These first four case studies, dating from the early nineties or even before, where among the pioneers in the application of explicit cluster based policies. They have been selected, not only because they represent success stories, but because everyone of them has used a very different implementation of their policies:

• Emilia-Romagna used its famous local "technology centres" as the force driving each industrial district
• Catalonia followed more of a coaching role, fostering industry to take the lead
• In Scotland an impressive effort was put by Scottish Enterprise in pushing the cluster programs
• And Styria moved from a public to private cluster leadership
  

A different case, which has been selected despite not having the five years experience, is the ACENET, one of the few experiences that has addressed the issue of cluster linkages and exchange of experiences. ACENET is finishing its first three years of EU funding, and has accepted to discuss in the workshop its preliminary results.

The actual actors of this cases have accepted to put their experiences in a case study, (which you can read or download by clicking in the links above as soon as the case owner has submitted his/her case), to be shared and commented without restrictions with the conference participants. It is highly recommended that you read thoroughly the case study of the workshop you plan to attend, since that information will not be repeated, and the discussion will be based on that material.