Call to organise events as part of the 'EU Cluster Weeks 2018-2019' (Deadline: 29 March 2019)

  On November 20th the European Commission launched “EU Cluster weeks 2018-2019”, a campaign aimed at offering communication support to cluster events organised all around Europe before April 30th, 2019. The campaign will support national, regional and local cluster events organised across the EU under the EU Cluster Weeks umbrella by promoting the events through the Commission's and the European Cluster Collaboration Platform‘s social media accounts, as well as by making available promotional and guidance material for the organisation of events. The EU Cluster Weeks will further be an opportunity for stakeholders to contribute to the shaping of future cluster initiatives, including Joint Cluster Initiatives under the forthcoming Single Market Programme, as the campaign will also gather feed-back about the main challenges and needs for action.  Who can apply? The campaign will support any national, regional and local cluster event that is: organised by cluster stakeholders or organised around the 'cluster' topic or a specific topic closely related to it. All relevant events will be featured on the European Cluster Collaboration Platform. How to apply? Apply here by filling in the EU Cluster Weeks event registration form and sending it back to clusterweeks@clustercollaboration.eu. You will be informed on the success of your request within a few days following submission date. Deadline to apply: Friday, 29 March, 2019  For more information, have a look here.    Background In its renewed EU industrial policy strategy, the Commission highlighted in 2017 its efforts "for facilitating a dialogue on cluster policy excellence" and "to better use clusters as a strategic tool of industrial policy". The 2017 Smart Specialisation Communication and the 2016 Start-up and Scale-up Communication also underlined the need "to connect clusters and ecosystems across Europe" and the strategic role that clusters play for helping SMEs to innovate and grow and for building strong interregional collaboration as part of European and global value chains. Consequently, the Commission also foresees Joint Cluster Initiatives as a key tool for boosting industrial modernisation and strengthening the business environment for SMEs under the COSME part of the forthcoming Single Market Programme proposed for 2021 – 2027. The EU Cluster Weeks also hope to encourage stakeholders to contribute to shaping this future initiative.