European Network on Industry, Innovation & Territory - EUNIT

The Network

EUNIT is a network of six European research centres supported by the Human Capital and Mobility Programme of the European Union. EUNIT seeks a better understanding of how innovation in industries and institutions is linked to territorial development within the European Community. Following a 'filière' approach, the network will examine how innovations in selected supply chains impact across different territorial environments (older and newer industrial areas, core and periphery regions). Because successful innovation lies at the heart of regional competitiveness the network will focus on the interrelation between organisational innovations (e.g. the adoption of logistic systems) and institutional innovations in the way in which enterprises and territories are linked (e.g. regional telematics initiatives).

The network is inter-disciplinary drawing from researchers in industrial dynamics and area development, from geographers and economists to planners and engineers, with a knowledge of the spatial structure of a wide variety of sectors, industrial functions, technologies and large and small enterprises. Through mobilising researchers in a structured programme EUNIT will enhance the multi-disciplinary skills required for cross national research on industrial location and area development. The network will provide specialised training for post-doctoral researchers and contribute to academic debate and policy formulation on the role of regional and technological development in European cohesion.

The filières under study are

aerospace

automotive industry

textiles-clothing

logistics

producer services

cultural industries.

The Participants

CURDS, Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies at Newcastle University, UK, with an expertise in RTD, communication technologies, corporate restructuring and regional development. CURDS co-ordinates the EUNIT network. It will also lead on a filière study of the automative industry, and provide a supporting role in cultural industries, aerospace, logistics and advanced producer services. Work on institutional innovation will be focused around comparative study of telematics-based and RTD initiatives across Europe. The territorial case study will be of Northern England.

CEG, Centre de Estudes Geográfices, University of Lisbon, where a geographical and planning background is combined with industrial concerns and a keen interest in the development of regional development strategies in the lagging regions of Europe. CEG will lead on the research on textiles and clothing, and act in a supporting role on the automative sector. The centre will also undertake a territorial study of some areas in Portugal.

DISEP, Dipartimento di Teoria e Storia dell' Economia Pubblica, University of Naples, with an industrial economics background, has a special interest in small firm development and institutional environments. The department will lead the aerospace filière study and contribute to research on the automative and textiles industries. They will also develop a synthetic theme on the effects of organisational innovations on the functional design of the large firm, and will provide a territorial case study of Campania.

ERP, the Chair of Spatial Planning in Europe at the School of Planning, University of Dortmund, Germany, is specialised on comparative studies of regional restructuring, local economic development and spatial planning in Europe. ERP will lead the filière study on cultural industries, a research field in which it has a long work experience, provide institutional support for the textiles/clothing and aerospace studies. It will contribute to the network its long standing competence in territorial problems of old industrial regions and in university-region relationships, and undertake a case study of the Ruhr.

INRO, Centre for infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development is part of Netherlands Organisation for Applied Research (TNO). The Centre, located in Delft, specialises in research and consultancy in the areas of transport and traffic, logistics, planning and economics. INRO-TNO will lead on the filière study of advanced producer services, focusing on the concept of 'core competence' in regional development. The territorial case study will be on the Randstad urban region of the Netherlands.

LATTS, Laboratoire Techniques, Territoires et Sociétés, is part of the prestigious Ecole Nationale de Ponts et Chaussées in Paris. The institute combines an awareness of the engineering approach to corporate organisation and logistics with a deep concern for territorial systems and spatial linkages. The main filière involvement of LATTS will be in providing a core knowledge of the changing logistics industry across Europe, and they will support the development of a French territorial case study.

The Results

The outcomes of the collaborative research will be presented in a working paper series, a sequence of focused seminars and a final conference. The following seminars have already been scheduled:

Theoretical approaches of innovation and territory
Paris, May 1995

The evaluation of European industries:
results of a filière approach
Naples, November 1995

Territorial development in Europe: the impact of innovation and restructuring
Dortmund, May 1996

The EUNIT International Conference on Industry, Innovation and Territory
Lisbon, Autumn 1996

EUNIT will also produce a regular newsletter with information about the progress of the collaborative research, details on the researchers involved, new publications and the seminars.

Management

Scientist in Charge: John Goddard
Project Manager: David Charles
Network co-ordinator: Arnoud Lagendijk

Centre co-ordinators
Jorge Gaspar (CEG) Tel.: + 351-1-7940218
Fax: + 351-1-7938690

Alfredo Del Monte Tel.: + 39-81-675333
(DTSEP) Fax: + 39-81-7663540

Klaus Kunzmann Tel.: + 49-231-7552426
(ERP) Fax: + 49-231-7554786

Leo van Bemmel Tel.: + 31-15-696876
(INRO) Fax: + 31-15-624341

Michel Sovy Tel.: + 33-1-49143816
(LATTS) Fax: + 33-1-43058325

David Charles Tel.: + 44-191-2227692
(CURDS) Fax: + 44-191-2329259

Enquiries

If you want to know more about the network, its publications, the seminars or the final conference, or if you want to receive the newsletter, please contact:

Arnoud Lagendijk
Centre for Urban and Regional
Development Studies (CURDS)
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Claremont Road
UK-Newcastle upon Tyne NEI 7RU
United Kingdom
Tel.: + 44-191-2228697
Fax: + 44-191-2329259
E-mail: Arnaud.Lagendijk@ncl.ac.uk

(Source: EUNIT brochure)