CLUNET
CLUNET aims to share experiences and implement concrete pilot projects related to cluster innovation and development policies. It will be developed by uniting the 15 regions represented in CLUNET and the 64 top-level clusters currently supported by the partners in a single network. The project will focus on future challenges and opportunities for clusters.
With the additional participation of the Montreal Metropolitan Community, CLUNET will benefit from the Canadian experience in cluster policies and will provide a unique platform for internationalisation.
The CLUNET project aims to share experiences and implement concrete pilot projects regarding cluster innovation and development policies. It will be developed by uniting the 13 regions represented in CLUNET and the 64 top-level clusters currently supported by the partners in a single network. The project will focus on future challenges and opportunities for clusters. With the additional participation of the Montreal Metropolitan Community, CLUNET will benefit from the Canadian's experience in cluster policies and will provide a unique platform for internationalisation.
The specific objectives of the project are:
- To identify the range of policy actors and programmes supporting the most dynamic growing clusters with various policy tools, including SME internationalisation and incubation policies.
- To learn from and exchange examples of best practice with partners and to develop realistic policy tools that take account of business needs and of national administrative and legal barriers.
- To design and implement a number of concrete pilot cross-border cooperation initiatives to support cluster growth and innovation.
- To launch a sustainable cluster development initiative and to put in place appropriate dissemination tools for examples of best practice.
The project's first action will be to map cluster policies in the 16 CLUNET regions. CLUNET will then identify policies that support fast growing clusters focusing on themes such as the internationalisation of cluster SMEs and incubation. The information gathered in this context will inform a Memorandum of Understanding that will be signed by the EU 25 countries.
Subsequently, a series of cooperation, learning and networking activities will be organised on the basis of the experiences of leading policy and programme managers. Best practice examples developed in previous EC programmes (e.g. PAXIS, G2G, et.) will also be taken into consideration. Policy workshops will be held at regional level (within CLUNET partner regions), national level (regions from the same country) and at international level (Montreal). The main objective is to define a scheme for collaboration and pilot projects among the CLUNET regions to support the fast growth of clusters.
Partners will therefore seek not only to exchange information on best practice examples, but also to identify and design concrete cooperation opportunities. Six to eight pilot projects will work to deliver a basis for the project results to remain sustainable even after the end of the project.
The project primarily addresses cluster stakeholders and cluster schemes.
For cluster stakeholders, the most important expected impacts are:
- The involvement of cluster support policy makers and programme managers.
- The mobilisation of SMEs and the provision of information sources for SMEs.
- Strengthened relationships between partners sharing information on best practices and regional data in the field of clusters.
- The design and implementation of pilot projects that address policy makers and business needs.
For cluster policies and funding regimes, the most important expected impacts are:
- Policy workshops at regional, national and international levels.
- Internationalisation of clusters and growth of meta-cluster networks.
- Creation of new pilot projects that complement and run in parallel to existing policies and the ERA-NET scheme.
- Provision of a forum for cluster managers and companies within common pilot activities.
European Cluster Alliance:
This project is a founding member of the European Cluster Alliance that brings together the four INNO-Net projects dealing with cluster policy development. The European Cluster Alliance will act as the main driver for the further preparation of a strategic agenda on clusters and will be open to other cluster initiatives willing to join the Alliance, share their experiences and develop common actions with other partners.
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