UniClaD: a project to improve universities' capacity to develop innovative and sustainable clusters

Improving universities' capacity to engage and participate in the development of clusters based on innovation and sustainability principles, strengthening collaboration between the business sector and Higher Education institutions (HEIs), is the main objective of the international project UniClaD (www.uniclad.net), with more than twenty partners from European and Asian countries and a budget of almost € 1 million. The project, which will last three years (2020-2023), is funded by the European Commission, under the Erasmus+ KA2 programme. UniClaD shall work across competence centres (agro-industrial clusters) set up within HEIs. The clusters will ensure and strengthen connections with other organisations, encourage farms to develop innovations created in HEIs and promote collaborative activities based on mutual interest. This will be possible through administrative support, a legal framework and research activities that meet real needs. In particular, clusters will be created in the field of agriculture, agrifood processing industry, with a focus on local products, biotechnology and poultry breeding, rural tourism, aquaculture and water management. The project is coordinated by the University of Applied Sciences of Kaunas (Lithuania) and brings together partners from Austria, Spain, Italy (CIHEAM Bari), Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Moldova and Azerbaijan.

The programme will include training courses and study tours led by representatives of companies and scientific and research institutions. In addition, dedicated modules will be designed for masters and doctoral curricula. CIHEAM Bari will support the project thanks to its expertise and its network, developed over time, with the agri-food clusters in Italy, in particular by means of dissemination and enhancement actions and planning and organisation of study tours.

To learn more, download the UniClaD flyer here: (available in ENG, AZ, MD, UA , AU (German language), ES, HU and PL language version):

Azerbaijan | Moldova | Ukraine | Austria | Hungary | Lithuania | Italy | Poland | Spain | EU