CEBR at the SME & Clusters Assembly: why Europe’s cluster networks need long-term capacity

What happens to European cluster networks when EU funding ends? At the SME & Clusters Assembly in Dublin on [date], CEBR President Hickmah Tagaully answered with CEBR’s own story: a network born from an EU project in 2006, financially independent since 2008 and today connecting 47 clusters across the EU.

Almost 20 years of European cooperation

With the help of CEBR’s founding members, and some internet archaeology, Hickmah traced how the Council of European Bioregions grew from a project-funded initiative into a self-sustaining network of life sciences clusters. Nearly two decades later, CEBR continues to connect bioregions, share knowledge and build partnerships across Europe.

Keeping a European network alive is still a challenge, every year. It relies on committed members, joint projects and a remarkable investment of time from people who already have full-time roles in their own clusters. CEBR owes its continuity to the strong engagement of successive Presidents, Board members and network managers, who have often gone well beyond what their roles require.

“People come and go. The network must outlast them.” – Hickmah Tagaully, CEBR President

Clusters and the future EU for Business Network

The Assembly was also the setting for a joint statement by the European Clusters Alliance, EURADA – European Association of Development Agencies and the Vanguard Initiative, calling for complementary roles for clusters and the Enterprise Europe Network in the proposed EU for Business Network.

For CEBR, the message is clear: if Europe expects cluster networks to help deliver its competitiveness ambitions, it also needs to invest in their long-term capacity.