Equine industries promoting economically competitive and innovative regions

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The InnoEquine project addresses the needs of SMEs in the Central Baltic region and the translation of innovations into new business opportunities, with a particular focus on the equine industries. Over-riding objectives are to define and construct a sustainable path to economic development of this sector, such that it will be able to realize its under-utilized potential. The project is designed to structure and provide further support for an emerging cross-border cluster of diverse businesses specializing in equine activities. This will be achieved through improving business models and entrepreneur skills, by enhanced networking to promote novel services with a cross-border dimension, and by raising the environmental performance. A structured and competitive equine industry will increase the competiveness of the region’s leisure industries, through increasing attractiveness to both investors and visitors, and thereby will promote employment, especially for women and young people. The project's main activities include collecting new and existing data, developing and implementing models, methods and tools for better environmental and safety management, and utilising best practices through novel and customer-oriented services for the region’s equine enterprises. As a result, the Central-Baltic equine cluster is defined and it's functions are well known, an active cross-border equine network is established in the region and continues after the project's termination. Additionally, the mode of activity of the Central-Baltic equine cluster is improved and a number of traditional grazed biotopes are maintained as part of the business. A novel free networking tool is developed and provided to the stakeholders for further use. Finally, advisory materials and policy recommendations are produced. The project consists of 5 work packages: the first one is the management. Even the basic information on equine industries of the region are lacking which means that this emerging cross-regional cluster has not been recognised, therefore the second WP focuses on conceptualising the horse industry of the Central-Baltic region (WP2). The third WP aims to increase competitiveness of horse industry in sustanable way through improved models of firm level management. The fourth WP foxues on network level: it aims to promote novel innovative customer-oriented equine services and to generate policy recommendations for the effective regulation of the industry's competitive development. The WP 5 is dissemination of the results.

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