TAGUSVALLEY – a Food Fab Lab retaining and attracting talent in Médio Tejo, Portugal
About this good practice
Problem Addressed
Being away from the major urban centres in Portugal, Médio Tejo faces significant challenges in its capacity to retain skilled workers. The lack of a university, in addition to a polytechnic institute, contributes to this context. Micro and small enterprises constitute the majority of regional businesses, with low investment capacity and, generally, without access to research/innovation and emerging technologies to address the market with industrial products. By sharing resources, this project highlights a technological and research structure in the region that can be attractive to retain talent and attract new workers.
Objectives & Implementation
The agri-food sector has significant importance in the region, and TAGUSVALLEY has developed a Food Fab Lab, dedicated to supporting local producers and entrepreneurs to start their food processing (and biotech) projects, avoiding the need for large initial investments and providing technical support to address new markets. This service ensures support for sector investments in the region, concentrating knowledge and innovation, and offering skilled employment opportunities. The Food Fab Lab provides industrial incubation/shared facilities/knowledge support; and increased Technology Readiness Level (TRL) for new products or processes.
Stakeholders
• Abrantes Municipality
• NERSANT regional business association
• IPT – Tomar Polytechnical university
• IPS - Santarém Polytechnical university
• TEJO ENERGIA – SA
Resources needed
The Food Fab Lab requires TAGUSVALLEY to provide organizational support, including scale-up equipment, facilities with industrial licensing, and a technical support team. A highly specialized team is also essential, as it concentrates knowledge and attracts students, researchers and new workers.
Evidence of success
The project is managed by a team of 6 qualified workers, with a high level of specialization in the agri-food sector, circular economy, and bioeconomics, comparable to only 2 other centres in the country. With different ages (27 to 44), master's and doctoral degrees, the group includes 3 members from other regions and 1 from abroad (Venezuela). In Médio Tejo, they found an opportunity to develop their careers, also enjoying good living conditions in a favourable context.
Potential for learning or transfer
The Food Fab Lab serves a diverse range of clients, including farmers, entrepreneurs, students, researchers, and companies. 174 contacts have been made, 67 services have been developed for companies, and currently, the laboratory has 34 clients. The initiative integrates a European consortium for the development of products, increasing their Technology Readiness Level (TRL).
The availability of resources is the most relevant learning to be taken and it can be useful for others with different purposes. In this particular case, it was relevant to analyse the regional conditions and traditional activities and create an organization capable of fostering innovation, retaining, and attracting specialized workers. Making better use of a specific sector, combining technology and knowledge, developing a small but effective specialization, and making resources available to everyone who needs them, avoiding risks and sharing costs, are also factors that make this project successful.
Further information
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
TAGUSVALLEY - ASSOCIAÇÃO PARA A PROMOÇÃO E DESENVOLVIMENTO DO TECNOPÓLO DO VALE DO TEJO
