| Abstract: |
The territorial agglomeration of interdependent enterprises has a positive
influence on the competitiveness, the performance and the development of
national economies. This is a widely accepted intuition in economie theory,
and it dates back to the works of Alfred Marshall. In particular, these
phenomena have been depicted through the theoretical framework of the
"IndustriaI Districts". Another signifieant impulse to the debate was provided
by the GREMI (Groupe de Recherche Européen sur les Milieux Innovateurs),
through the concepì of milieu innovateur. Later, Michael Porter's studies and
dissemination works granted great visibility to the dynamics of agglomeration
of industries, which since then afe better known among policy makers as
"clusters". At any rate, the importance of the cultural element in the
concepts of "cluster", milieu, and "district" is undeniable. This is evident
also when observing the phenomenon from a historieal perspective. Evidence
shows that the strength of a loeal economie system, and its eapacity to grow
and 10 innovate, afe closely related 10 the pattern of knowledge (thus
cultural) stratifieation, to the territory itself and to learning eapacity.
Moreover, one can observe that cultural socioeconomie elements afe embedded
in technology, thus they play a key role when considering the dynamics of
innovation process and growth opportunities for Small and Medium Enterprises
(SMEs). With this respect, the paper wìll present some relevant case studies
of technical assistance earried out by in the field of industriai cooperation
with several non-ED Mediterranean countries. In particular, the paper will
present those case studies where initiatives were sei up with a view 10
encourage cluster dynamics in regions (i.e. Aleppo, Syria or Yazd, Iran),
where the main sector of activity (textile and clothing industry) is
his1orically and culturally based. In particular, several factors were
involved, such as the cohesion of stakeholders for the creation of innovation,
the development of new products, and the competìtive advantages for the loeal
productìve system. The project approach and its conclusions confirm the
fundamental role of culture and culture-based activities in the process of
economie development, especially when considering SMEs, where culture
represents both an embedded strategie foundatìon for the creation of cluster
dynamics, and a signifieant potential for their future development affecting
innovation trajectories. |