Increasing competitiveness through an innovation-driven local agenda

Introduction

This Triangular Cooperation Initiative, supported through the ADELANTE Window, brought together public and private entities from Cuba, Mexico, and Spain to promote local development through innovation-driven planning. Central to the effort was boosting the competitiveness of the Cuban province of Cienfuegos through the creation of a Local Development Plan focused on innovation, with the Agenda for Local Innovation and the Knowledge and Innovation Centre as key milestones.

The partnership between the Departamento de Desarrollo Territorial del Gobierno Provincial de Cienfuegos (Department of Territorial Development, Provincial Government of Cienfuegos), the Instituto Municipal de Planeación de Mérida (IMPLAN) (Municipal Planning Institute of Mérida), and IDOM Consulting (Spain) facilitated the exchange of strategies, tools, and models to transform local economies. Drawing on the experiences of cities like Mérida and Bilbao, the Initiative promoted dialogue among local governments, academia, the private sector, and civil society.

Through knowledge-sharing and participatory planning, the Initiative helped shape a model of innovation-led development that addresses Cienfuegos’s needs for economic restructuring and diversification, while offering a replicable framework for other provinces and countries. The effort aligns with several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related to innovation, productivity, employment, and inclusion.

Objectives

The Initiative strengthened the capacities of partner entities to engage in innovation-based local planning—an effective approach for positioning local actors as drivers of sustainable development and advancing the localisation of the 2030 Agenda. It aimed to create a model adaptable to other national and international contexts.

Project activities

• Diagnosis and assessment of local capacities and opportunities through a participatory seminar in Cienfuegos.
• Study visit to Mérida, Mexico, to explore successful local innovation experiences, including public policies, planning tools and financial instruments.
• Study visit to Bilbao, Spain, to understand the city's transformation through innovation and urban renewal initiatives.
• Technical and strategic workshops involving local stakeholders in Cienfuegos to develop a roadmap for the Agenda for Local Innovation.
• Knowledge-sharing sessions on innovation agendas, laboratories, and centres implemented in Europe and Latin America.
• Virtual workshop to synthesise findings and produce a roadmap for implementation and replication.
• Development of a model to serve as reference for other Cuban provinces and international partners.

Expected results

The Initiative helped position Cienfuegos as a pioneering territory in Cuba for innovation-led local development. The initial participatory assessment laid the groundwork for a realistic and ambitious Agenda for Local Innovation, which brought together key actors from various sectors and levels of governance.

Study visits to Mérida and Bilbao offered decision-makers and technical teams from Cienfuegos direct exposure to functioning innovation ecosystems, how they operate, what instruments support them, and how they can be adapted to their own context. The lessons learned enriched the design of the Knowledge and Innovation Centre, refined existing strategies, and built the capacities of the institutions involved.

The final roadmap supports not only the implementation of Cienfuegos’s innovation agenda but also serves as a guiding framework for other provinces across Cuba seeking to build inclusive, competitive, and innovation-based economies through a structured and participatory methodology for local governments. 

Additionally, the Initiative fostered strong ownership among local actors and strengthened bilateral cooperation between partners. Notable outcomes include the launch of a business incubator for the Cienfuegos Science and Technology Park and the involvement of new national stakeholders, such as the University of Sancti Spíritus.

Implementing partners

Departamento de Desarrollo Territorial del Gobierno Provincial de Cienfuegos (Cuba) – Beneficiary

Instituto Municipal de Planeación de Mérida – IMPLAN (Mexico) – First Provider

IDOM Consulting, Engineering, Architecture (Spain) – Second Provider