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SMART SPECIALISATION IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY

A CASE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL DISCOVERY

URDAIBAI BIRD CENTER - UCB

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Document drawn up by GAIA – Asociación Cluster de

Telecomunicaciones and INFYDE – Información y Desarrollo S.L.:

Jokin Garatea: garatea@gaia.es

Jonatan Paton: jonatanpaton@infyde.eu

Belen Barroeta: belenbarroeta@infyde.eu

All content regarding the developments included in this document is the

intellectual property of GAIA - Asociación Cluster de Telecomunicaciones

and INFYDE – Información y Desarrollo, and of the contributing authors,

with the express authorisation of these parties being required for full or

partial use and/or reproduction.

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INTRODUCTION: The Urdaibai Bird Center’s experience Presentation of the case study CHAPTER 1: The territorial context The Urdaibai territory in the Basque context

CHAPTER 2: Smart specialisation The new model’s challenges and opportunities CHAPTER 3: The Urdaibai Bird Center A case of Basque entrepreneurial discovery CHAPTER 4: Facilitating elements The roots of Urdaibai’s smart specialisation

CHAPTER 5: Conclusions Lessons learned

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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INTRODUCTION The Urdaibai Bird Center’s experience

Presentation of the case study

In the ever more complex current

competitive context, marked by an increasing

globalisation of competition and markets, a

model of smart specialisation must be

introduced, in which territories will have to give

priority to future projects as the only way to

maintain a path of sustainable development.

Given these new models, territories will

have to look to specialisation patterns that

differentiate them from others, and also reinvent

these patterns as the economic, technological,

social and environmental context changes. This

reinvention is to be brought thanks to

entrepreneurial discoveries. These discoveries

are watersheds in terms of doing things and

closely rooted to the territory contribute to

creating wealth and employment.

The case of the Urdaibai Bird Center -

UBC is a clear example of one of these

discoveries. The UBC complex is located in the

heart of the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve, where,

for environmental reasons, there are major limits

on the paths for development that can take place.

For this territory, the Center constitutes

a commitment to maintaining the location’s

environmental nature,_while_

The differential value of the UBC’s

entrepreneurial discovery is based on a capacity to

make the economy-society-environment triad

compatible in a territory that requires a proposal

for territorial development different from

traditional ones.

In economic terms, the Center is

currently becoming a technical and research hub

that allows the testing of latest generation of ICT

solutions. These solutions, applied to monitoring

Urdaibai’s unique biodiversity, can create

externalities in fields like logistics, security,

aerospace, etc.

In social terms, the Center contributes

to the creation of a node capable of attracting

international talent, which in turn contributes to

connecting the territory in an open perspective.

For this reason, its development provides the

creation of new activities based on tourism,

education and environmental education and

training.

contributing to other

activities that could lead to

local development and create

value for society. This case

can be considered an

example of entrepreneurial

discovery which meets the

paradigm of disadvantaged

territories which have made

use of smart specialisation

and the knowledge economy.

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Lastly, in environmental terms, the Center

is contributing to ensure the maintenance of the

natural character, the landscape, the ecology and

biodiversity of Urdaibai Reserve.

The UBC is strongly linked to the territory,

which guarantees that its contribution in the three

dimensions mentioned has a direct effect on the

territory. This link to the territory is the result of the

combination of two elements:

1. The differential value granted by its

character as a Biosphere Reserve and

stopover for migratory birds which is

different from any other place in terms of

monitoring, research and testing EICTs

(electronic, information and communications

technologies) applied to biology and

ornithology in particular.

2. The particular management model that

involves the different parts of the quadruple

helix, which, along with their interests, roles

and capacities, ensure the maximisation of the

Center’s contribution to the territory’s

development within the framework of the triad.

Although it is the combination of both

elements which gives the UBC particular interest, the

last one is even more important in terms of displaying

the success of an entrepreneurial discovery. Every

territory, to a greater or lesser degree, has some

differential activities that can grant advantages in

the medium and long term. However, it is the way

they are managed which makes the difference

between success and failure. In the case of the UBC,

the asset (the Urdaibai Reserve itself) is linked to the

local geography and was latent even before the

process of discovering its possibilities was even

begun.

It was the logic of how the discovery

process was managed (identification and UBC

approach), based on a new collaborative model called

“Cluster+”, which allowed its launch as a formal

initiative in spring 2011. The role of each of the

Center’s stakeholders has been a crucial part of this

model:

The Public Administration (Biscay Provincial

Council and the Basque Government)

prioritised the initiative with institutional

support and with resources to give credibility

to the initiative, also linking it to social and

territorial challenges.

The business fabric (through GAIA and its

Cluster+ model) guarantees the generation

of positive externalities for companies by

means of the transfer, development and

testing of technologies that create

competitive advantages.

The innovation system (represented by

Aranzadi which also manages the Center)

guarantees research guidance in the field of

biological and environmental sciences,

contributing to knowledge creation and

transfer.

The communities of users (in the form of

various organisations and European and

international thematic networks) facilitate

the testing of the activity carried out at the

UBC, also positioning it and the territory

in the global economy.

The case of the UBC and its surrounding

area, Urdaibai, is a clear example of how to

discover ways of turning limitations into

opportunities that can competitively and

comparatively differentiate a territory; a clear

example of how smart specialisation should not

be understood as a model that is only

appropriate for a small number of exceptional

territories, but rather that it depends more on

making the most of opportunities and on how

entrepreneurial discovery processes are managed.

