ECRN partnered together with leading experts in chemical park planning and management for a workshop on chemical parks in ACHEMA on 17 June 2015. Under the theme of “Worldwide best practices in eco-efficient construction and management of chemical parks”, the role of chemical parks as value creation drivers for entire chemical regions was illustrated by numerous examples presented by practitioners from different parts of Europe.
In the discussion on the key success factors of a modern chemical park and the future of parks, it became clear that modern chemical parks are much more than industrial sites. They are platforms and fertile breeding ground for value creation and new innovations. Moreover, chemical parks are very integrated in the communities in which they operate and these links to the society, the universities or other research or education institutions, as well as relations with the public are important parts of park operations. Thus cooperation does not only take place within the parks, but also with partners beyond the physical boundaries of a park (clusters, experts, researchers, inter-institutional collaboration etc.). Exchange of views and broad-based cooperation across organizational as well as sectoral boundaries were seen as keys to future development.
