Chemclust is a project based around innovation in the chemical sector and has been linked to findings of the EU's High Level Group on chemicals. They determined that for the sector to remain competitive it is necesasry for it to increase innovation capacity and to develop new means of accelerating the rate of innovation.

The project has received three years funding from the Interreg programme and is led by Saxony Anhalt, comprising of ten partners: two from Germany, two from the UK, and one each from Spain, Poland, Estonia, Italy, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.

The aim of the project is to improve the effectiveness of regional development policies in the area of innovation and cluster policies for the chemical sector by means of interregional cooperation and exchange of best practice. The project will also contribute to the restructuring of regions and will indirectly support entreprenuership and the development of new businesses with a focus on new products and processes that are innovative and knowledge based.

In addition it also aims to:

• accelerate innovation capacity in chemical regions and to transfer experience in the following pilot projects, each involving 4-5 partner regions:
  • Improving organisation of chemical sites as knowledge sites
  • Implementation of open innovation concept
  • Skills for the future of the sector
    
• develop joint benchmark and monitoring tool to assess rate of innovation
  
• produce joint European policy recommendations on innovation
  
• support implementation of HLG recommendations
  

The skills pilot project is intended to initiate cooperation in innovation between chemical clusters that could lead to shared research infrastructure with a final aim of having a European Network of Chemical Clusters in the Knowledge Society. It is to be led by the North East of England.

From the skills perspective the output will be one seminar and a pilot project on skills foresight that will look at improving the innovation capacity of chemical regions and sharing best practice between the 4-5 regions taking part in the pilot.

For further information visit:http://www.chemclust.eu