EUROPEAN FOUR ENGINES

Short historical accounts
Association's Activities
A policy of cohesion, development and responsibility
Baden-Württemberg
Catalunya
Lombardia
Rhône-Alpes

Short historical accounts

In 1988, September the 9th the presidents of the following districts Baden-Württemberg, Catalunya, Rhône-Alpes and met in Stoccarda and signed an agreement of economical cooperation on different levels. In 1990, they met again to confer with the representative of Ontario Government so that they could sign a collaboration's agreement about education and professional training. After few meetings, in October 1991 at Milan, they confirmed again four districts' commitment of collaboration which was moved by the will of seeing that their economical, cultural and social powers grow and give a significant contribute to the process of unifying european continent to avoid so dangerous lack of balance between North and South, East and West.
In 1994 they stipulated a Final Resolution to give the association a structure. During the conference about the employment, which took place in 2000, October the 19th and the 20th the Four Engines subscribed a common declaration to affirm their commitment of promoting projects and initiatives related with: experiences' exchanges, young students and workers' mobility, especially regarding training initiatives, improvement of facilities between the districts, mainly in sectors such as telecomunication, mutual representation of districts' interests in extra-european economical and scientific activities, cooperation in promoting development's development..
In 2001, October the 10th , at Palazzo Clerici , the conference of four engines' presidents took place officially inaugurating the presidence of Lombardy. After announcing and publishing the White Book of the European Commission about the Governance, the Four Engines for Europe have started an Observatory for a critical reflection on the works which will make White Book's proposals operative. During the meeting organised to discuss these purposes, they talked about the possibility of organising a common mission out of the geographical borders of Four Engines to increase the knowledge, on an extra-european level, of this association's potentialities.

Association's Activities

The Association is composed by four commissions, divided into groups and subgroups: the Conference of Presidents which defines the annual programmatic lines of the Association and which meets once a year and finally, the Commitee of Coordination, which controls the Commissions' activities and the pursuit of aims, and which meets twice a year during the Conference of Presidents. While Commissions meet once a year, the working groups meet according to the needs of planing and work's managing.

A policy of cohesion, development and responsibility

We have to focus attention on three significant areas to increase the specific potentialities of european system: first of all the scientific and technologic research, still less the transfer of innovation; secondly we need a more significant internationalisation of enterprises; finally we should develop facilities. Obviously it seems more productive giving the priority to support's interventions which aim at those countries that are proving to be the real engines of european development and economical growth. So districts such as Baden-Württemberg, Catalunya, Rhône-Alpes and Lombardia have been chosen as promoters of an effective economical growth of Europe. We will analyse the characteristics of the four districts to better identify power points and characteristics which we should bring out within this policy of cohesion and collaboration.

Baden-Württemberg

From the Upper Rhine plain to the Black Forest and Lake Costance in the south, the German state of Baden-Württemberg has a surface area of 35.752 square kilometres. Its population amounts to 10,5 million of inhabitants and the region is divided into 35 rural districts and 9 urban districts. Beside being famous for its impressive scenery and touristic attractions, Baden-Württemberg is the state that produces 10 per cent of all capital exports within European Union. Its expenditure on research is higher than that of any country in Europe, reaching 3.8 per cent of investments and the state's economical success is reflected in an unemployment rate of only 6.7 per cent, well below the national average of 10.5 per cent. In fact Baden-Württemberg considers education, science and research as the most important sources of investment. As a region poor in natural resources, its most important capital are the skills and abilities of its population. This region has more institutes of higher education that any other German State. Very important for the State Government are the promotion of technology transfer and the foundation of new businesses by university graduates or former employees of research institutes. Baden-Württemberg is a deeply conservative region, where the centre-right Christian Democrats- who lost power at the national level last year-have formed the state government since 1853. Tourism is an increasingly important part of the state's economy, because this region is characterised by wonderful landscape and by a cultural and artistic reality which is very rich also if the state remains famous for its cars, electronic products, machine tools and manufacturing industries still provide about 40 per cent of the state's GDP. The aerospace industry enjoys a powerful presence in the State, and Baden-Württemberg is also a centre for the rapid-growth TIME ( telecommunication, information technology, media and electronics/electrical engineering ) sector. Those with the foresight to invest here benefit automatically from a growing potential of industrial customers, from a highly developed supplier structure, from cooperation potential with companies in related or similar sector of industry, but in particular from the expertise of the local workforce, engineers and researchers.

