On 24 June, the European Alliance Against Coronavirus travelled virtually to Germany to learn about the cluster policy and landscape in the country.

Theresa Gerdes and Lukas Nögel from VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH​ spoke about the development of the German cluster policy and the role of the national “go cluster” programme.

Germany has a long history of cluster funding and a strong regional dimension. In 2021, they entered the fifth funding phase with a focus on cluster initiatives as regional laboratories for the future and helping to share the economic recovery.  ​​The “go cluster” programme, which is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, supports cluster management organisation with the development of their innovation clusters.

Next, Dr. Florian Welter, Projektträger Jülich​, presented examples of public cluster funding in Germany. These schemes are directed towards the development of clusters and aim at increasing the attractiveness of Germany as a location for innovation and business, establishing new international cooperation, and supporting open innovation culture in value chains and systems.

Finally Paul Möhlmann, ClusterAgentur Baden-Württemberg, explained the bottom-up cluster policy in the South-Western region of Germany. The region Baden-Württemberg developed its own funding programmes, a map of clusters, and a database and platform.

Through the regional agency, clusters are supported in their management excellence, innovation and technology transfer, internationalisation, and awareness-raising activities.

The morning sessions are open to everyone.

Sign up to receive invitations here.

Watch the recording here:

EAAC_Cluster Policy in Germany.pdf