In today's fast-globalizing world, the much-hyped concept of place branding has become critical for regions in fierce global competition to capture and secure geographically-mobile investment. In this environment, the effort to attract and promote inward investment is a challenge requiring coordination across several fronts, where socio-economic fabric along with skilled qualified human resources emerges high on the list of critical variables. Corsica is an island economy marked by the complete absence of any of the big holdings and multinationals that fuel and forge the worldwide economy. Equally absent are any of the kind of medium-sized enterprises servicing big business that have spearheaded local economies in other regions like Lombardy. Corsica's economic fabric is essentially made up of small and home businesses, farm smallholdings, artisans and small-scale retail. Given how public-sector capital investment is already hypertrophied, a policy of investment in human capital could be a compelling new opportunity to trigger a dynamic regional development impetus. Leading the way, the University Institute of Technology Corsica, Corsica University�s affiliated school of applied vocational technologies, is demonstrating its ability to act as a structurally engaged facilitator of island-wide spatial planning and regional branding. As a founding pillar in pioneering the emergence of a sandwich-course training system in higher education in Corsica, in 2010 the university made its entire training curriculum fully accessible to all, through the signature of apprenticeship training or vocational qualifications agreements. After highlighting the specific features of the sandwich training policy development process in Corsica as a shaper of the Regional Vocational Development Programme, this paper brings an analysis of the lessons learned from the pioneering example of the University Institute of Technology Corsica as a dynamic engineer of structured future and regional brand for Corsica.
Loading....