Catalunya

Catalunya, engine of spanish industrial revolution, up untill today continues to be the richest region of Spain. Autonomous State since 1979, Catalunya is a democratic country and democracy has brought here self-consciousness and vitality. Also if it is a region, Catalunya has all the characteristics typical of a country: mountains, rivers, big cities, a coast and four provinces, each one with different characteristics. Many of its 6.279.040 inhabitants are concentrated at Barcellona or in adjacent zones, which represents the hearth of industrial and commercial area. Instead Girona lives on tourism spread along Brava Coast, an amazing coastline. Touristic Attractions could be found also in Tarragona, while Lleida is the only inner province, closed between the Ebro Valley and Pirenei Mountains, and it's the area which better represents the characteristics of Catalunya's tradition.
Catalans have always relied on work and they have always distinguished for their innovation's capacity. That has let Catalunya be a country of solid facilities, technologically advanced, with a society equipped with a strong civic sense and an industrious culture of work. Today in Catalunya there are 21.198 associations divided into 41 district's unites. These associations not only carried out a remarkable work of civic cohesion, but they also encourage in catalan society the integration of those who come from other parts of peninsula or from other countries.

Lombardia

Staying in a propitious position in the heart of Alpes and in the middle of Padana Plain, Lombardy is strategically privileged because it is along the leading courses which link Mediterraneo and Central Europe. Having physical characteristics and enviromental situations so different that it has a great variety of landscapes: mountains, hills, and plains which follow one upon the other from North to South along almost parallel lines crossed by rivers and lakes.
Lombardy with its 9.122.000 inhabitants is the italian region which offers the biggest concentration of people, activities and wealth. It has also a long tradition agriculture on an european level, an industry built much early than in other countries, commercial, craftmade and touristic activities already consolidated and a financial world which sustains and moves big part of the country's activities.
The natural enviroment is so various that we can find in Lombardy a synthesis of almost all the agricultural cultivations which characterises Western Europe. There's an intensive exploitation of the soil, possible because of great reclamations started up in Roman age and its network of channels which have made more simple the distribution and the control of waters.
The prevalent cultivations are pasture and cereals, especially wheat, mais and rice. Remarkable importance has the industrial cattle-breeding which is often connected to cooperatives for the transformation of zootechnic and cheese's products. Spread is the cultivation of grapevine.
Anyway, without any doubts, one of the most productive activities of Lombardy is industry whose leading sectors are engineering, metallurgic, chemical, rubber production's and hectographic industries and also plastics' s manufacturing.
The actual trends see the expansion of the service industry in urban areas, a process of production systems' territorial distribution, with firms and laboratories decentralised and finally a rapid diffusion of microentrepeneurship. Very spread is also handicraft, especially in sectors such as weaving and footwear's industry, building and furniture and wood's manufacturing.
In the last few years a remarkable growth has been seen in sectors called as " evolved services". A big part of those societies which are specialised in services are concentrated in Milan and province, where we can find advertising agencies, design and image's studios, famous show room. The old industrial poles reorganise themselves into "technological , multifunctional and integrated poles" and the Fair, before trade fair, has now become a manifestation based on "informative" events, productions, processes, technologies with frequent appeal to computer data and to meetings.

Rhône-Alpes

Villages of Rhône-Alpes, which give hospitality to about 6.000.000 inhabitants, offer to tourists an extremely various landscapes alternating hills and plains. They summed up the whole history of France. Because of it Lione has been declared in December, 1998, world heritage by UNESCO. Particularly famous for its grapevine's production, Rhône-Alpes offers also a rich cooking tradition and a great variety of festivals and feasts. Since 16th century Rhône-Alpes has seen a flourishing market and continuous series of new technologies and interesting scientific discoveries. Up untill today the region is characterised by a really dynamic economy. This strong economical dynamism connected with a superior formation both on a cultural and on an enviromental level, makes it one of the most significant regions of all Europe Rhône-Alpes also enjoys a geographically strategic position linking the North with the South and proper interventions aimed at making the viability between North and South more fluid are still realising. In this perspective Rhône-Alpes will become a privileged place for research, technological development and most of all diffusion of NTIC.