New Venture Tools - URENIO Research Unit

The Urban and Regional Innovation research unit (URENIO) is an institution for the promotion of research and the supply of scientific and technological services. URENIO is part of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and Development in the Faculty of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The Unit is mainly involved in competitive R&D projects of the EU Framework Programme and the innovative actions of the ERDF.

URENIO's work is led by members of the scientific staff and post-graduate students of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Research collaboration has been developed with researchers of the Democritus University of Thrace, the University of Thessaly, the Panteion University, the Technical University of Crete, the University of Social Sciences of Toulouse, the Technical University of Milan, the Catholic University of Louvain, the Research and Technology Institute of Maastricht, the School of Economic Studies of Cardiff, and other European higher education and research institutions.

Research

URENIO's research focuses on cities and regions which base their development on R&D, technological innovation, technology-intensive companies, technology infrastructure, knowledge and information networks. Central research theme is the areas of technological innovation including technology districts, science parks and technopolises, innovative regions, and intelligent cities. We are working on models of innovative areas (districts, technopoles, regions), on models of innovation processes (spin-offs, producer-supplier relations, technology co-operation), and policies that may be transferred from one region to another.

Projects

Members and research associates of URENIO have participated in numerous competitive research projects funded by national and international research institutions and the European Commission. These projects deal with the role of innovation in regional development, the typology and evolution of technology-based cities and regions, and the creation environments supporting technological innovation.

Projects on urban and regional development
This topic covers research projects concerning the development of cities and regions with respect to the processes of globalisation, flexible accumulation, and use of new technologies. We have a particular interest for the development of knowledge-intensive cities based on industrial, financial, and service districts, and for regional systems of innovation. Some indicative projects are:

Strategic Choices for the Development of Thessaloniki.
Single European Market and Regional Development in East Macedonia and Thrace.
Renewal and Internationalisation of the City of Thessaloniki.
Cities as Centres of Knowledge and Innovation.

Services

URENIO provides a series of services concerning the technological development and planning of cities and regions, in particular:

Research on city and regional development, with emphasis on internationalisation, innovation systems, and application of new technologies to cities and regions.
Technopolitan planning, for the development of science and technology parks, technology transfer, spin-off support, and the regeneration of industrial districts.
Regional innovation strategies, for regional technological development, and the managememt of innovation.
Development of applications for virtual innovation and intelligent cities, including virtual innovation processes, urban and regional databases, on-line innovation management techniques, benchmarking, and technology evaluation.

The overall activity of the research unit URENIO concerns the ability of cities and regions to create environments supporting R&D, innovation, human skills and intelligence.

Projects on technology districts, science parks and technopolises
This topic corresponds to projects dealing with the polarisation of technological development, technology transfer, and research-industry co-operation and the creation of technology poles, technology districts, science and technology parks, technopolises. Most of this research stands on the industrial district theory and the flexible specialisation theory. We have developed a number of planning models for science and technology parks in core and peripheral regions. Indicative projects into this orientation are:

Projects on innovative regions
Following the recent advances in regional development theory, and the rise of the concepts of 'regional innovation system', 'regional innovation strategy', 'innovative or innovating region', we were involved in a number of Regional Technology Plans (RTP), Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS), and Regional Innovation and Technology Transfer Strategies (RITTS). This research orientation focuses on the capacity of European regions to deal with technology and innovation, and the creation of regional competitive advantage based on knowledge and technological learning. Some indicative projects are:

Projects on intelligent cities and virtual innovation environment
Advances in innovation and knowledge management, and information technology applications have opened this new research and planning topic dealing with intelligent spaces, and virtual districts, science parks, and cities. Our interest focuses on intangible islands of innovation and virtual innovation environment, which have been created around research centres, technology parks, industrial districts, and knowledge-based urban areas. Some indicative projects in this area are:

In the framework of the research unit URENIO we have developed the Observatory for Innovation and Development.

Objectives of the Observatory are: the development of data bases and indicators for the measurement of innovative performance at the regional level, the description of the regional innovation system of Central Macedonia and other Greek regions, and the supply of on-line services and tools for innovation and knowledge management.

The Partners Network

Urban and Regional Innovation Research Unit (URENIO)