In short, the secret of territorial competitiveness

is not in the “what”, but in the “how” of the

entrepreneurial process of conceiving

entrepreneurial discoveries that allow a

competitive advantage to be obtained and

reinvented over time.

The goal of this article is to present the

UBC’s experience, analysing the differential

value that an initiative involving an

entrepreneurial discovery of these characteristics

means for a territory that is economically

limited, such as Urdaibai. Furthermore, its aim is

to identify the determining aspects that have

brought success in the case of this initiative’s

economic, social and environmental dimensions.

This document is divided into 5 different sections

in order to do this.

The first chapter describes the reality

of the local environment where the Urdaibai Bird

Center is located (the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve)

in order to contextualise the starting point

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point, analysing its major limitations as well as its

opportunities.

The second chapter presents an

overview of the basic elements of smart

specialisation model from both a theoretical-

conceptual perspective and a political one so that

it is possible to understand the UBC’s

entrepreneurial discovery process within the

framework of this new territorial development

model.

The third chapter is a detailed analysis

of the Urdaibai Bird Center, from its origin and

characteristics to its business model, referring to

the possibilities it offers with respect to territorial

development based on smart specialisation.

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The fourth chapter describes the

management model behind the UBC: the Cluster+.

This chapter also includes a reflection on the

synergies of the Cluster+ model applied to the

case of the UBC and smart specialisation, as well

as and the opportunity presented by its

instrumentalisation looking to the upcoming Smart

Specialisation Strategies of RIS3.

The fifth chapter details a series of

recommendations that can be used to transfer the

experience of this entrepreneurial discovery to

other economic/ technological domains and

geographical areas with similar starting points and

problems.

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CHAPTER 1 The territorial context

The Urdaibai territory in the Basque context

The Urdaibai Bird Center – UBC is

located in the small Biscay municipality of

Gautegiz-Arteaga in the Autonomous Region of the

Basque Country (CAPV). The economic profile of

this town and its immediate surroundings1 contrast

with the industrial profile of the CAPV in general,

being one of the areas with the region’s greatest

natural riches.

The Urdaibai estuary where the UBC is

located is a natural area formed by the mouth of

the River Oka, that occupies a surface area of 220

km² and has impressive ecological assets that have

allowed it to be listed as a UNESCO Biosphere

Reserve. It is the Basque Country’s most important

wetland in terms of size and level of conservation,

and is an important stopover and wintering site for

birds migrating from northern Europe to southern

Africa2.

For this reason, as well as its scientific,

cultural and recreational importance, the Biosphere

Reserve law sets out measures for the area’s

environmental sustainability, which creates

limitations as regards the area’s development.

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Urdaibai and the UBC area*

Source: Drawn up by the authors * Municipalities of Busuturia, Gautegiz-Arteaga, Ibarrangelu, Murueta and Sukarrieta

SUKARRIETA

IBARRANGELU

MURRUETA

BUSTURIA

GAUTEGIZ-ARTEAGA

PAIS VASCO

BIZKAIA

URDAIABAI

1Municipalities of Busuturia, Gautegiz-Arteaga, Ibarrangelu, Murueta and Sukarrieta

2The ornithological importance of this reserve has meant it was declared, in 1994, an Area of Special Protection for Birds, being integrated into the Natura 2000 network. It

is included on the RAMSAR Convention’s list of internationally important wetlands according to a decision taken by the Council of Ministers in 1992.

Economic structure of the UBC area* and the CAPV

GROSS VALUE ADDED

4,62%

12,07%

14,24%

69,07%

2,95%

26,89%

7,81%

62,35%

5,14%

13,19%

10,58%

71,09%

0,71%

27,82%

9,22%

62,26%

1,28%

21,39%

7,35%

69,98%

0,91%

21,12%

8,41%

69,57%

3,09%

27,71%

8,61%

60,59%

1,40%

31,60%

6,70%

60,30%

EMPLOYMENT

2000 2008 2010

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Source: Drawn up by the authors using EUSTAT figures. Regional Accounting

