Tartu and South-Estonia Region
Rene Tõnnisson & Marek Tiits
Institute of Baltic Studies
Tartu and
South Estonia
.
Tartu
•Population - 350 000
inhabitants
•Area – 15 000 sq Km
•Main economic sectors –
Forrest-Wood,
Metalworks-Machinery,
Food, Textile
Estonian Regions
Main Features of
Tartu and South-Estonia Region
• From one hand dominated by traditonal
economic sectors, such as wood-forestryfurniture, metalworks-machinery,
agriculture-food, textile-clothing
• From another hand the leading research,
education and medical centre of Estonia
with up to 2/3 of total national research
effort
Tartu Regional Innovation System
Strong University as a dominant
stakeholder
Population of City of Tartu:
100 000 inhabitants
25 000 University Students
University of Tartu founded
in 1632 and the only
classical university in
Estonia with 11 faculties
from Theology to Medicine
Tartu Model for Strengthening Tartu
Regional Innovation System
Short overview of
Institute of Baltic Studies
• Established in 1995 as independent
research and development centre
• Currently acting as policy development
“think tank” focusing mainly on industrial,
innovation, technology and regional
development policies
• Active involvement in Tartu RIS project
including carrying out foresight on 2 key
areas ICT and Biotech