Cluster Action For Ecosystem Innovation Network

Project Information

CAFEIN

Grant agreement ID: 101070768

DOI

10.3030/101070768

Project closed

EC signature date 27 June 2022

Start date 1 September 2022

End date 31 August 2024

Funded under

• European innovation ecosystems

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 500 000,00

Coordinated by

ASSOCIATION FRANCAISE DES POLES DE COMPETITIVITE
France

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - CAFEIN (Cluster Action For Ecosystem Innovation Network)

Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2024-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The CAFEIN aims to prepare a joint long-term action plan, based on a five-year programme, to address green and associated industrial transition challenges through national cluster associations (the project partners) and national innovation funding agencies (members of an Innovation Funding Advisory Board – IFAB) of five European countries (France, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden).
The project will lay the foundations for a sustainable collaborative implementation of cross border innovation support measures and enhance the connections between European innovation ecosystems, mainly but not exclusively SMEs.
The heart of the project lies in an inclusive and collaborative approach ensured by the consultation and involvement of stakeholders from the quadruple helix (university-industry-government-public), and the possibility for other European national cluster associations and national funding agencies to join the process and engage in the joint-action plan.
The consortium will leverage from the assets and knowledge of the clusters associations regarding SME’s needs and green transition challenges at a regional and national level. The position of the national innovation and SME funding agencies will also be used as public service orientation providers to create an efficient and consistent joint action plan.
The four different levels of innovation readiness stated in the European Innovation Scoreboard are represented among the partners, allowing a balanced replicability, dissemination and the scale-up of innovation ecosystems across Europe, with no country left behind.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Specific objective 1: Propose a bottom-up perspective for the alignment of innovation agenda at national level.
CAFEIN contributed to the expected impact through:
- 3 IFAB meetings organised in RP2 with strong participation of the funding agencies in are-as of common interest (6 October 2023, 16 April and 27 June 2024)
- 5 bilateral meetings conducted (from January to early May 2024) at national level, between each national/regional cluster association and their funding agencies (see D2.3 for details):
o 22 January 2024, BPI France – AFPC
o 13 February 2024, PARP – PCA
o 5 April 2024, MINCOTUR – FENAEIC
o 19 April 2024, INVITALIA - Confindustria Emilia
o 17 May 2024, TVV - COSWE


Specific objective 2: Support the alignment of innovation agendas for countries with a different level of innovation from leader to emerging.
CAFEIN contributed to the expected impact through:
- Designed and formed Working Groups (WG) based on the identified themes:
o Strengthening and easier the access to Funding for SMEs
o Developing and accessing green industrial solutions
o Improving digital skills & HR
o Scaling up innovation support systems
Each WG met on a regular basis to define the JAP and 5-year programme frameworks, delving deeper into the challenges and needs associated with each priority and working to-wards developing actionable strategies within the JAP. Progress was regularly presented to the IFAB members, sharing conclusions to identify cross-cutting issues and ensure coher-ence across themes, and eventually to build the JAP and 5-year programme.
- Co-design and signature of the JAP (Joint Action Plan) Agreement setting up common will of continuing collaboration with the engagement of new national cluster organisations, new national funding agencies, and with marked interest from European level federations or ini-tiatives such as the ECCP (European Cluster Collaboration Platform), the ECA (European Clusters Alliance) and the TAFTIE (the European Network of leading national innovation agencies).

Specific objective 3: Include all quadruple helix stakeholders through the participation of clusters, funding agencies, regions and local innovation intermediaries.
- CAFEIN partners conducted 5 webinars to involve and communicate towards citizens at the national level (see Task 4.4 for details)
- JAP preliminary versions were shared with ECCP, ECA and TAFTIE partners (that include industries, academics, nonprofits as federations, and territorial institutions)

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The proactive participation of the IFAB members in the CAFEIN project has been a pivotal factor in its success, particularly in the development of the Joint Action Plan (JAP) and in raising aware-ness at the national/international level, for example vie the TAFTIE network. The signing of this Memorandum is crucial, as it guarantees the continuation of the productive dialogue established between the innovation agencies, the cluster networks involved in the consortium, and new inno-vation actors who will be engaged in the implementation of subsequent CAFEIN follow on activi-ties.
Indeed, the co-signing of the JAP by the five national innovation funding agencies is considered a major achievement and prepares the ground for future bi-lateral and multi-lateral cooperation. This is expected to arise through existing funding mechanisms such as EUROSTARS, strengthen existing cross border initiatives such as France/Spain and raise the awareness of the role of clus-ters in supporting industrial SMEs along their transition journey. Access and the support of the national agencies has also facilitated connections to networks that are not readily open to cluster organisations, such as TAFTIE, thanks to Bpifrance, offering scope to connect with additional national funding agencies.
Beyond the initial 5 Member States participating in the IFAB, representatives from 7 additional European countries have expressed strong interest in the project. These countries have been in-vited to sign the memorandum supporting the JAP and to contribute to its implementation.
Furthermore, registering CAFEIN’s network on the European Cluster Collaboration Platform (ECCP) will significantly enhance its visibility and potential member base and foster connections with other European innovation stakeholders. Clusters from 9 new countries declared an interest in joining the CAFEIN movement: Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Hungary, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Romania. Two of them have already ended up signing the JAP: Lithuania and Romania – during the C2Lab event attended by several CAFEIN partners, in Strasbourg September 2024.

Furthermore, CAFEIN publications or other types of content produced within CAFEIN activities have been published on the ECCP GTS website, after internal evaluation, and targeting specifical-ly clusters or SMEs, providing knowledge/methods/tools that can support them in their green transition efforts (https://www.clustercollaboration.eu/search-results?search_api_fulltext=cafein). And ECCP is thinking about building on the work planned in the JAP and would be particularly interested in exploring synergies in the implementation under the Task 3.2.2 Develop a Common Framework for Green Transition support.

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