4,62%

12,07%

14,24%

69,07%

2,95%

26,89%

7,81%

62,35%

5,14%

13,19%

10,58%

71,09%

0,71%

27,82%

9,22%

62,26%

1,28%

21,39%

7,35%

69,98%

0,91%

21,12%

8,41%

69,57%

3,09%

27,71%

8,61%

60,59%

1,40%

31,60%

6,70%

60,30%

4,62%

12,07%

14,24%

69,07%

2,95%

26,89%

7,81%

62,35%

5,14%

13,19%

10,58%

71,09%

0,71%

27,82%

9,22%

62,26%

1,28%

21,39%

7,35%

69,98%

0,91%

21,12%

8,41%

69,57%

3,09%

27,71%

8,61%

60,59%

1,40%

31,60%

6,70%

60,30%

4,62%

12,07%

14,24%

69,07%

2,95%

26,89%

7,81%

62,35%

5,14%

13,19%

10,58%

71,09%

0,71%

27,82%

9,22%

62,26%

1,28%

21,39%

7,35%

69,98%

0,91%

21,12%

8,41%

69,57%

3,09%

27,71%

8,61%

60,59%

1,40%

31,60%

6,70%

60,30%

4,62%

12,07%

14,24%

69,07%

2,95%

26,89%

7,81%

62,35%

5,14%

13,19%

10,58%

71,09%

0,71%

27,82%

9,22%

62,26%

1,28%

21,39%

7,35%

69,98%

0,91%

21,12%

8,41%

69,57%

3,09%

27,71%

8,61%

60,59%

1,40%

31,60%

6,70%

60,30%

4,62%

12,07%

14,24%

69,07%

2,95%

26,89%

7,81%

62,35%

5,14%

13,19%

10,58%

71,09%

0,71%

27,82%

9,22%

62,26%

1,28%

21,39%

7,35%

69,98%

0,91%

21,12%

8,41%

69,57%

3,09%

27,71%

8,61%

60,59%

1,40%

31,60%

6,70%

60,30%

0,91%

21,12%

8,41%

69,57%

2010 - CAPVPoblación ocupada

Agro. Industria Const. Servicios * Municipalities of Busuturia, Gautegiz-Arteaga, Ibarrangelu, Murueta and Sukarrieta

Furthermore, these limitations are

aggravated by the territory’s geo-demographic

characteristics. The five municipalities around the

UBC are smaller than others in Biscay, both in

terms of population (3,953 inhabitants in 2011,

0.2% of the CAPV) and surface area (66.5 km2,

____ 0.7% of the CAPV). They have a

lower population density than the

average in the CAPV (70

inhab./km2 compared with 294)

which means they cannot be

considered economic and social

centres.

Besides, the proximity of

urban centres like Gernika-Lumo

and Bermeo accentuate any

potential dislocation. It is not a

coincidence that the percentage of

the population who work outside

their municipality is nearly 90%,

which is 70% more than the CAPV

average.

These characteristics

have largely determined the nature

of the local production system of

the UBC’s surroundings, which is

linked to services for the

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0,91%

21,12%

8,41%

69,57%

2010 - CAPVPoblación ocupada

Agro. Industria Const. Servicios

0,91%

21,12%

8,41%

69,57%

2010 - CAPVPoblación ocupada

Agro. Industria Const. Servicios

0,91%

21,12%

8,41%

69,57%

2010 - CAPVPoblación ocupada

Agro. Industria Const. ServiciosAgro Industry Constr. ervices

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Important figures for the UBC area

Source: Udalmap – Basque Government municipal indicators, based on Eustat figures

local population and an economic profile in which

primary activities play an important role.

It can be observed from the Eustat economic

figures that industry provides a percentage of gross

added value significantly lower than the CAPV average

(13.1% against 27.8% in 2008), while primary

activities and service industries are above the average.

This distribution has held level for the last decade,

although with an increase as regards primary activities

(4.6% in 2000 compared with 5.14% in 2008) which is

the opposite to what has happened in the CAPV (1.4%

compared with 0.71%).

In terms of working population, the

distribution by sector is similar to that of the CAPV,

although this has a nuance, since most residents work

outside these municipalities. This characteristic can be

clearly seen in the GDP per capita and per worker

figures that give information about the dormitory

nature of these municipalities.

In short, the geographical surroundings are

marked by an absence of major towns (absence of

critical mass), their predominantly rural nature

(traditional activities), and by the restrictions that the

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MUNICIPALITY

INDICATOR

natural environment imposes, limiting the

development of economic activities with a major

impact.

This kind of territory involves major

challenges when it comes to finding a place for it in

the current competitiveness context, with few

options for a local development policy.

Key elements

Unique ecology and landscape as differential assets

Small population centres (lack of dynamism) and absence of critical mass

Traditional economy, mainly rural with associated services

Limited options in terms of a local development policy

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Population (inhabitants) 2011 1,776 879 636 308 354 3,953 2,127,900

Surface area (km2) 19.63 13.57 15.56 5.45 2.3 56.51 7,234

Density (inhab./km2) 2011 90.45 64.79 40.86 56.54 153.98 69.95 294.15

Population variation (%) 2000-2011 6.16 5.40 21.84 38.12 13.10 10.88 2.73

Vegetation growth rate (%) 2010 -3.39 -4.58 -8.00 -9.74 0.00 -4.59 0.82

Elderly population (% inhab. +65 years) 2012 23.61 17.91 24.49 14.24 26.61 22.02 19.84

Working population (% 16-64 years) 2006 67.10 66.72 75.99 70.05 58.90 67.94 64.99

Unemployed population (% 16-64 years) 2011 8.08 9.53 6.88 6.07 8.80 8.12 10.04

GDP per capita (CAPV = 100) 2008 36.20 39.08 44.33 122.30 196.64 59.22 100.00

GDP per worker (CAPV = 100) 2008 92.42 96.19 111.36 117.92 145.22 103.02 100.00

Total personal income (CAPV = 100) 2009 95.16 119.71 110.31 115.36 139.34 108.59 100.00

Employment in micro-companies (%) 2011 42.32 73.38 100.00 25.58 22.06 55.39 36.68

Population working outside the municipality (% +16) 2001 85.71 92.17 80.19 89.57 85.35 86.53 51.37

Potentially contaminated soil (% total) 2008 0.14 0.02 0.04 0.76 0.03 0.14 1.16

Protected area (% total) 2011 19.14 70.79 50.96 55.55 18.83 38.55 20.66

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Although the effects of globalisation are

determining the rules of competitive play, it is the

territories and their assets that allow companies to

have the elements necessary to differentiate

themselves from the competition. As a response to

this new paradigm, an ever more important factor is

the smart specialisation of territories as a

mechanism to rationalise and increase the

efficiency of economic systems and business

competitiveness.

