The agro-industrial system regional sustainable development, a coherent strategy

• Author(s): Santos, H.P. ; Ferreira, A.J.D. ; Páscoa, F. ; Pereira, C.D. ; Andrade, L.P.
• Date: 2012
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.11/1828
• Origin: Repositório Científico do Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco
• Subject(s): Agro-industrial system; Sustainability; Value chain upgrade; Industrial ecology
• Document Type: Conference Object
• Language: English

Description

The agro-industrial system represents annually circa 3,6 x 109 € in the formation of the Centro Region of Portugal gross income and that accounts for 39% of the Portuguese overall return for this sector. Given this dynamics it is of utmost importance to perform a consistent strategy to promote the sustainable growth of this regional system income. Therefore, the CERNAS/IPC research unit has developed an integrated approach bringing together several regional actors under a networking logic that links the industrial needs with the academia R&D capabilities, and of capacity building and entrepreneurship (2011-2013). This strategy is rooted in the InovCluster, where CERNAS leads two anchor projects, the in_AGRI and the ECODEEP, and collaborates with a third one, the AGRITRAINING. The in_AGRI aims the upgrade of the system value chains by bridging the academia with the industry in a series of workshops, supported with a knowledge transfer platform and a network of research facilities, and ECODEEP will develop eco-efficiency tools, based on a LCA approach to enhance the overall sustainability by improving practises and find new solutions within an industrial ecology framework. The AGRITRAINING surveys the training needs of the system, looking forward to complement the actual capacity building achieved by the Master courses in Food Engineering and Environmental Management. In addition, an advanced training in Environmental Entrepreneurship is being implemented, and an Innovation Management for SME’s program is being designed, promoting a cultural change towards the sustainable welfare of our present and future generations.