The fourth thematic workshop held by the Policy Learning Platform on 30 June brought together representatives of 14 out the 33 Interreg Europe projects dedicated to SME competitiveness. Together with the representatives of the Joint Secretariat and the Policy Learning Platform team they quite actively took this opportunity to get to know each other and exchange around the barriers and challenges for increasing internationalisation of SMEs.
At the beginning of the workshop, the project representatives were introduced to the services of the Policy Learning Platform. During the plenary and breakout sessions the discussions focussed on governance issues – mainly the necessity and difficulty to align the objectives and coordinate the initiatives of multiple actors supporting internationalisation of SMEs – and on concrete instruments which could address the barriers. A series of topics were identified, which will provide input for the upcoming activities delivered by the Policy Learning Platform.
The most important outcome of the day, for sure, was the positive feeling among the participants. Everybody was eager to meet and talk to the peers, connect with the thematic experts and the Project Officers, and encourage for more joint activities. First specific requests for support were gathered, and the exchange of knowledge among the projects started immediately.
We now need to keep that feeling going!
