize and change, how support institutions foster their development, how local governments promote SMEs, and how global value chain analysis can help in assessing the competitive position of clusters and regions. Most importantly they were exposed to the experience of Italian industrial districts that remain successful and those currently undergoing crisis and transformation. Much discussion centered around how these lessons can be applied to their own countries.

In addition to the formal agenda of the programme, many learning opportunities, both present and future, were made available through direct contact with professionals attending the programme from Italy, Spain and USA. One of the objectives of the training course was to encourage collaboration and joint work after the course. Specific activities discussed for future cooperation that will be followed up with the assistance of the UNIDO team covered: student and staff exchange between Universities in Italy and Latin America on the theme of development of local entrepreneurial system and global value chain analysis; development of training curricula for cluster practitioners and for personnel from local governments (especially municipalities); and the development of training curricula on creativity and design for entrepreneurs and young professionals.

Cluster-to-cluster cooperation between Parma (Italy) and Chontales (Nicaragua) will take place in the following areas: establishment of “Escuela Lactea”, a specialized school or curriculum to train personnel for the dairy industry; product quality and branding for cheese and other dairy products; and the organization of production cooperatives and consortia. New cluster development projects were identified for Bolivia, Mexico, Peru and discussions took place on possible collaboration between UNIDO and Inter American Development Bank on project implementation and development of training packages for cluster practitioners.

Further collaboration between UNIDO and Venice International University is more than a possibility. The February 2006 edition of Local Entrepreneurial Systems in the Global Economy will not be the last. Further programmes will take place for Latin America and in other regions.

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