The concept of smart specialisation arose

from the general reflections of a group of European

Commission experts regarding the endemic gap in

terms of innovation between Europe and the USA,

as a result of less economic and technological

specialisation and a poorer prioritisation of efforts

in this regard at a regional level (Pontikakis et al.

20091). The underlying idea stressed the importance

of having a regional system based on few, very

specialised activities which, interacting with each

other, give rise to other new sources for

competitive and comparative advantages (known as

entrepreneurial discoveries).

This current way of thinking became so

influential that it caused a reorientation of European

Regional Policy within the framework of the

Europe 2020 strategy. Currently, smart

specialisation must be included as a governing

principle for two of the conditions for obtaining

FEDER funds during 2014-2020 (COM EC 20112).

In this respect, the European Commission has urged

the regions to follow a model of smart specialisation

by means of the definition of an ad-hoc strategy

(RIS3) as a condition for receiving European

regional policy funds in the upcoming 2014-2020

period.

However, smart specialization is still a

concept under development, whose Contents come

mainly from academic authors who currently

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CHAPTER 2 Smart specialisation

The new model’s challenges and opportunities

“The establishment of priorities that are

implemented at regional level in a series of activities

and/or technological domains that are potentially

competitive and able to create new activities in a

global context.”

What is Smart Specialisation?

Achieving COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES by means of specialisation, from the current possibilities offered by the specific territorial reality (comparative advantages). This in coherence with the priorities of other regions.

Achieving COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES giving priority to specialisation choices based on key enabling technologies.

Exploiting the potential of SPECIALISED DIVERSIFICATION based on the links among different but related activities / technologies.

Considering the GLOBAL CONTEXT

Exploiting RELATED VARIETY

Giving priority to diversified specialisation in coherence with the

historical heritage and capacities of the region, taking into consideration the

global economy’s determining factors and possibilities.

Priority to SPECIALISATION PATTERNS

advise the Commission itself (Foray et al. 20093 and

McCann and Ortega Argilés-20114). It can be defined

as:

1PONTIKAKIS, KYRIAKOU Y VAN BAVEL (2009) “The question of R&D Specialisation: perspectives and policy implications”. JRC Scientific and Technical Reports. 2COM (EC 2011) Communication from the EC to the EU Parliament, the Council, the CoR: Regional Policy contributing to smart growth in Europe 2020

3FORAY, D., DAVID, P. A. Y HALL, B. (2009) “Smart Specialisation: the concept” in Potocnik´s “Expert Group Knowledge for Growth Report”. 4McCAN, P. and ORTEGA-ARGILÉS, R. (2011) “Smart Specialisation, regional growth and applications to EU Cohesion policy”. Economic Geography working paper 2011.

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The concept can be broken down into

three main elements: (1) coherence of the process in

the global context, (2) giving priority to specific

specialisation patterns, and (3) specialised

diversification by means of the identification and

promotion of entrepreneurial discoveries.

One of the most widespread criticisms of

smart specialization is the potential risk of slipping

into the dynamic of “picking winners”, or, in

other words, that the best positioned territories have

more options when it comes to taking advantage of

the benefits of specialisation. Therefore, a priori, a

model focussing on the processes of entrepreneurial

discovery as a keystone for a territory’s

development may appear more beneficial for those

areas with economies of agglomeration, critical

mass and business dynamism, where these kind of

discoveries will be more probable.

However, experience shows that the key

is actually found in the process by which an

entrepreneurial discovery is achieved and there a

good smart specialisation policy can contribute to

ameliorating less favourable starting point to that.

All territories, independently of their

profile, have elements which, when combined, can

give rise to entrepreneurial discoveries. The

difficulty is in (1) identifying the enabling elements,

(2) discovering the creative combination of these

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Elements defining / characterising an entrepreneurial discovery

Source: INFYDE

SPECIALISED DIVERSIFICATION

TECHNOLOGICAL HYBRIDISATION

REGIONAL HELIX

WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY

Does it contributes to the diversification of the current

regional specialisation pattern?

Are different knowledge / technological fields combined?

Sector-Sector (non-technological inn.) Sector-Technology Technology-Technology (technological inn.)

Business fabric Society and users

Period for marketing and sale Geographical scope

DEFINING ELEMENTS CHARACTERISING ELEMENTS

Does the “entrepreneur” come out of and/or is supported by the

quadruple helix?

Does it have clear possibilities in terms of the international market?

RDI system Government

Incremental innovation Radical innovation

elements that give shape to the entrepreneurial

discovery and (3) support the process by which it

becomes a formal initiative able to contribute to

territorial development.

The two last points are ad-hoc aspects that

depend on the availability of the different elements

that define and characterise an entrepreneurial

discovery, which are: aspects linked to (1) the

degree of specialised diversification (type of

innovation generated), (2) the level of technological

hybridisation (creative combination of separate

knowledge fields / technologies that are transversal

to different activities), (3) the representation of the

regional helix (involvement of all agents), and (4)

the window of opportunity (scope and impact in

market terms).

The case of the UBC is an example of

entrepreneurial discovery that largely meets these

elements. In the next chapter there is an in-depth

analysis of the UBC as regards each of the elements

that define and characterise it as an entrepreneurial

discovery within the framework of territorial smart

specialisation for the Urdaibai area.

Furthermore, it also looks at the

“Cluster+” management model covering the case of

the UBC and by means of which it has been

identified and promoted.

