The European Commission’s flagship annual cluster event brought together cluster managers, cluster organisations, associations and partnerships and their members to debate and shape the future of cluster policy in Europe. The event was open to 1,000 people attending and taking part over two days.

A packed programme was organised by the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs in partnership with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, under the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and delivered by the European Cluster Collaboration Platform.

The event brought together 82 expert speakers from the European Commission, Member States, key stakeholder networks, cluster organisations and business in plenary sessions and panel discussions, while thematic and sector-specific workshops as well as a quiz, a virtual exhibition, pitching and matchmaking sessions offered plenty of opportunity to learn, network and make new connections.

Some 52 countries were represented by participants and attendees from not only Europe but also Africa, Asia, and North and South America.

The main takeaways:

• Clusters are drivers and enablers of change in the context of the green and digital transitions and building resilience as Europe recovers from COVID-19
• International and interregional collaboration through clusters is a key tool for supporting innovation, industrial modernisation and the scaling up of SMEs as well as the reskilling and upskilling of the workforce
• The right partners – policymakers, SME intermediaries and industry – need to be involved
• Funding opportunities, dedicated support, new initiatives and sustainable partnerships are needed to advance collaboration in specialised sectors and ecosystems

The conference was opened by European Union Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, alongside Peter Altmaier, German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy.

Consulting cluster Veritas is extremely proud, as Teodora Jilkova, member of the cluster team, has been invited by the European Commission, in the capacity of Master of Ceremony of the event.

More details about the conference discussions, could be found on: https://clustercollaboration.eu/news/make-clusters-stronger-make-europe-greener-more-digital-and-resilient-says

Here is the post show video:

Commissioner Thierry Breton’s speech:

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