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Workshop Turkey A Model for Organic Products were organized by The Centre for Advanced Studies, Cardiff Universityhttp://www.cardiff.ac.uk/cass/ & the European Investment Bank & the Aegean Exporters’ Associations and coordinated by Prof. Dr. Philip Cooke & Mateja Dermastia. Workshop was focused on the future development of organic products in Turkey and addressed the potential for the production of organic goods in Turkey based on the country’s ideal climate, abundant land, and its geographic position within Europe. Workshop was coordinated http://www.dime-eu.org/

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Mateja Dermastia participated at the Seventh Milan European Economy Workshop on Industrial Clusters, Globalization and Regional Policy in the EU. The workshop was sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (National programme “FIRB” in collaboration with: CSIL Centre for Industrial Studies and Centro Studi Luca d’Agliano). The handpicked participants, among them Massimo Florio from University of Milan and Mike Best from University of Massachusetts Lowell: both possessing an extensive experience in clustering policy and cluster development discussed the results of recent researches on industrial districts in Italy and in other countries and their policies´ implications.

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Nana Adeishvili and Alec Hansen are developing “cluster roadmaps” for four clusters in Turkey, under the EU-funded project “Development of a National Clustering Policy for Turkey”. http://www.clusterturkey.com/EN/ . These cluster roadmaps are being developed in collaboration with local business leaders, researchers and relevant government officials, in a series of four workshops that systematically evaluate their issues, their preferred futures, their main strategies, and a competitiveness agenda. Each of the clusters – home textiles in Denizli, home appliances in Manisa, wooden yacht-building in Bodrum and machinery in Ankara – represents a unique challenge but also a significant opportunity for Turkey. By trying to solve these puzzles one-by-one, we have had a chance to develop a customized approach with a strong sense of ownership by local leaders, and at the same time, draw some broader lessons as the central government develops its plan for a much wider implementation of cluster approaches throughout Turkey.

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Mateja Dermastia participated at the "Forum on International Experiences in Industrial Cluster Development" in Doha Qatar. The Forum was organized by The Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) and Ministry of Energy and Industry in Qatar. The Forum brought together policy makers, senior officials from national/ regional governments, public institutions, industry associations/chambers of commerce, development /commercial banks and private and public enterprises from Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) to share their experiences of the best practices in international Cluster development with the aim to develop clusters in the GCC. Mateja Dermastia presented the international experiences in the field of different approaches to competitiveness clusters based upon the type of design and implementation policies. http://www.goic.org.qa/InternationalExperiencesClusterDevelopment.html