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From Tallinn’s online innovations to Belfast’s breathtaking regeneration, we track down some of Europe’s most impressive–and unexpected–centres of excellence
WORDS BY NEENA DHILLON
PHILIP MCNAMARA’S JOB AS MANAGING DIRECTOR OF INSPIRE NATION TAKES HIM TO SOME OF THE MOST FASCINATING AND THOUGHT-PROVOKING PLACES IN EUROPE.
Designing bespoke learning journeys for corporate clients and government bodies, it is McNamara’s mission in life to hunt out those companies and cities that have broken new ground in a specific area of expertise. “Whether it’s a region or an organisation, I’m always impressed by the vibrant leadership and culture that are to be found among those who have established best practice in a particular field,” he says. And the most impressive cities and regions aren’t always the ones you’d expect. Over the following pages we take a look at a few corners of Europe that are excelling in the development of new technologies and partnerships in order to meet the demands of an ever-changing global marketplace.
Renaissance city
FLY TO BELFAST
Rising like a phoenix from more than three decades of political troubles, Belfast’s ever-changing skyline is a testament to the success of several government-backed initiatives that have attracted private and public money into the city, transforming the once-dejected capital of Northern Ireland into an area of prosperity and growth.
Spearheading recent changes has been the regeneration of the city’s derelict waterfront, which has included the creation of a £14m (€18m) weir to deal with the problem of exposed, foul-smelling mud flats at low tide. With water quality improved and the offending mud flats covered, visitors and residents alike can breathe more easily as they explore the amenities being built along the banks of the River Lagan. And there’s plenty to discover. The historic Cathedral Quarter is home to a thriving arts and cultural community, while the £91m (€115m) Odyssey leisure and entertainment complex encourages young people to mingle in its bars, clubs, cinemas and indoor arena. The Gasworks, meanwhile, has changed beyond recognition from a previously contaminated inner city site into a viable economic hub for local and multinational companies. In just 17 years, development in the Lagan riverside corridor has attracted 14,000 new jobs and £900m (€1.1m) worth of investment.
Other regeneration projects of note include the £320m (€405m) Victoria Square, a mixed-use retail, leisure and residential development expected to receive 17 million visitors a year, quickly placing it among the top 10 shopping centres in the UK. And then there’s the much-hyped Titanic Quarter – a 185-acre maritime site where shipbuilders once laboured on the RMS Titanic – which will accommodate apartments, offices, hotels and the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education’s new £44m (€56m) campus by 2009. “The city has turned itself around by creating an image of quality and beauty,” confirms McNamara. “It’s a real change from the depressing reputation it once had.”
Super-connected capital
FLY TO TALLINN
Since 1991, when the country’s citizens famously sang their way to independence, Estonia has broken free from its Eastern bloc shackles to emerge anew as European champion of the digital age. And nowhere is this enterprising spirit more evident than in Tallinn, where free internet access is taken for granted and the acceptance of digital ID cards has opened up a world of mobile phone-enabled e-commerce. Not only do Estonians buy lottery tickets, annual travel passes, and beer at a concert–the list goes on–via SMS on their mobile phones, they also carry out the majority of their banking transactions electronically. Some banks even allow their customers to transfer money to one another using their phones.
Practising what they preach, the country’s leaders have also embraced wireless technology; documents are reviewed from the internet terminals and laptops provided in parliament and laws are filed electronically, stamping out the reams of paper and bureaucracy usually associated with government. The public, too, can access draft laws and minutes from parliamentary debates online. In another government-related first, Estonia became the first nation to allow electronic voting for parliamentary elections in 2007, having already trialled the system successfully.
It’s little wonder, then, that the world’s most talented young IT professionals have flocked to Estonia’s capital to establish e-businesses. Tallinn is the famed birthplace of Kazaa, the popular music download service, while Skype, everyone’s favourite way of making free calls from their computer, has based its largest programming facility here.
It’s quite a transformation, as McNamara points out: “Back in 1991, Estonia wanted to be the best in something and it seized the opportunity with IT. There’s a whole generation adept at using the latest applications and that can only work to their advantage.”
Flying the green flag
FLY TO BASEL-MULHOUSE
Freiburg is harnessing one of its most precious natural assets to gain Europe-wide admiration. Take one look at the rooftops of public and private buildings and it soon becomes clear why. Freiburg, Germany’s sunshine capital, is the birthplace of the country’s eco revolution and a leading light of renewable energy.
Compared to the UK, which generates less than
0.5% of its energy from renewable sources, Germany’s favourable rate of 14% is partly due to the financial incentives on offer to citizens and companies who invest in solar- and wind-generated power. Referred to as “feed-in law”, producers of renewable energy have a legal right to be plugged into the national electricity grid and are guaranteed a highly subsidised, fixed rate for any surplus they produce. “If I decide to put solar panels on my roof, there’ll be a local bank willing to loan me the money, a supplier to install them and a utility company that will connect me,” enthuses McNamara. “Within 10 years, I would have covered the initial costs and it’s pure benefit from then on.”
New houses must also meet low-energy efficiency standards and public institutions, such as the train station and premier league football club, are solar powered. Occasionally local people group together to become shareholders in wind turbines, and in the city’s pioneering Vauban urban development, car-free living is encouraged through free public transport.
Biotech boom
FLY TO COPENHAGEN
Thanks to dynamic cooperation between the governments of Sweden and Denmark, the Øresund region of Scandinavia has become home to one of the most innovative life science clusters in the world. Facilitated by the 2000 opening of the Øresund Bridge, which connects Danish Copenhagen with Swedish Malmö, Øresund’s top pharmaceutical companies, universities and hospitals have joined forces under the umbrella name Medicon Valley to share knowledge and technologies, and attract capital into the region.
“Through taxation agreements and research-based joint ventures, Sweden and Denmark have made it as easy as possible for their biotech communities to work together, giving them the edge to compete effectively in the global market,” says McNamara. “Lots of regional governments have tried to jump onto the bandwagons of IT, biotechnology and nanotechnology in the past 10 years but by focusing on one area, they’ve created a unique world-class environment.”
Young start-up companies are supported with investment and workforce resources in the early stages of their development. But it’s not just businesses that come to Øresund in their droves; about 10,000 researchers call Medicon Valley home, while 40,000 people in total are employed within the community.
Innovation in manufacturing
FLY TO VENICE
Sometimes the best way to get ahead of the competition is to cooperate–especially if, like the leading marques of Ferrari and Ducati, you need the highest-tech innovations to stay at the top. But as with any area that relies on sector-based manufacturing to drive the economy, pressure from low-cost suppliers in China and India mean that solutions must be found to ensure survival. So, these world-renowned racing companies contribute to a pool of talent found in Italy, near Venice. For the regional government, the answer has been to foster multi-level cooperation and share expertise between universities, laboratories, research centres and local companies involved in high-tech manufacturing. A supplier working on a new mechanical component for Ferrari could find itself collaborating with a like-minded firm for Ducati to perfect the technology as fast as possible. “In this part of Italy, they’ve realised it’s impossible to compete with cheap imports coming from outisde,” says McNamara. “So they’re targeting high-value consumers by creating cutting-edge parts, machinery and finishes that all go into making the most amazing end product.”
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