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Bioeconomy Cluster

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General Information
The date when the cluster organisation was established: 
Wednesday, 16 December, 2015
Number of staff in the management team of the cluster organisation : 
1-5
Legal form of the cluster organisation: 
Non-Profit
Regions: 
Západné Slovensko
Cluster Excellence Label: 
Bronze Label
Membership to other networks/partnerships: 
NameWebsite
The Union of Slovak Clusters
http://uksk.sk/
National Platform AgroBioFood Nitra
Cluster Management Team: 
NameSurnamePositionTelephoneEmailGender
Katarina
Blicklingova
Cluster Manager
+421 904 997 577
info@bioeconomy.sk
Female
Daniel
Acs
Internationalisation Responsible
+421 905 512 688
acs@prounion.sk
Male
Languages spoken: 
Czech
English
French
German
Slovak
Sectoral and Industrial Focus
Sectoral Industries: 
Agricultural Inputs and Services
Food Processing and Manufacturing
Technology fields: 
Precision agriculture
Food Processing
S3 EU priority areas: 
Food, beverage & tobacco products
Sustainable agriculture
Emerging industries: 
Biopharmaceuticals
Digital Industries
Composition of the cluster
Total number of members: 
17
Number of SME members: 
14
Number of research organisations/universities/technology centres: 
2
Number of other ecosystem actors : 
1
Link to the cluster members’ list: 
http://bioeconomy.sk/en/membership/members/?noredirect=en_GB
Entrepreneurship and scale-up support facilities in the cluster's ecosystem (see "Organisation type"): 
Name and link of major players: 
NameWebsiteType
PROUNION
http://www.prounion.sk
SME
Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra
http://www.uniag.sk/en/
University
National Agricultural and Food Centre
http://www.nppc.sk/index.php/en/
Research Organisation
Cluster Strategy
Mission/Objectives: 

Bioeconomy Cluster (BEC) promotes innovation in the bioeconomy, in particulr through the interconnection of innovative enterprises with research organizations.

BEC was established in 2015 as a result of long-term engagement of its representatives in European and national policies in the area of agriculture and food, in networking and supporting of SMEs, as well as in connecting the entities of knowledge triangle.

At European level, BEC participates in strategic working group "Sustainable Bio-resources for growing bioeconomy" within the Standing Committee for Agricultural Research (SCAR). Furthermore, BEC is represented within EIP-AGRI (European Rural Networks’ Assembly) as well as in the ENRD thematic group “Mainstreaming the Bioeconomy”. 

BEC together with its strategic partners established the National platform AgroBioFood Nitra, which links education, research and business, contributes to the promotion of innovation adn the transfer and implementation of R&D results and creates conditions for engaging in transnational consortia. The platform is accepted by the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic as the official representative of the Slovak Republic in relation to European and international initiatives and programmes. 

At national level, BEC contributed also to the RIS3 Implementation Plan in the development stage within the priority domain "Healthy Food and Environment".  

BEC facilitates a good interconnection of different partners in the area of bioeconomy at national level and it is strong in agri-food and bioeconomy policy research, rural development research, cluster development and value chain development.

Do you have a formalised strategy?: 
No
Do you have a specific strategy focus that addresses internationalisation ?: 
Yes
Link: 
http://bioeconomy.sk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Internationalisation-strategy_BEC_en.pdf
Services
Support services provided: 
Access to public support (regional/national programmes, innovation vouchers, etc.)
Facilitation of collaboration between members
Facilitation of cross-sectorial cooperation
Support of knowledge transfer
Support of technology transfer
Cooperation Activities
International Cooperation
The main countries targeted by the cluster organisation: 
None
Trans-national Cooperation
The main countries targeted by the cluster organisation: 
Austria
Czech Republic
Germany
Hungary
Our cluster organisation undertook the following trans-national activities to support our members: 
Participation at missions/events/study visits/fairs
Please explain: 

Bioeconomy Cluster is engaged in the implementation of projects with the partners mainly from the countries of Danube Region using various funding schemes. Moreover, BEC promotes the members in various events, disseminate the information about funding opportunities, conferences and support them in internationalization activities.

Which clusters do you collaborate with?: 
Hemp Cluster (Slovakia)
Slovak Plastic Cluster (Slovakia
Agro-klaster Ltd. (Croatia)
AgroTransilvania Cluster (Romania)
Agricultural ICT Cluster (Hungary)
Support Programmes
Participation in Funded Support Programmes: 
European ProgrammesProject NameName & Description (Regional/National)Link (Regional/National)
INTERREG

Danube S3 Cluster - Transnational Cluster Cooperation active on Agro-food, based on Smart Specialization Approach in Danube region (http://www.interreg-danube.eu/approved-projects/danube-s3-cluster)

CHAIN REACTIONS - Driving smart industrial growth through value chain innovation (https://www.interreg-central.eu/Content.Node/CHAIN-REACTIONS.html) 

KETGATE - Central European SME Gateway to Key-enabling Technology Infrastructures - Sparking a new Transnational KET Innovation Ecosystem (https://www.interreg-central.eu/Content.Node/KETGATE.html)

Scheme to support industrial cluster organizations 2017-2020 (Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic): project BIOSMART - Strategy of Bioeconomy Cluster for the development of intelligent bioeconomy

http://bioeconomy.sk/en/projects/biosmart/
Relevant Project References: 
Value chain innovation models; innovation audits, pilot actions in bioeconomy field
Promotion
Success Story / Achievements: 
  • BEC elaborated a study on the contribution of bioeconomy to the CAP Strategic Plan 2021 - 2027,
  • Experts of BEC contributed to the establishment of the Transfer Centre at the AgroBioTech Research Centre of the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra,
  • BEC contributed to the establishment of EIT Food Hub at the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra,
  • BEC was involved in a panel discussion "Advancing the creation of regional bioeconomy clusters in Europe", which was organized by SCAR Bioeconomy strategic working group and Bio-based Industries - Joint Undertaking State Representatives Group in March 2019 in Brussels.
Why should partners choose you for cooperation?: 
  • we create strong regional, national and international partnerships
  • we support knowledge and technology transfer
  • we have good knowledge of cluster and bioeconomy policies and of funding opportunities (national/european level)
  • we have strong focus on linking business with research 
  • we support innovation 
  • we promote cross-sectorial cooperation