„Area Based Collaborative Entrepreneurship in Cities (ABCitiEs)“, No. PG105321

Project No. PG105321
Project title: „Area Based Collaborative Entrepreneurship in Cities (ABCitiEs)“
Project duration: from 2018-06-01 to 2022-05-31.
Project coordinator: Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (Nyderlandai).
Project manager in MRU: doc. dr. Žilvinas Židonis.
Other partners: Municipality of Amsterdam (Nyderlandai), Sunrise Valley Science and Technology Park (Lietuva), The Manchester Metropolitan University (UK), Manchester City Council (UK), University of Zagreb, Faculty of Organization and Informatics (Kroatija), The City of Varaždin (Kroatija), The City of Čakovec (Kroatija), Harokopio University (Gratoja), Athens municipality (Gratoja).

In many European cities, local entrepreneurs are organising collectives and cooperating to foster business development and innovation, and to create a better business environment. Area-based co-operative entrepreneurship (ABCE) means that entrepreneurs work together to invest in equipment or technology, to jointly develop the marketing of their urban area, or to improve a shared public space. The value of such cooperation is increasingly recognised by local authorities and promoted through a range of public policy instruments.

Entrepreneurship based on territorial cooperation fosters urban regeneration, as the enterprises involved in joint activities tend to be closely linked to the inhabitants of their neighbourhoods and to social objectives. This strengthens social ties in the community and creates a better quality of life. Inclusive development, cooperation and cohesion address the problems caused by the negative effects of globalisation, such as economic restructuring, income inequality and urban decline.

Current policy measures in the cities represented by the Project partners focus on the knowledge-based development of SME innovation and attracting finance, but there is a lack of focus on networked initiatives to promote inclusion, innovation and spatial renewal. This project therefore aims to develop recommendations for European Regional Action Programmes and other policy instruments by systematically learning from best practices in municipalities in EU countries, identifying critical success factors and disseminating knowledge about them across the European region.

Five European city regions are participating in this project: Amsterdam, Athens, Manchester, Vilnius and the city cluster of Varazdin and Cakovic in Croatia. All the regiofroms are currently experimenting with promoting entrepreneurship based on territorial cooperation, and the project aims to share experiences and better understand how to apply more effective policy instruments.

The aim of the project – develop innovative and effective policy instruments to encourage businesses practising territorial cooperation, increase the competitiveness of SMEs and contribute to improving the socio-economic situation of Europe’s cities.

The objectives of the project are to develop concrete support tools that can be used by central and local authorities, as well as by the collective actors themselves, to ensure:

– better access to regional and local policies and instruments related to entrepreneurship based on territorial cooperation, in particular the European Regional Support Fund;

– effective municipal and regional policies in support of cooperating businesses;

– the development of policy tools that facilitate rather than hinder the achievement of economic, social and environmental objectives by cooperating businesses;

– the development of effective policy tools to support cooperating enterprises in tackling the various challenges they face.

The project is funded by the Interreg Europe Programme.

More information here.