The Danube S3 Cluster project was presented at the forum dedicated to policy makers  in the cluster domain in the Danube region on December 11th 2018, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bucharest.

A representative of the  South Muntenia Regional Development Agency, project leader of the Danube S3 Cluster, presented the project at the event organized by the Ministry of Economy, the Cluster Association in Romania and the Institute of Economic Forecasting. These institutions implement as partners the DanuBioValNet project, funded through the INTERREG Danube Program.

The aim of this project is to develop new methods, strategies and tools to connect  the actors in the Danube region (SMEs, farmers, universities, research institutes, etc.) in a bio-industry. The project is centered on three high-potential value chains, such as phytopharmaceuticals, eco-friendly constructions and bio-packaging (bio-plastic). The partners intend to develop a document aiming at such collaboration, a common strategy on industrial cluster policy, and to create new biodiversity value chains in the Danube region and ecological innovations to support regional development.

 South Muntenia Regional Development Agency's participation to this event is due to the fact that it is part of the group of stakeholders interested in bio-economy policies, this being one of the six areas of specialization highlighted in the Smart Specialization Strategy of the South Muntenia Region. The purpose of the meeting was derived from the need to integrate different experiences from partner countries into a common industry strategy.

During this event, synergies with other projects funded from the Danube INTERREG program, such as Made in Danube - a project aimed at transnational cooperation to transform knowledge into products and services easy to market for a future sustainable society in the Danube area, presented by one of Romania's partners, the Ministry of Research and Innovation, as well as the Foresda- project aimed at transforming the forestry industry into an attractive and sustainable one, bringing together representatives of ministries, the research and innovation environment.