The European Commission is currently conducting the two following public consultations:
1. Fitness check on the 2012 State aid modernisation package, railways guidelines and short-term export credit insurance – The consultation is open from 17 April 2019 to 10 July 2019.
The 6th European Cluster Conference will take place in less than a month at the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest. This event offers a unique opportunity to discuss and engage interactively in trending topics related to cluster policy developments and initiatives at the European, national and regional level. High-level speakers from the European Commission, national ministries and the broader cluster community will present their experiences and share their views.
The high-level conference in Brussels on 4 June 2019 takes place in the context of the ongoing initiative of the European Commission on “Promoting Online Training Opportunities for the Workforce in Europe” (October 2017 – September 2019), that is coordinated by PwC.
COS-ENTRECOMP-2018-3-01: Support for the Implementation of the Entrepreneurship Competence Framework.
The deadline for electronic submission is 22 August 2019, 17:00 Brussels time.
As the technology behind renewable energy continues to advance, recent research finds that the public sector plays an important role in catalyzing innovation. This can be seen in three main ways: by funding basic research on renewable energy in all 50 states; by partnering with cleantech startups; and by supporting cleantech clusters through networks, commercialization assistance, and access to capital.
The institute of Competitiveness and Prosperity of Canada has just released “The Canadian Cluster Handbook”. The handbook presents the importance of clusters to enable economic development. It provides information on the management of cluster organisation, growth and effectiveness. More importantly it draws important lessons for the implementation of clusters, to policy makers, the academia and the private sector.
The U.S. Small Business Administration is an American agency that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses, and offers a support to the economic recovery of communities in the aftermaths of disasters. This financial support mostly takes the form of funding programmes. SBA also works along with local small businesses to counsel, mentor, and train them.
Tackling the sludge
The treating of wastewater onsite in shopping malls could significantly reduce the water bill and bring other environmental benefits, such as water recycling and wastewater minimisation.
Major shopping malls, with dozens of restaurants in the food court and thousands of daily meals to prepare, are facing more and more wastewater compliance issues. Treating discharge properly is also important as it can lead to bad odours coming from grease traps which can put off potential customers.