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CHAPTER 3 The Urdaibai Bird Center - UBC

A case of Basque entrepreneurial discovery

The Urdaibai Bird Center - UBC

The Urdaibai Bird Center - UBC is a

public-private initiative that commenced in spring

2011 with the inauguration of its facilities in the

municipality of Gautegiz-Arteaga.

Urdaibai Bird Center was created through

the refitting of an old industrial unit in the Orueta

neighbourhood of Gautegiz-Arteaga. Due to its

location close to the protected wetlands of

Urdaibai, there are significant limits on the

tipologies of economic activities that can be carried

out there. Because of the protected and limiting

nature of the environment where the complex is

located, the Center has become a very important

piece with respect to development opportunities

and capacities, not only in the municipality of

Gautegiz-Arteaga, but also in the surrounding area.

Despite the area’s limitations, its location

had some prime conditions for the observation of

birds. This research activity, linked to the

potentiality of the application of new technologies,

gave GAIA the chance to discover the inherent

opportunities that this project could have within the

wider framework of its new management model

“Cluster+”, aligned too with the principles of the

territorial smart specialisation models.

In 2009, work began on the old industrial

complex that was to form the setting for the new

scientific Centre. This came about through an

agreement between the BBK Obra Social

Foundation and the Sociedad de Ciencias

Aranzadi organisation. The resources needed for

refitting work came from the Biscay Authorities (a

total of 3 million Euros) and the BBK (2 million).

The structure of the original building was

conserved, although with a new exterior to better

integrate it into the exceptional natural setting. The

interior was fitted also in a very functional way,

taking into account multiple uses, with different

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Key elements

All territories have assets which, combined within a framework of opportunities, can give rise to entrepreneurial discoveries

The key lies in identifying the entrepreneurial discovery or discoveries and consolidating them

An entrepreneurial discovery refers to specialised diversification through hybridisation within the framework of a window of opportunity and with the participation of the quadruple helix

The Urdaibai Bird Center is an example

of the potential entrepreneurial discoveries that can

occur from a combination of a territory’s assets and

opportunities.

As it has been mentioned, all territories

have elements that, when combined creatively

and aimed at specific windows of opportunity,

can result in initiatives that contribute to

territorial development. The key is in the process

by which these “discoveries” are made and then

turned into a successful business initiatives.

This chapter includes both stages, based

on the study of the UBC in the Basque Country. In

the first, the Center’s origins and the business

model in which it was set up are analysed, which

will allow an identification of entrepreneurial

discovery’s defining and characterising elements for

a particular example.

With respect to the second stage, there is

an analysis of the “Cluster+” management model

created by GAIA, and through which the UBC’s

defining and characterising elements acquire a logic

of entrepreneurial discovery within the much wider

framework of a process (strategy) of smart

specialisation.

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The UBC facilities

Source: UBC http://www.birdcenter.org/

The Urdaibai Bird Center was formed from the refurbishment

of a former industrial complex which, because of its location, had some

unbeatable conditions for the observation of birds migrating from northern

Europe to Sub-Saharan Africa. Although the original building’s structure

was kept, the interior was fitted with a series of modules designed to meet

the needs of a “living lab” model (research, education, dissemination,

testing, etc.). The Center has the following facilities:

The UBC’s business model

exhibition areas, conference rooms, research

areas and ornithological watching points, along

with a library museum specialising in the

matter of birds and their migratory journey

from northern Europe to Sub-Saharan Africa.

This design, based on taking into

account multiple uses, was intended to make

the Center a meeting point for researchers

and the rest of society, and so that it could fit

into a model similar to that of a “living lab”

thus serving scientific, educational and

instruction purposes, and also acting as a place

to test solutions for the market in

international markets.

HALL AND MAP OF THE EAST ATLANTIC FLYWAY

Audiovisual education module through

which, with modern technological equipment,

information is given on the habitats and birds

of the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve, the

current ornithological state of the wetland

and research interests and projects.

METEOROLOGICAL AND SCIENTIFIC ROOM A replica of the Euskalmet Kapildui Weather

Radar, giving information about basic notions of

meteorology and its influence on birds, their

ecology and migratory movements.

Welcome area for visitors. The introduction

to the center is given next to a large, back-lit

map that shows the East Atlantic Flyway,

showing the connection of Urdaibai with the

major wetlands of Europe and Africa.

OFFICES, RESEARCH AREA AND ACCOMODATION

CONFERENCE HALL

A working area for processing the data obtained

in the research studies. Here information is

analysed, edited and prepared for publication

either at the center or on the Internet.

Hall fitted for conferences or events, with

capacity for 48 people, which is

supplemented with a meeting room with

capacity for another 15 people.

WORKSHOP AND RINGING AREA Preparation area for materials needed for

the management of the protected areas, the

wetlands or the handling of ringing devices.

The UBC is rated as an “innovation

centre of excellence” (ICE) with a business

model (set of defining and characterising

elements that make it an example of

entrepreneurial discovery) in which the

following aspects can be highlighted:

Although the UBC’s activities focus

on scientific research and educational activities

related to birds, their migrations and the

habitats where they live, the UBC is a project

with considerable economic and social

interest.

The Center, with its multiple possible

uses, is designed to be able to generate, in

addition to research activities, returns in

economic and social terms, by running related

activities. The Center has identified the

following within its operational logic:

1. Frontline research in the field of

ecology, climate change and biodiversity

through the study of the migratory patterns

of birds, with links to related domains such

as the environment.

