Everyone knows it: the international region of Lake Constance with its neighbouring countries of Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Austria. A region with a breathtakingly beautiful landscape and a rich history and culture. Just to name a few "highlights": the flower paradise of Mainau, the lively St.Gallen and the Island of Reichenau with its UnESCO-world heritage status, the ancient dwellings in Uhldingen, the historical city of Constance, the Bregenz "Festspiele", the Nobel Prize congresses in Lindau.
But is everyone aware of the thriving business culture to be found here? Does everyone know that the region is home to such internationally renowned enterprises as Nycomed, Nestlé-Maggi, ALCAN, Georg Fischer, Schiesser, ZF, MTU, Zeppelin, Dornier or EADS, Wolford, Zumtobel, Hilti or Arbonia Forster? Lake Constance has a very positive image, but it is also one-sided – the image of the ideal holiday location, a place to relax and recreate. Glittering blue water, snow-capped mountains lining the horizon, vineyards, apple trees and vegetable gardens. Those are some of the dominating impressions of this region. And yet, beyond its pretty exterior, this is one vital business region. Strange as it may sound, it is precisely due to the beauty of this landscape and its attractiveness for tourists, that the region of Lake Constance has had to struggle to establish itself internationally as the potent business centre it is.
No question, tourism is indeed an important economic factor. But it represents only one of many pillars driving the success of this region. If one regards the economic structure more closely, it becomes clear that the region holds certain clusters bearing high technological competence and innovative power. These clusters show significant growth and promise much future potential.
Amidst the vast economic and technological developments which have taken place in the past few decades, and the structural change accompanying it, innovative technology clusters have formed in the region of Lake Constance. This process was promoted by targeted assistance to start-ups with technological products/services, the creation of technology- and new business centres, and the overall, positive development of the region's universities and institutes of higher education. In addition to the large companies who have been long established in the region, small and medium-sized enterprises have become important motors for the creation of jobs and training places.
The core industries in the Lake Constance Region lie today primarily in the fields of environmental technology (soil protection, waste management, renewable energies, environment-related services), packaging technology, space and aviation, (motor)vehicle component manufacture, biotechnology and the food industry.
A targeted promotion of these core industries and the communication of their potential and the advantages this region provides for them (including the higher education institutions, the fantastic infrastructure with good connections to the airports in Friedrichshafen and Zurich, and the main Swiss and Austrian motorways - not to mention to high quality of life to be found here) – requires a strong focus on them, these high-potential technological areas.
As a part of a cluster analysis, Bodensee Standort Marketing (BSM - Bodensee Location Marketing) has made a selection for this. In the "Clusterinitiative Bodensee – CLIB", the areas of environmental technology, packaging technology and education have been analysed for the past three years. Parallel to this, the biotechnology initiative "BioLAGO" in Konstanz and the project "Nanocluster Bodensee" in St. Gallen were created.
In the following, these activities, initiatives and projects will be more closely introduced.
