All news

Med Vallée report on the project's first foundation steps

Information updated on 05/08/22

The project to co-build Med Vallée, a worldwide cluster dedicated to global health, is moving forward according to plan. Here is a summary of the work carried out during La FabriK’s first six workshops.

Med Vallée, retour sur une première étape constructive ©3M
The first steps for Med Vallée have been taken. On January 18, Montpellier Métropole produced a summary report of expectations and proposals that came up during the first six workshops held by La FabriK Med Vallée to co-build the new cluster.  As proof that the project has significant appeal, nearly 190 people participated in this digitalized report presentation.
 
Med Vallée’s objective is to make the Montpellier Métropole area a world-class cluster for health, the environment, food, and good living. These topics are all well represented by local excellence sectors. To establish the cluster, Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole decided to include the full range of stakeholders in the project, such as researchers, academics, members of the business community, and institutional representatives, with support from co-founders – the French government and Occitanie Region.
 
La FabriK Med Vallée was kick-started and each of its first six workshops were given a specific topic to cover: synergies and collective intelligence; higher education and research; business creation and development; property and real estate; talents, jobs, and skills; tomorrow’s professions; and national and international exposure.      
 
The workshops were held from December 7 to 16, 2021.

“Over 250 people participated. That represents strong mobilization for Med Vallée,” recognizes Hind Emad, Montpellier Métropole Vice President in charge of Economic Development and Digital Technologies.

The goal was to “bring all the players together for action.” The challenge was met. “The desire to create synergies is widely shared,” said Mélanie Broin, director of Agropolis International, during the summary review of Workshop 1. Proposals during the workshop included taking an exhaustive inventory of the players involved with Med Vallée topics, and also to create an exchange platform to bring people together.
 
Concerning the proposals made during Workshop 2, Gaspard Lépine, in charge of partnerships for University of Montpellier’s MUSE I-Site, added that there is a desire to encourage technology transfers “by incentives targeting researchers” and to create interdisciplinary research networks.
 
Another idea emerged from both Workshops 3 and 4: to expand possibilities for hosting and welcoming companies. This was raised by their respective advocates, Karine Puget, CEO of Genepep, and Antoine Pierre, business development manager for MedXCell. Lastly, a proposal common to Workshops 5 and 6 was to build the Med Vallée brand, both to attract talent and generate exposure within France and internationally. This point was raised by Lionel Torres, director of Polytech Montpellier, and Anne Baraillé-Combe, in charge of the Multi-sector Export Department for the Ad’Occ agency.
 
This work collectively led to the proposal of five strategic axes to be taken up at the next La FabriK Med Vallée workshops: a certified community; a growth and development accelerator; innovation as part of the projects DNA; city and territory demonstrators; and national and international exposure.

“These axes could comprise the foundation for Med Vallée strategy,” added Josick Paoli, strategic director for Med Vallée.

The next round of workshops is taking place on February 8 - 17, with plans to present Med Vallée’s strategy and action plan in the spring of 2022. The project’s goal is to be a vector for creating jobs and wealth in the territory.
 
The Med Vallée approach matches another one of Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole’s priorities: to provide social utility for the territory in addition to innovation for global health. Jobs related to Med Vallée momentum will not exclusively target people with the most qualified professional profiles.

“Med Vallée will benefit everyone, regardless of their level of training and education, including people who have difficulties accessing employment opportunities,” concludes Hind Emad.

Find out more…