The Northern Netherlands co-operation between three provinces Luc Hulsman Programme manager The Northern Netherlands Provinces

The Northern Netherlands: 3 provinces; relatively sparsely populated; 25% area; 10% population of NLs attractive countryside Economics: traditionally lagging behind; 8% contribution to GDP of NLs but, making up for the differences

Co-operation: historically strong ties between provinces; 1992 formalized: legal base for partnership; formation of a small administrative organization; aim: coordinated regional spatial-economic policies

Regional economic policy 2007-2013 Strategic Agenda Three track policy: towards innovation and a knowledge economy a competitive establishment climate in urban areas retaining and strengthening an attractive countryside Underlying principle: focus on what each province is best at

Regional economic policy Major instruments: Operational Programme 2007-2013, objective ‘Regional competitiveness and employment’ National ‘Peaks in the Delta’- programme Programmes ‘dovetailed’ together → avoiding dispersion of efforts

Focusing on what you’re best at:

Interaction between the clusters: Blue Energy Lofar Geofysics Watersense

‘Outside’ connections: Lofar, Wetsus & Energy Valley: consortia of knowledge institutes, universities and industrial partners, in the Netherlands and abroad E.g. Lofar: Universities of Groningen, Amsterdam, Leiden, Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (Bonn, Germany) Wetsus: Wageningen University and Research Centre Energy Valley: University of Groningen, Gasunie, Gazprom (Energy Delta Institute)

Lofar- search for business partners Presentations for industry open and non-committal way to make contacts R&D-collaboration agreements pre-competitive phase; in compliance with EU-rules; transfer of knowledge; relatively small investment by companies Public procurement procedure

Conclusion Fostering innovation in the Northern Netherlands provinces: the method works (for us) but, difficulties remain: e.g. linking with 7th Framework Programme ESF centralized in the Netherlands focus on lower and middle levels of professional education

Thank you for your attention more information at: www.snn.eu www.lofar.org www.wetsus.nl www.energyvalley.nl mail: hulsman@snn.eu