We invite you to an interactive workshop to network, meet new people, mature your project idea, and build the business case. You can either join us with an idea for a future project that could be developed with other partners in Europe, or you can come to see what is proposed by others and join forces with your knowledge and skills.

Register here

The European Cluster Collaboration Platform, in collaboration with Agri-Food Lithuania, is organising this edition of the Cluster Collaboration Labs in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 14-15 November 2023. It will focus on several challenges in the agri-food ecosystem and cross-cutting topics related to skills, networking, and innovation. It is open to cluster organisations, companies, research organisations, actors from the civil society, and other interested entities. Before and during the lab, the participants will team up and develop together their project idea and business case.

After the workshop, the ECCP team will follow-up and support you in the further development of your projects, for example, looking into suitable financing sources.

The C2Lab is open to participants from the European Union and the SMP/COSME countries.

Travel and accommodation costs to participate in the C2Lab will not be covered by the European Cluster Collaboration Platform.

Thematic approximation

This C2Lab is strongly driven by the challenges of the agri-food ecosystem. International markets for food and agriculture have been under pressure due to several unprecedented factors, including COVID-19 and the subsequent supply chain disruptions caused by lockdowns, extreme weather anomalies, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its side effects, such as price spikes for energy and fertilisers. Food systems must transform and integrate the concepts of food security, productivity, and sustainability in order to ensure future generations’ global food security. Strengthening the sustainability of agriculture is crucial to competitiveness and has significant ramifications for economic and social development. 

But we also need to look at cross-sectoral topics to foster competitiveness. Encouraging innovation and startups in rural areas should significantly contribute to the transition to greening and digitalisation. Data openness can be enhanced to provide comprehensive information for a more accurate analysis and prediction. Cluster collaboration and initiatives like the Regional Innovation Valleys and the Startup Village can help the economic development of the regions, the wider adoption of digital solutions, the involvement of young people and women, the achievement of the Green Deal goals, as well as a successful adaptation to changes in business and society.

What kind of projects are we looking for?

We are open for your ideas! The projects developed at the C2Lab should support the green and digital transition and increase the resilience of the European industry. As you read above, the focus is on:

• Sustainability in agri-food value chains
• Bioeconomy
• Food security
• Digital applications in agri-food
• Sustainability in blue economy
• Sustainable forestry
• Cross-thematic: Up- and reskilling
• Cross-thematic: Empowerment of women and youth
• Cross-thematic: Regional Innovation Valleys and start-up villages
• Cross-thematic: Networks and collaboration
• Your Open Topic

Please bear in mind possible synergies with existing projects and initiatives, and if you like to address a similar idea, consider how to collaborate and build on the existing work.

How does the C2Lab work?

The C2Lab is a co-creation space and counts on your active participation. The aim is to mature project ideas and build business cases with other participants, potentially from other regions, countries, or sectors, which will be further implemented after the lab itself. Based on the interests and ideas that are submitted during the registration process, the C2Lab team will invite people that share similar areas of interest to meet each other and initiate online meetings. These meetings serve as a basis to form working groups for the lab itself.

During the C2Lab, a moderation team will guide the working groups and support with the definition of next steps to put your ideas into practice. The goal is to have a project roadmap at the end of the C2Lab. The team will follow up with you after the event and help with challenges you might face to start the implementation.

Why come to Vilnius?

This C2Lab is organised next to the Agri-Food Forum, the largest forum on agri-food in the Baltic Region (see here Agri-Food Forum 2022). The Agri-Food Forum expects to welcome up to 200 participants on site, including high-level government officials on EU and national level, business representatives from agriculture/food and other sector industries, clusters, universities and research institutions in the agri-food sector, and agri-food value chain stakeholders on EU and national level.

C2Lab participants are invited to attend part of the Agri-Food Forum programme and they will have the opportunity to network with the Forum attendees.

Registration

Please register to participate in the C2Lab: Registration C2Lab Vilnius

If you already have a project idea, however rough, please don´t hesitate to share this idea in the registration form.

In case you have any questions, please don´t hesitate to contact us at c2lab@clustercollaboration.eu 

Location and date

📍 Vilnius, Lithuania

🗓️14-15 November 2023