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News and Events
MRDPW Hosted a Partners Meeting under the UNICREDS Project09.09.2008
On 9th of September, 2008 MRDPW and Rio Conventions Project hosted a partners meeting under the University Collaboration in Regional Development Spaces (UNICREDS) project. The project shall be submitted under the 2nd Call of the EU Interreg IVC program and it joins together public authorities and educational institutions from 9 European countries, including: UK, Bulgaria, Denmark, Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, Hungary, Romania and Scotland.
The focus of the UNICREDS project is on how the development of universities and higher education can best support regional policy in order to increase growth and jobs in peripheral European regions. It shall focus on the following themes:
• Identification and exchange of good practice in the field of collaborative higher education’s role in regional development;
• The role of regional policy in the development of the knowledge economy;
• Identification and exchange of good practice in regional policy on research and innovation to meet the needs of regional economic development;
• Maximizing the beneficial impacts of large-scale higher educational developments on the region.
The network will work together on a series of case studies to generate a set of good practice examples and policy recommendations.
Three partners from Bulgaria have joined the project so far: MRDPW, Municipality of Stara Zagora and American University in Bulgaria, as the ultimate goal is that the project benefits all district administrations, municipalities and higher education institutions in disseminating experience and good practices as to how networks between public bodies, businesses and academic and research organizations can best support regional policy in order to increase competitiveness and growth of peripherial regions.
The UNICREDS partners meeting is a follow-up of the cooperation between MRDPW and Cornwall County Council, UK. This cooperation was initiated in the fall of 2007 through a study visit organized under the Rio Conventions Project, entitled Best Practices for Environmental Preservation through the Use of EU Structural Funds for 11 experts from MRDPW, MoEW, district administrations and municipal associations (link to the news for the study trip). This official visit was followed by a two-day seminar entitled Bulgaria, Cornwall and South-west England: in Search of Opportunities for Green Regional Cooperation (link to the news from the seminar) in June 2008, where the main goal of the event was to introduce representatives of Bulgarian district and municipal administrations to some opportunities for cooperation with the South-west England Region on joint projects, co-financed by the EU funds.
Additional Information
List of participants
Summary presentation of Intrreg IVC Program
Education as an Economic Driver, Combined Universities of Cornwall, UK
