LEUVEN MINDGATE

Charter 2010: Leuven - Knowledge Pearl


Compared to European standards, Leuven is a small city with a large international university and highly developed knowledge institutions and knowledge enterprises. The 'knowledge pearl' Leuven, as described on a recent international expert meeting, is a city in which knowledge is not only passed on but also produced and applied.

Transforming knowledge into social and economic value is high on our agenda. This objective however, is not always sufficiently acknowledged and the interaction between knowledge creation and innovation can still be stimulated more.

The university, IMEC, the city of Leuven and a number of managers
wanted to sustain this interaction by providing stimuli, which they clustered in the Charter Leuven 2010. It is the Charter Leuven 2010's ambition to put Leuven on the map as a European knowledge region. Just like the Cambridge region, the region around Sofia Antipolis in Nice, the Heidelberg region and other comparable regions, we want to contribute to the development and consolidation of the European innovation dynamism.

According to a comparative study, Leuven boasts all the ingredients the above-mentioned European regions rely on for their development: a strong university and associated schools for higher education, the renown research centre IMEC, a high number of Belgian and international researchers, many knowledge-oriented companies, the ambitious Flemish people and an attractive living and working environment.

The undersigned are convinced that Leuven will continue its growth and will become a knowledge region with a strong European presence.With 26% of all Flemish researchers and more than 300 innovative enterprises in the region, Leuven is bound to follow its growth path into the future, like a magnet, naturally attracting ever more talent and entrepreneurship.

Everyone who contributed to this brochure believes in this vision. In order to realise it, we need many 'doers', an even higher number of researchers and entrepreneurs. We think they are out there, and when this brochure can cause a spark, they can rely on us to fuel it further.

To provide structural support, we have also strived for space and accommodation, for additional science parks around Leuven. This space is now available and the accommodation is being extended gradually. An invitation to us all to make the most of it.

By 2010, the Leuven region must be a renowned European knowledge region. And it will be, if we all continue to pursue our positive approach to working hard and pulling together to make it work.

More information you can find in the brochure you can download via this link, or visit the website http://www.leuvenknowledgepearl.com

RECTOR K.U.LEUVEN
André Oosterlinck

MAYOR OF LEUVEN
Louis Tobback

CEO IMEC
Gilbert Declerck

CHAIRMAN CHARTER LEUVEN 2010
Jos Daniels

More information - detailed brochure
Nicole De Smyter - Leuven.Inc
Kapeldreef 60, 3001 Leuven
Tel.: +32 (0)16 40 11 90
E-mail: info@leuveninc.com

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