The UBC as a source for the specialised diversification of the territory…

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The case of the Urdaibai Bird Center (I): entrepreneurial discovery model

Source: Infyde and GAIA ICE: “Innovation Centre of Excellence” (see chapter 4)

The Urdaibai Bird Center-

UBC is an “innovation

centre of excellence” (ICE)

that favours exploitation of

the surrounding Basque

related variety.

It involves technological

hybridisation projects across

different knowledge

fields/economic activities

with an international focus.

The linking of the UBC´s

ICEs to global value chains

that allow

internationalisation

• Training and education on the environment

and biology (ornithology) both at a general level

(primary schools, secondary education etc.) as

well as at the research level (tertiary education,

exchange of researchers etc.).

• Testing of technologies that are convergent

with scientific, technological and economic uses

and potentially commercialised in the field of

EICTs (electronic, information and

communication technologies) and their

transversal applications.

• Generation of innovation projects based on

technologies that may be applicable at the

Center and as part of global value chains (with a

European or international scope) and networks

of excellence such as ENOLL, EURING,

ARTEMIS etc.

• Tourism, of a selective nature and with high

purchasing power, linked to researchers who

stay at the Center, as well as other visitors from

the local area, Europe or further afield.

The UBC as a generator and tester of technological hybridizations…

The UBC has a number of general

research lines focussing on biology (ornithology)

and ecology, which can essentially be summed up

as follows:

1. Specifically, bird migration

a) analysis of the factors that determine

behaviour and the use of space in

stopover areas, and

b) migratory connectivity of the populations

that pass through Urdaibai

2. Population dynamics of species at Urdaibai

3. Spatial ecology (use of the habitat and

movement patters)

These research lines, combined with

technological solutions that can potentially be

applied to those lines, create innovations that

have

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have possible uses in other scientific and

technological fields, but above all, in market-based

economic activities.

The GAIA cluster (which collaborates on

the UBC) manages the Center’s “living lab” (BIRD

Living Lab) whose mission is to facilitate and test in

situ technological hybridisation projects that many

later result in marketable solutions that contribute

to improving the competitive position of its

companies and the area in general.

Example of a hybridisation project: “Bird Ringing and Tracking”

The scope and resulting impact of the

technological hybridisation projects that take

place in the Center and in the BIRD Living Lab

are multiplied by being carried out within the

framework of the multi-disciplinary nature of

agents that the living lab itself brings together

from the different parts of the territory’s

quadruple helix.

Each of them (agents from the

Basque innovation system, the business fabric,

government bodies, society, and communities

of users) provides different elements that allow

the UCB to generate value linked to the

territory:

• RDI agents (Aranzadi, ESTIA,

ESA/Galileo, UPV/EHU etc.) provide the

R&D component and knowledge intensity

which feed the technological hybridisation

processes.

• The Public Authorities (Biscay Provincial

Council, the Basque Government, the

Indian Consulate etc.) provide credibility,

resources and institutional support, as well

as consideration of the Center and its lines

of work when it comes to defining policies

and development strategies for the territory.

• The business fabric (GAIA Cluster,

Innovatec, Satec, Navteq, Lotek Wireless,

Virtualware, Biotrack, etc.) provides the

innovation component that allows the

results of the Center’s different lines of

action to be oriented to the market,

contributing thereby to the creation of

wealth and employment.

• User communities and networks (Obra

Social BBK, Global Nature Foundation,

EURING, ENOLL etc.), provide testing

with regard to social challenges and major

trends. They also allow integration of the

Center’s fields of activity and the spheres

of application of its results into

international channels.

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Examples of technological hybridisation projects

carried out and tested through the UBC’s BIRD Living Lab

involve bird ringing and tracking. These projects are

groundbreaking R&D that combine technological and

electronic ICT solutions within the field of biology, which

are carried out in conjunction with other technological agents

and with companies at a European level.

Specifically, the different projects executed within

the sphere of hybridisation have been aimed at devices that

have been miniaturised to the greatest extent and are

sufficiently able to track birds as well as exchange, in real

time, information for the needs of the Center’s research teams,

with regard to the birds.

These devices do not exist on the market, and

testing them among a group with high requirements, such as

the Center’s scientists and researchers, ensures their

comparative advantage when applied to other activities

where the concept of traceability and monitoring is key, for

example: security, defence, logistics and transport,

aerospace, tourism, health, etc. Furthermore, given that bird

migration patters are indicators of climate change, they are a

technological solution with a component for analysing

environmental risk.

EXAMPLES OF EUROPEAN PROJECTS

• Bird Ringing and Tracking Displayed to the Scientific

Community BIRDS - FP7-GALILEO

• MONNA: Monitorización de la Naturaleza y de los

Animales – POCTEFA

• BIRD - CANADEKA

Source: GAIA and Infyde with GAIA illustrations and projects

The UBC unites the territory’s quadruple helix…

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The case of the Urdaibai Bird Center (II): quadruple helix model

Source: GAIA ICE: “Innovation Centre of Excellence” (see chapter 4)

The UBC and smart specialisation The UBC identifying and exploiting windows of opportunity…

Thanks to the Living Lab focus and to

the action of the different agents directly and

indirectly involved in the Center, the UBC

exploits its results from a threefold perspective:

Bearing in mind the environmental

perspective, given current environmental

challenges, the UBC contributes to improving

knowledge and scientific fields related to ecology,

biology and climate change (through risk

monitoring). Furthermore, it contributes to a

sustainable use of the Urdaibai Reserve.

