KISS ME
General information
Name: KISS ME Knowledge & Innovation Strategies involving SMEs in the context of INTERREG
Program: Interreg Europe
Line: Axle 2 SME
Total budget: 1 176 540 EUR
UE funding: 843 956,50 EUR (85%)
EGCT budget: 245.900 EUR (209.015€ de FEDER)
Duration: 54 months
Start: January 2017
End: June 2021
Project’s site: https://www.interregeurope.eu/kissme/
Consorci
Project leader: Euregio Rhine-Waal (Germany- Netherlands)
Members:
- EGCT Pyrenees – Mediterranee
- Administrative Council of Värmland County (Sweden)
- Hedmark County Council (Norway)
- HAMAG-BICRO Croatian Agency for Small Businesses, Innovation, and Investment
General objectives
The objective of the project is to improve the innovation capacity of SMEs through territorial cooperation.
Porject operation
The basis for cooperation on the project will be the policies or tools developed by each partner in relation to innovation. Each partner will select the tool with which it will work/develop throughout the project, and the actions and results will be shared with the other partner.
1st phase(2 and a half years): Interregional learning and development of an action plan
Examples of possible acctions to be financed within this phase: Interregional visits, seminars and workshops; interregional workshops, interregional evaluations (studies and statistical analyses).
2nd phase(2 years): Implementation and monitoring of an action plan
Verify that the measures defined in the action plan are implemented in the Euroregional Territory, that the results are evaluated and succesful experiences are shared.
Political instument (tool) with which the EGCT will work: The Euroregional Innovation Strategy
Role of the EGCT
The EGCT team, as leader; will coordinate the monitoring and management of the project, as well as the communication actions and implementation of the digital platform.
Related studies
In 2021, the Euroregion commissioned the production of the study on barriers to cross-border cooperation:
Guia sobre els obstacles a la cooperació transfronterera de les pimes a l’Euroregió (pdf) (CAT)
Guide sur les freins à la coopération transfrontalière des PME de l’Eurorégion (pdf) (FR)
as well as the elaboration of the Euroregion’s RIS3 – Smart Innovation Strategy 2021-2027 document:
Document RIS3 EPM 2021-27 pdf (CAT)
Document RIS3 EPM 2021-27 pdf (FR)
Improving the innovation capacity of SMEs is one of the most important – and therefore most common – objectives in Europe to achive the EU 2020 smart growth goal. Many policy instruments have been stablished to achieve this goal. But reaching SMEs with structural funds does not seem easy; especially in cross-border regions. In this context, it is noteworthy that different border regions with the same objectives and comparable policy instuments (i.e. INTERREG Programmes) still use different strategies and projects to promote SME participation. The KISS ME project partners will use these differences to improve their existing policy instruments with the aim that SMEs can develop , grow and participate in innovation processes.
Through the exchange of tools to reach SMEs and the improvement of policy instuments, the KISS ME project aims to strengthen the innovation capacity of SMEs by comparing approaches from four different border regions. The partners involved in the border regions of Germany and the Netherlands (Euregio Rhine-Waal), France and Spain (EGTC Pyrenees-Mediterranean), Hungary and Croatia (HAMAG BICRO), and Sweden and Norway (Värmland County Council). Based on the results obtained, action plans will be developed and implemented in a second phase. The project results will be disseminatesd at European level and will be valuable for all regions trying to support the competitiveness of SMEs together across borders.
