How Clusters Create Shared Value in Rural Areas: An Examination of Six Case Studies

George Martinidis, Muluken Elias Adamseged, Arkadiusz Dyjakon, Yannis Fallas, Angeliki Foutri, Philipp Grundmann, Karen Hamann, Stanislaw Minta, Nikolaos Ntavos, Tora Råberg, Silvia Russo and Davide Viaggi
Additional contact information
George Martinidis: Cluster of Bioeconomy and Environment of Western Macedonia, 50100 Kozani, Greece
Muluken Elias Adamseged: Department of Technology Assessment and Substance Cycles, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy, 14469 Potsdam, Germany
Arkadiusz Dyjakon: Department of Applied Bioeconomy, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences (UPWr), 50-375 Wroclaw, Poland
Yannis Fallas: Cluster of Bioeconomy and Environment of Western Macedonia, 50100 Kozani, Greece
Angeliki Foutri: Cluster of Bioeconomy and Environment of Western Macedonia, 50100 Kozani, Greece
Philipp Grundmann: Department of Technology Assessment and Substance Cycles, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy, 14469 Potsdam, Germany
Karen Hamann: IFAU Institute for Food Studies & Agro Industrial Development, 2970 Horsholm, Denmark
Stanislaw Minta: Institute of Economics Sciences, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Science (UPWr), 50-375 Wroclaw, Poland
Nikolaos Ntavos: Cluster of Bioeconomy and Environment of Western Macedonia, 50100 Kozani, Greece
Tora Råberg: Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), Department of Bioeconomy and Health, Unit Agriculture and Food, 223 70 Lund, Sweden
Silvia Russo: Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 8, 1-16

Abstract: The main aim of this paper is to demonstrate that clusters can support the sustainable development of rural areas through the creation of shared value. This is done via the close exam-ination of six different cases of rural clusters in Greece, Italy, Germany, Poland, Denmark, and Sweden. Qualitative as well as quantitative data were taken from the clusters, which demonstrated that their main business approaches naturally coincided with the creation of economic, social, and environmental benefits for the local communities in which they operated. The case clusters were created in a top-down manner, aimed at boosting regional R&D activities and making the local economy more competitive and more sustainable. However, private initiative took over and al-lowed these clusters to flourish because meeting the regions’ economic, social, and environmental needs successfully coincided with the target of the clusters’ own development and profitability. The results show that clusters, with their potential for shared value creation, can constitute a powerful engine for the revitalisation and development of rural areas, addressing the significant challenges which they are currently facing.

Keywords: clusters; networks; shared value; rural areas; regional development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/8/4578/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/8/4578/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:8:p:4578-:d:539730

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().