Economic growth

The 3rd WIDER Steering Committee Meeting took place in Faro (Portugal) on 15-16 April 2014. Organised by the Portuguese project partner - the University of Algarve - in the framework of the WIDER Project, the meeting gathered all project partners as well as a few Local Innovation Community (LIC) experts.

The ACROSSEE Project aims at establishing a large and coherent platform that will contribute to rationalising and optimising the existing transport network in South-East Europe (SEE). It is promoted by the CEI through its Secretariat as Lead Partner, in cooperation with 24 partner institutions from 13 countries and co-financed by the SEE transnational programme.

Within the EU-funded project entitled “Improving Cooperation in SEE by Actions for Strengthening the RCC” a Regional Sector Stakeholders’ Conference on Creative Industry was organised by the CEI in Sarajevo on 29 January, 2014.  

More than fifty participants from South-eastern Europe attended the gathering to debate the role of design in the Balkan region, as an advantage for innovation in many fields, from spatial planning to cultural communication and marketing of manufacturers’ outputs.

The multimedia exhibition of the ADRIA A Project was opened on 20 January, 2014 at the city hall of Trieste. A touch-screen installation -  illustrating a proposal for a cross-border light rail transport service  -  gives visitors the chance to see the lines, stops and pathways meant to link ports, airports, train stations and cities from Ferrara in Italy to Ljubljana in Slovenia through a single metropolitan transport network. A video on ADRIA A and information on its activities are also available.

The European population is getting older which means that the number of people over 65 years of age is increasing. The ageing trend presents numerous social changes and challenges, for which adequate solutions need to be found. Ten partners from Italy, France, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina have just launched the “WIDER” project – “Green groWing of SMEs: Innovation and Development in the energy sector in mEd aRea”.