The San Daniele district is presented as the “Il Parco agroalimentare di San Daniele“  (San Daniele Agri-Food Park),  where the entire territory has a strategic role in environmental and industrial development policies, and its specificity is enhanced by a brand, San Daniele ham, from the inestimable commercial value and world known, capable of driving the other products of the area and, at the same time, consolidating their reputation through them.

The Park was established in 1999 as the Agency for the Development of the Industrial District  (ADID) of the Agro-Food sector and in 2015 it is recognized as a Gestore del Cluster dell’Agroalimentare (GC) della Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia (Cluster Manager (CM) of the Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia),  in accordance with LR 3/2015. The district develops on a surface of 97Kmq which coincides with the Communes of Coseano, Dignano, Forgaria nel Friuli Fagagna, Ragogna, Rive D'Arcano and San Daniele del Friuli. Within its territory there is a population of about 27,000 inhabitants.

 The most impressive hills of the whole moraine mountain arch are included in this area, with sudden gloomy intervals with majestic lifts, numerous streams and canals, and even one of the last lakes of glacial origin (Lake Ragogna). The District is characterized by strong peculiarities in order to develop the potentials of the Friuli Venezia Giulia sub-sectors and agri-food chains between public and private subjects:

• Intact environment;
• Low environmental impact productions;
• Specialty of agro-food production (San Daniele ham, Fagagna cheese);
• Interesting handicraft productions;
• Cultural, architectural, artistic valences;
• Eno-gastronomic entertainment opportunities (farmhouses and restaurants with local cuisine).

 Entro la fine di Gennaio 2017, la Regione insieme al distretto elaborerà un piano di sviluppo 2017-2020 che diverrà il Master Plan per lo sviluppo del Cluster Regionale nel prossimo futuro. In collaborazione con i propri soci statutari, organizza per questo motivo una consultazione aperta ai contributi delle realtà territoriali della Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia per di reperire temi ed interessi comuni da inserire nel sopracitato Piano Triennale. 

The Park contains the activities of over 100 companies involving directly a thousand of employers and another 700 indirectly. In the agricultural sector, in the six municipalities of the Park, a thousand companies have an average surface area of 7 hectares each. The most important production types are related to the production of raw ham, beef, salami and sausage in general; sweet and savoury products from the oven; dairy products; fish products and smoked trout; organic products and to wines and distillates. Starting in 2012, the Agri-Food Park has developed the following specific skills:

1. Regional representation activities  (active participation in the promotion of development and innovation initiatives through the definition and use of European funds POR FESR, PSR-FEASR, ESF, SNAI).
2. Clustering (creating relationships between the resources of the territory, the world of research and primary production, transformation and marketing, stimulating collaboration between businesses and other organisations.) The cluster also deals with the promotion of innovative activities through the sharing of structures, the exchange and transfer of knowledge and skills, the creation of networks and the dissemination of information at national and European level).
3. Third-party service activities (technical support by coordinating local resources, tutoring to companies in innovation and design, SME manager for SMEs, activation of pilot start-up platforms.
4. Training activities dedicated to the Agri-Food sector (IFTS -Training Centre - Higher Education and Technical Superior Training,  continuous training in the company, material development and SLP (Small Local Productions) courses).

 By the end of January 2017, the Region along with the district will elaborate a 2017-2020 Development Plan that will become the Master Plan for Regional Cluster Development in the near future. In collaboration with its members, it organizes, for this reason, an open consultation on the contributions of the territorial realities of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region to find common themes and interests to be included in the aforementioned Triennial Plan.

In order to achieve its institutional goals, the Cluster interacts with other cluster managing entities, trade associations, training institutes, industrial groupings, investors, national and international public entities. As a Regional Cluster, the Park is committed to the development of the potential of its sub-fund by efficiently and efficiently utilising existing resources on the territory, while at the same time keeping an eye on the regional and national context in order to find missing resources, opportunities and best practices. The activities are carried out in accordance with the principles of simplicity, functionality and cost-effectiveness, as specified in:

• promotion of knowledge;
• economic exploitation of research results;
• support for the mobility of ideas and human and technological resources;
• the coherence of activities and operators with the Code of Ethics;
• transparency of procedures.

 Within the European context, Agri-Food Park is currently a member of the Cluster Collaboration Platform. At the Italian national level, he participates in the National Cluster AgriFood (CLAN) and the National Cluster for Green Chemistry (Spring).

For more information and clarifications, please contact the Secretariat of the GC Parco Agroalimentare at the following address: Agro-Food Park of San Daniele, tel: 0039 0432 954495, e-mail:info@parcoagroalimentare.it.

Patricija Muzlovic