The ClusterXchange Xchange Programme encompasses exchange activities in which enterprises, managers and other actors visit industrial excellence actors in a different country to make an “on-the-job-experience”. The visits are short-term exchanges to facilitate transnational cooperation, networking and innovation uptake:

• Learn from actors in another cluster;
• Explore growth opportunities in new markets;
• Take up new technologies;
• Invest in strategic interregional collaboration.

It is up to you to decide if you want to be a visitor or a host. Check all the eligibility criteria and participation conditions in the EXTRATEX Xchange Term of reference[1].

Visiting organisations will receive a lump sum to cover travel, accommodations and other expenses up to € 1100. It will not be required to justify the expenses but evidences that the exchange has taken place and what are the outcomes are needed.

If you wish to be part of an exchange you can send your candidature via the dedicated matchmaking tool. To register and candidate yourself: www.clustercollaboration.eu.

To be assisted for the registration and profiling and to be helped in finding your match contact your reference cluster. The list of member clusters is in the “partners” section of this website.

The visits

You can freely find your match and build up your own exchange, by using the matchmaking tool.

You do not have any idea about who to meet and where to go? No worries.

EXTRATEX propose two predefined opportunities for visitors to two different industrial areas: the first one in Czech Republic at the ned of 2020/beginning of 2021; the second one in Slovakia in spring 2021.

Dates of the visits and the detailed agenda will be published later. The EXTRATEX team reserve the right to modify or cancel the pre-organised trips in case the sanitary situation will not allow for a safe and comfortable travelling.

For SMEs the basic structure of the visit has a minimum duration of three days, divided as follows: during the first two days there will be a Joint Learning Event, in which companies can enhance their expertise by getting in contact with excellence local organisations, acting as hosts; the third day will see two activities: a half day B2B matchmaking event (https://extratex-virtual-clusterxchange-brokerage.b2match.io/) and an additional targeted study visit. Upon formal request, it will be possible to protract the visit, by adding hosts or by prolonging the stay. For visiting scaling-up organisations the Xchange will last two more days, for a total of 5 days (additional hosts or longer stays will be planned).

For scaling-up organisations the average duration is 5 days and will most probably be more organised as a permanence in one organisation only.

For each visiting organisation a lump sum refund up to €1,100 will be granted, the exact amount to be determined according to the host country.

Companies outside the partnership can participate to the Xchange.

Organisations intending to join the pre-organised visits to Czech Republic or Slovakia have to register in the matchmaking platform too.

[1] For further details the Quality manual and User guidelines for the ESCP-4x Programme are availale.