From the social perspective, the UBC

contributes to connecting the municipality of

Gautegiz-Arteaga and surrounding municipalities

through visibility and the attraction of high-level

visitors, not only within the CAPV but also at a

European and international level, a key aspect

with respect to achieving an “open economy” for

the territory.

Lastly, from the point of view of the

economic impact, the testing of technological

solutions is creating a competitive advantage in

the field of ICTs applied to the different sectors

mentioned. Furthermore, the UBC is opening up

possibilities for the surrounding area in terms of

tourism, educational activities etc.

As part of the new governing model of

smart specialisation, the UBC contributes to territorial

development by means of the following dimensions:

1. prioritisation of the Urdaibai area’s specialisation

pattern, gearing it towards activities with a high

scientific content in the field of eco-innovation

(biology-ecology),

2. exploitation of the related variety inherent in

the Center’s fields of specialisation, through

technological hybridisation of ICTs as major

enabling technologies and the possibilities of

application in biology-ecology, the environment

and other industries (security, transport and

logistics, tourism etc.),

3. the Center’s commitment to a global dimension,

in terms of both its activities and the application

of its results, by means of participation in

international networks and the Cluster+

management model.

The fact that the UBC fits into GAIA’s

Cluster+ model is, in large part, the facilitator of a

focus aligned with the principles of smart

specialisation. Below it is a description of the UBC’s

contribution, as an entrepreneurial discovery, to smart

specialisation within the Urdaibai setting.

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The UBC’s results are in coherence with the overall challenges and trends of its

surroundings

The UBC has revealed the prioritisation that makes the environment compatible

with territorial development

The UBC combines ICTs with biology and ecology creating hybridisation that result

in new or related activities

An entrepreneurial discovery reflects the creative combination of knowledge, technologies and skills from now, or which can potentially be applied to the territory, which result in innovations that generate/ reveal new activities that can be commercialised.

An entrepreneurial discovery offers signals of activities, fields of knowledge and technological domains that can offer a competitive advantage and which should be considered as priority areas in terms of efforts, over and above other considerations which are not rooted in the territory or have no future there.

An entrepreneurial discovery comes about as an innovation that responds to one or more windows of opportunity, meeting major economic, social and/or social challenges that are created internationally, and which offer a comparative advantage compared with other territories’ options.

The UBC was founded with its activity intended for a global orientation, and is part of European and international networks both with regard to birds (EURING, Global Nature Foundation etc.) and the technologies which come out of its living lab (ENOLL), through Cluster+.

The UBC came about from a very specific activity with a highly scientific content in the field of eco-innovation (biology-ecology) and due to its nature it could only be developed in Urdaibai, giving it a competitive advantage that would be impossible to copy.

The UBC exploits related variety by means of technological hybridisations among the ICTs as major enabling technologyand the possibilities of being applied in biology-ecology, the environmental sector and other industries (security, transport and logistics, tourism etc.).

Smart specialisation, entrepreneurial discovery and the case of the UBC

Source: Infyde and GAIA

GLOBAL CONTEXT (Fitting in with international trends)

How does an entrepreneurial discovery contribute to smart

specialisation?

How does the Urdaibai Bird Center contribute to smart

specialisation?

SPECIALISATION PATTERN

(Prioritisation of efforts in specific activities / technologies)

RELATED VARIETY

(creative combination of solutions to generate new activities)

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CHAPTER 4 Facilitating elements

The roots of Urdaibai’s smart specialisation

GAIA – Cluster de Telecomunicación del País Vasco, has implemented a new cluster management model, the Cluster+, through which it puts its companies and agents from the Basque Country in contact with other companies and agents in other clusters in other territories with an international profile. The goal is to identify technological solutions, products and services resulting from creative hybridisation, which can be commercialised internationally.

PROJECTS CARRIED OUT WITHIN THE CLUSTER+ MODEL

• AEI-010400-2011-42 – CLUSTER + • AEI-010400-2012-34 – CLUSTER +2 • AEI-010400-2012-43 - EICLAB

The Urdaibai Bird Center is one of several

entrepreneurial discovery initiatives which GAIA -

Cluster de las Telecomunicaciones del País Vasco

covers within a much wider framework of a cluster

model of smart specialisation called “Cluster+”.

The Cluster+ model created by GAIA is

an answer to the question of how cluster

associations can contribute to smart specialisation in

a territory, more specifically by means of

entrepreneurial discovery and its consolidation in

formal initiatives.

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Alternating between the global and the

local dimension, the Cluster+ model sets three levels

of action: (1) the global value chain (CVG), (2) the

smart region and (3) the innovation centre of

excellence (ICE).

The model is configured by means of

“global value chains” defined as a set of activities

and their technological domains that work in a

coordinated and connected way, facilitating the

setup of an integrated production process for a

product/service oriented at international markets.

This integrated production process

originates on the local scale, with “smart regions”

being the analysis units where it is possible to find

technological segments and activities upon which

the global value chain is built.

At the local level, the smart region is

represented by a leader or “innovation centre of

excellence” (ICE) which is the party that identifies

the activities and technologies which the territory

can exploit as an entrepreneurial discovery. Each

“smart region” may have one or more ICEs working

as part of the Cluster+ model.

The number of ICEs that a smart

region can host depends on its critical mass and

on its capacity to exploit related variety by means

of entrepreneurial discoveries that become specific

initiatives.

