Creative Science Park hosts ‘Iberian meeting’ of STPs and AOIs

Creative Science Park (PCI), an IASP member based in Aveiro, Portugal, recently hosted the 14th ‘Encuentro Iberico’, an event which brought together managers of science parks and areas of innovation from across Spain and Portugal.

Jointly organised by APTE and TecParques, the Spanish and Portuguese national associations of science parks, the meeting was an opportunity to explore issues and trends affecting innovation ecosystems in both countries, and to establish potential collaboration opportunities between them and their companies.

IASP CEO Ebba Lund participated in the event, catching up with many IASP members in the region, and sharing a global perspective on the day 1 theme “The human factor: people, communities and their innovation ecosystems”. It continued the discussions that began when IASP Virtual 2020 addressed the same topic, reflecting on what has changed over the last 12 months. She also joined a panel of STP and AOI managers as they shared their local perspectives on the theme and the different ways in which their innovation ecosystems develop human talent and connect with their communities: speakers included Raquel Perez Brito (Tenerife Science and Technology Park), Virgilio Díaz (Parque Científico UC3M), Eduardo Baptista Correia (TagusPark) and Ana Sampaio (Sanjotec), with Soledad Díaz (APTE) moderating.

Participants on day 2 further developed the IASP Virtual 2021 theme “the resilience of innovation ecosystems”, with Jernej Pintar (Technology Park Ljubljana, Slovenia) joining the meeting remotely to explore the importance of community building in STP/AOI projects. Attendees also had the opportunity to learn about the TransTech project, visit Creative Science Park, and to discover the history and culture of Aveiro with a boat tour of the city’s canals.

Taking advantage of the trip to Aveiro, Ebba Lund also headed on to Lisbon to meet with Portuguese IASP members Madan Parque and Lispolis, to get to know more about their focus areas and innovation environments, as well as the progress their organisations have made since they first joined IASP all the way back in the early 90s.

“Relationships and getting together is a key value in a global network like IASP, and after a long time in virtual mode it was a pleasure to visit Creative Science Park, Madan Parque and Lispolis, as well as to reconnect with IASP members across Portugal and Spain,” commented Ebba Lund.