The Danish-German Region’s first innovation price

How far can EU-policies reverse peripheral developments?

Martin Klatt, PhD.Associate Professor

Dept. of Border Region StudiesSønderborg

Starting point:

Peripheral (and border) regions are not innovative Low level of education Out-migration of the young, highly educated Not attractive as area of residence Lowly diversified, often traditional productive

fabric No “creative class”

Danish-German border until 1864

The Danish-German border region

A growth region?

http://www.vaekstcentret.eu/ http://www.dinregionsportal.eu/ http://www.dybboel2014.dk/

The Dybbøl Innovation Price

http://www.dybboel2014.dk/kalender/dansk-tysk-innovationsprisConditions: Strengthen Danish-German cooperation Demonstrate the potential of cross-border cooperation Demonstrate the potential for growth in the Danish-German region Support innovation and entrepreneurship in the Danish-German

regionThe projects/ideas had to be within the six priority areas of the project Sustainable energy Health economics and welfare technology Tourism and leisure economy Food Logistics and infrastructure Cross-disciplinary topic knowledge

Recipients

2 University institutes (University of Applied Sciences)

5 SME’s, start-ups 1 semi-public institution (a vocational training

centre) 1 municipality

Method

Contacted the price recipients Semi-structured interview with 6 of the 9

recipients (the other 3 did not answer) Issues:

Why in the border region? How does the border matter? Are the EU and regional support policies

suitable to create innovation Innovation and the border

About 90 applications, 9 recipients

Universities

Big, international companies

Start-ups (electronic devices/software) Two university spin-offs One industrial R&D spin-off One Danish SME expanding into the German

market (R2R) Border location:

Clear location factor for R2RClose to the primary investor in DenmarkFlensburg is the most Danish German city

More situational for the university spin-offs and the industrial spin-off”learning from Denmark (e-Health)Professor born in the border region, Danish minorityCompany based there – but closeness to the German

market important, too

Semi-public: vocational IT-training for autistic young peopleBorder had no relevance at all

Aim is to cooperate with Germans, but so far not really happening

Some trainees had internships with German firms Tønder Innovation House (public)

No cooperation across the border so far Intended to have Germans use the facility, tooThe municipality has a good network in Germany

Innovation and the border

The border is the ”other”Othering makes you think differentlyThe other can inspire

How to use it?

Spierings, Bas, and Martin van der Velde. 2008. Shopping, Borders and Unfamiliarity: Consumer Mobility in Europe. Journal for Economic and Social Geography 99 (4):497-505.

High rational differences combined with low emotional differences: High innovation potential

Low rational differences combined with high emotional differences: Low innovation potential

Unfamiliarity, borders and innovation

Conclusion

Borders as source of innovation work, if:Opportunities are within the ”Bandwidth of

Familiarity”A certain R&D capacity is in the region (industrial

and/or academic)