Background
High quality cluster management is today recognised as a key element of a successful world-class cluster. Strong management is crucial for cluster organisations for providing top professional services to cluster firms, for assisting companies to access global markets successfully, and for raising the innovation capacity and competitiveness of cluster firms in the large sense. The growing number of cluster organisations in the EU today, represent various quality levels with respect to their organisation, experience and ambition. Some cluster organisations are well advanced on cluster excellence issues while others are clearly lagging behind.
As part of the EU’s efforts to create more world-class clusters across the EU by strengthening cluster excellence, the Commission launched in 2009, under the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme, the European Cluster Excellence Initiative (ECEI). Its main aim was, first, to design, test and validate a benchmarking methodological tool to be used by cluster organisations to identify and improve their internal management process and the way they offer services to cluster firms, and, second, to develop training materials with the ultimate goal to help cluster managers improve their own managerial capability.
Eligibility
- Eligible members of the consortium shall be regional or national public authorities or agencies financing and/or managing cluster
programmes in their territory
- Each consortium should be composed of partners from at least 3 different CIP participating countries.
- Applications must be submitted by a legal person or a natural person;
- Applicants must correspond to the definition, of the target organisations mentioned
- Corporate bodies must be properly constituted and registered under the law. If a body or organisation is not constituted under the law, a
physical person must be designated to provide the legal responsibility.
- Legal entities having a legal or capital link with applicants, which is neither limited to the action nor established for the sole purpose of its
implementation, may take part in the action as affiliated entities, and may declare eligible costs. For that purpose, applicants shall identify
such affiliated entities in the application form. The affiliated entities will have to comply with the eligibility and exclusion criteria.
- Several entities that form together one entity, whether or not this entity is established for the purpose of implementing the action, may apply
as a sole beneficiary. The entities will be considered as affiliated entities, which each will have to comply with eligibility, exclusion and
selection criteria.
Budget
1.377.000 EUR
Deadline: 25 June 2013
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