The collaboration between CARE4BIO and EEN was spotlighted at ANUGA FoodTec

As part of CARE4BIO’s objective to foster collaboration with other stakeholders of the cluster 6 ecosystem, our network met with EEN (Enterprise Europe Network). Indeed, both networks want to encourage the participation of SMEs in the Horizon Europe programme, from awareness-raising to finding consortium partners, and application support. This goal of fostering SME participation in Horizon Europe is also strongly supported by the European Commission. In this spirit, the CARE4BIO project signed Memoranda of Understanding together with EEN Sector Group (SG) Agrifood, and with EEN Thematic Group (TG) Sustainability in 2023. In order to translate this good will into concrete collaboration, many actions have already been planned including on 19-20 March, two days of common activities at the ANUGA FoodTec in Cologne.

The programme started with a specific training for Cluster 6 NCPs on the EEN network in order to better understand potential synergies between NCPs and EEN advisors. The presentation, organized by hub.brussels with the support of APRE, presented the EEN network, its objectives, the services offered by EEN advisors.   The group of 30 Cluster 6 NCPs participating in the training also had the opportunity to share their best practices, challenges and experience about the EEN-NCP collaboration in their own countries/regions and on specific events.

This NCP training was followed in the afternoon by an “EEN-NCP Meet & Exchange”, with the participation of EEN advisors members of SG Agrifood and TG Sustainability, who were holding a joint meeting during ANUGA FoodTec and kindly extended the invitation to the CARE4BIO network. After a presentation to the 120 participants of the activities of SG Agrifood, TG Sustainability, and Horizon Europe / CARE4BIO, the participants were distributed into 8 groups and had the occasion to discuss in world café format how EEN and NCP could better collaboration on 4 topics: (1) structuring EEN-NCP collaboration at a network and at the national/local level, (2) collaboration on partner searches, (3) collaboration on brokerage events and (4) collaboration on other events (trainings, webinars, info days…). Our amazing co-hosts helped debrief all the best practices and recommendations produced by very dynamic and active participants in order to improve this collaboration going forward.