The Cluster+ model in practice

Innovation centres of excellence are

entrepreneurial discovery-based initiatives that

arise from technological hybridisation across

specialisation patterns in a smart region. These

centres, through coordination within the

framework of a global value chain with other

smart regions, take on a global dimension.

GAIA and the Cluster+ model

In this case, the UBC represents one of

the ICEs that GAIA manages within the Cluster+

framework along with other centres related to sport

(SPORTIC) and mobility and transport (Mobility

Lab). In short, each of the Cluster+’s action levels

responds to the elements of smart specialisation:

UBC and the Cluster+ model

Within the framework of the Cluster+ model, the UBC is a ICE belonging to the smart region of the Basque Country where other actors in the region (Aranzadi, GAIA, UPV/EHU, Biscay Council, BBK etc.) support the initiative and contribute to its excellence. The UBC and the Basque Country in turn form part of a global value chain regardin the possible applications of ICTs for monitoring birds which involve ICEs from other smart regions (ESTIA in Aquitania, Lotek in Wales etc., and European and international networks like ENOLL – European Network of Living Labs, EURING – European Union for Bird Ringing, etc.).

Cooperation among all the ICEs has given rise to technological hybridisation projects with a strong commercialisation potential (for example, the MONA European project or proposals within European frameworks such as SMEILL or BIRDs Control).

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What is the “Global Value Chain”?

Source: Cluster+ Model Strategic Plan. GAIA and Infyde

“CLUSTER+” MANAGEMENT LEVELS

What is the “Smart Region”?

What is the “Innovation Centre of Excellence”?

The entity/entities of a Smart Region that form

part of a Global Value Chain discover

innovations combining specific fields of

activity / technological domains in which a

competitive / comparative advantage is present.

A diverse, but related and coherent set,

of technological domains and economic

activities distributed throughout a value

chain without geographical restrictions

and at an international level.

The geographical setting from which the

segments of the GVC’s segments arise by

means of the placement within it of an

“Innovation Centre of Excellence” and all

the territory’s agents and assets that

contribute to its excellence.

The Cluster+ model advocates

the bringing together of niches

of excellence at international

level in one or more

technological domains which,

represented by “innovation

centres of excellence” in

“smart regions”, combine and

integrate into a “global value

chain” that allow them to be

marketed and sold under the

entrepreneurial discovery

business model.

LEVELS OF SMART SPECIALISATION

The cluster response to smart specialisation: the case of the Cluster+ model

GLOBAL SCOPE and the open economy

The territory’s SPECIALISATION PATTERN

SPECIALISED DIVERSIFICATION through hybridisation

Discovering and exploiting the potential of

related variety inherent in a territory based on

combinations among different but related

activities / technologies, that are located

within it.

Level at which entrepreneurial discovery arises

Level at which the entrepreneurial

discovery is consolidated

Level at which the entrepreneurial

discovery is successful

Achieving competitive advantages by means of

the specialisation that a territory may have, but

which must also be comparative with regard to

the options and trends that arise in other

territories at an international level.

Discovering specific activities / technological

domains which, based on the territory’s unique

strengths and opportunities permit the building

of competitive advantages.

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CHAPTER 5 Conclusions

In a new global context marked by unending

competitive pressure and the value of innovation, the

role of the territories as facilitators of competitive

advantages is more important than ever.

Recently, there seems to have arisen a

general belief that territories should give priority to

activity fields and areas of technology and

knowledge in which they have comparative

advantages; with strengths that can make better use

of the opportunities offered by international

economic, social and environmental trends.

The underlying questions with respect to

these new models of smart specialisation regard what

to give priority to, and how. It is here where the

concept of entrepreneurial discovery takes on key

importance within the process of building territorial

competitive advantages, more specifically, about how

to discover and support them.

The case of the Urdaibai Bird Center is a

clear example of an entrepreneurial discovery that

responds to the underlying idea of territorial smart

specialisation:

1. It involves prioritisation around a specialisation

pattern for the Urdaibai area, towards

knowledge-intensive activities.

2. It contributes to the diversification of a rural

area towards new and very specialised

activities that arise from hybridisation of the

Center’s technologies and activities.

3. It involves a channel to global networks, giving

Urdaibai a global dimension in economic, social

and environmental terms.

The UBC has been discovered and

supported within the quadruple helix framework

where the different parts (public authorities, RDI

agents, companies and user communities) have

contributed to the final success of the initiative and,

more importantly, to the embedding of results in the

territory.

The exploitation of the UBC, through the

logic of the new management model that combines the

cluster-type elements with those of___________

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Key elements

All territories play a role within the framework of smart specialisation since they have assets which, combined with opportunities, can bring about entrepreneurial discoveries

smart specialisation, has contributed to its success,

especially with regard to global economic networks

and channels.

The UBC is an example of an entrepreneurial discovery in a rural territory that has limitations in terms of critical mass, and environmental determinants: •Differentiating asset: ecological riches •Opportunity: environment challenges •Model: application of ICTs to the environment •Results: generation of activities for the territory and impact on related sectors

The Cluster + model includes the entrepreneurial discovery within the logic of smart specialisation, granting it: •International perspective and access to networks •Prioritisation of efforts at the territorial level •Focus on economic, social and environmental returns, based on the possibilities of hybridisation

The Urdaibai Bird Center is an example of the

potential of entrepreneurial discoveries as

opportunities within the framework of smart

specialisation for all territories, independently of

their profile.

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