T O W A R D S C L U S T E R E X C E L L E N C Y

Merinova / Finland

Basque Energy Cluster / Spain

EnergyIN / Portugal

Paper Province / Sweden

Keep updated on the progressby checking the latest news on the project blog /towardsclusterexcellencyblog.wordpress.com

+ I N F O

EnergyIN - The Competitiveness and TechnologyCluster for Energy / PortugalExecutive Director / Teresa Bertrandgeral@energyin.ptwww.energyin.pt

Basque Energy Cluster / SpainManaging Director / Jose Ignacio Hormaeche mail@clusterenergia.comwww.clusterenergia.com

Paper Province / SwedenManaging Director / Maria Hollander m.hollander@paperprovince.comwww.paperprovince.com

Technology Centre Oy Merinova Ab / FinlandProject Coordinator / Johan Wasbergjohan.wasberg@merinova.fi www.merinova.fi

This brochure is part of the projectTowards Cluster Excellency which has received funding from

the European Union’s COSME Programme (2014-2020)

The content of this brochure represents the views of the author only and is his/her sole responsibility; it cannot be considered to reflect the views of the European Commission and/or the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises or any other body of the European Union. The

European Commission and the Agency do not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.

Clusters are recognized as important drivers for the competitiveness of regions. Their activity can be fuelled through the action of dedicated cluster initiatives, or “cluster organisations”. The TCE project brings together the efforts and resources of four cluster organisations working towards energy and bio-economy from Finland, Sweden, Spain and Portugal to gain competences in the cluster management best practices, with the aim of providing better added value services to their members, with a special focus on SMEs. The project will be developed within a time frame of two years (2016-2017), with a budget of € 249.000, and it is expected to have impact on around 500 European SMEs.

T O W A R D S C L U S T E R E X C E L L E N C Y

“Clusters are groups of specialised enterprises – often SMEs – and other related

supporting actors that cooperate closely together in a particular location. In

working together SMEs can be more innovative, create more jobs and register

more international trademarks and patents than they would alone.”

www.ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/cluster/index_en.htm

T C E P A R T N E R S

M E R I N O V ACoordinates and manages the EnergyVaasa cluster in Vaasa, Finland. The cluster is the Nordic Leader in Energy Technology. It consists of more than 140 companies, employs over 11.000 persons, and has an annual turnover of more than 4,4 billion Euro of which 80% is exported. Merinova provides support for the internationalization activities of companies and manages the access to the cluster premises, facilities and activities.

B a s q u e E n e r g y C l u s t e rIs a non-profit organization which was set up in 1996 with the mission of improving global competitiveness of the Basque energy sector companies by facilitating an industry-driven collaboration along the value chains and seeking public-private partnerships. It is currently made up of 104 companies and entities active in the energy sector.

E n e r g y I NIs a private non-profit association dedicated to improving the competitiveness of the energy companies in Portugal, through activities towards innovation, cooperation and export growth.

P a p e r P r o v i n c eIs a private non-profit association for actors in the forest based bioeconomy in central Sweden focusing on innovation, competence provision, marketing and internationalization. The cluster was initiated in 1999 and has more than 100 member companies. Paper Province is recognized as a world-class cluster by the European Cluster Observatory.

A c t i v i t i e s o f t h e T C E p r o j e c t

Benchmarking of the current cluster management practices of each partner,in order to identify gaps for improvement

Specific training of cluster managers in identified priority areas

Study visits to selected top cluster organisations

Application of new and better practices in the cluster management

Assessment of the impact of the action

Dissemination of project results to other clusters

The TCE project benefits the partner cluster organisations…

By strengthening their skills in excellent cluster management

By providing new tools to better serve the cluster companies

By preparing the clusters for culture challenges

By learning the best practices from top performing European cluster organisations

… and benefits the members of the cluster!

By providing better and more sophisticated services for the SMEs

By reinforcing synergies among companies and other stakeholders

By helping the cluster to unleash its full potential through cooperation

By stimulating innovation and new competitive strategies

By increasing visibility for external markets

Start/end dates: 1 jan. 2016 to 31 dec. 2017

Project reference: 697060