GEO-STRATEGIC SITUATION

NATURAL CAPITAL

HUMAN CAPITAL

INDUSTRIAL LAND AND CAPACITY FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INNOVATIVE BIOREFINERIES AND BIOINDUSTRIES

TERRITORIAL ECOSYSTEM FOR TRANSFORMATIVE INNOVATION

QUALITY OF LIFE

Lleida has many and very diverse potentials, starting with its location, as we have an unbeatable geo-strategic situation that becomes a great competitive advantage. It is connected to the Barcelona-Madrid and Barcelona-Bilbao axes, 100 kilometers from the Port of Tarragona and 100 kilometers from the Pyrenees. It is connected by road and rail to the main markets and has the Lleida-Alguaire Airport.

According to the European Investment Bank, natural capital is the value of everything that comes from nature — soil, air, water and all living creatures
From this natural capital, derive a wide range of services, called ecosystem services. The most obvious ecosystem services include the food we eat or the water we drink.
A model of sustainable and regenerative exploitation of this capital can provide us with goods and services that currently have a non-renewable origin, such as energy, and at the same time generate a revitalization of territories that suffer from serious demographic social imbalances, and economic
In the case of Lleida, the 60% of its surface is forest area, and the 40% is dedicated to agricultural uses, most of it in the south, representing the largest agricultural area in Catalonia.

We understand human capital as the knowledge, skills, and health that people invest and accumulate throughout their lives, enabling them to realize their potential as productive members of society.

In the Lleida region, we have a highly skilled workforce. We have a university that is leader in the agri-food and energy sectors. There are more than 160 bachelor and graduate programs offered across various faculties throughout the region.

www.udl.cat/ca/udl/figures/

Moreover, new professional and occupational training is been promoted through the shared agenda so that the territory becomes a reference in the field of green jobs.

Lleida region has 131 areas of economic activity distributed throughout the territory, nearly 2000 ha, more than 3500 sites.

Torreblanca-Quatre Pilans is one of the most significant projects, with an initial area of 433 hectares and the potential to expand up to 1,000 hectares.

Beyond the current availability of industrial land, the shared agenda promotes the concept of bioindustrial areas to allow the implementation of innovative biorefineries and bioindustries in specific environments. These bioindustrial areas will facilitate the technical, environmental, and economic viability of such processes, allowing knowledge and material exchange and promoting industrial symbiosis.

Traditional innovation ecosystems bring together people or organisations whose goal is innovation, and include the links between resources (such as funds, equipment, and facilities), organisations (such as higher education institutions, research and technology organisations, companies, venture capitalists and financial intermediaries), investors and policymakers. The most representative actor of this innovation ecosystem is the Parc Agrobiotech
However, territorial ecosystems for transformative innovation requires also new tools, to, among others, involve the actors of the territory in the processes of challenges identification in the priority areas and in the participative dynamics to coidentificate and boost solutions that address these challenges.

In this sense, the Specialized Territorial Innovation Centres (CITe), located throughout the territory with the complicity of local entities, act as a network of social innovation labs that encourage these processes and dynamics.

The solutions coidentified shape the road map of the shared agenda to achieve the goals set in 2035 and the vision of the future in 2050

High quality of life is one of Lleida’s defining features, placing it among the provinces with the highest standard of living, thanks to the high disposable income per capita. The area offers a wide range of facilities and services, as well as quality and competitively priced housing. The city’s extensive green areas and agricultural surroundings create a privileged natural environment with no air pollution.

High-quality local products supply a traditional and renowned gastronomic sector, deeply rooted in agriculture.

This combination of factors, along with Lleida’s privileged strategic location, with routes to major cities like Barcelona and Madrid in one and two hours, respectively, ensures a high quality of life for its residents.