Grants to the campuses are provided from the multi-year Opportunities for West grant program funded in part by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). A key objective of this program is to strengthen research and innovation capacity and the introduction of advanced technologies.
Province of South Holland has control over a set portion of the Opportunities for West budget and part of this is used to strengthen innovation campuses. Specifically, for South Holland, this means that five campuses in the region will receive financial support: TU Delft Campus and Leiden Bio Science Park will receive € 900,000, in addition Biotech Campus Delft, NL Space Campus and Erasmus MC Campus have each been awarded € 400,000. This financial support will enable the campuses and campus organizations to take the next step in further development and increase the involvement of SMEs on the campuses. The campuses can thus play an even greater role in stimulating innovation and employment to make the transition to an economy in which sustainability and well-being are central.
On Thursday, March 7, Commissioner Meindert Stolk presented the subsidy check to the five innovation campuses, during a festive gathering in Delft. Gedeputeerde Meindert Stolk, Economy and Innovation: "We are very pleased with the Opportunities for West program. This program offers us, as a province, the opportunity to invest in campuses, enabling us to accelerate the transition to a sustainable, circular and digital economy. The grants I have been privileged to award will be used primarily for further growth and development. I certainly look forward to visiting all the campuses soon and seeing how these grants are being used."
Commissioned by the Economic Board South Holland and the Province of South Holland, consulting firm Buck Consultants International has prepared a joint investment and cooperation agenda for the campuses in South Holland. This agenda provides direction for the development of the campuses and also identifies areas for cooperation. More cooperation will help harness the full potential of the campuses and accelerate solutions to the major societal transitions.
Buck has calculated that all of these investments - as described in the "Investment and Cooperation Agenda" - will require a minimum of € 54 million. This includes the precondition that the campus organizations have the capacity to develop these plans and obtain financing. In many cases, this funding will come from various parties, including governments, knowledge institutions and industry, at the European, national, provincial and local levels.
Based on a shared ambition to promote technology transfer to and through businesses, the five South Holland campuses have joined forces in recent years. In the Kopgroep Innovatiecampussen they exchange knowledge and ensure that available funding is used optimally. The campuses share a common ambition, but vary greatly in stage of development: from the Erasmus MC Campus (which has only recently started), to the (university) campuses in Leiden and Delft, which have been mature for years and have laid a strong foundation for further growth. This diversity provides an environment for mutual learning experiences.
The Kopgroep Innovatiecampussen works with specific focus on the Growth Agenda South Holland. Together with more than 80 key players in South Holland, the Economic Board Zuid-Holland is a partner of this Growth Agenda, which has a strong focus on stimulating innovation, creating new business and reducing CO2 in South Holland. Our region has many different physical locations that are very important for achieving the goals of the Growth Agenda for South Holland. The five aforementioned innovation campuses TU Delft Campus, Leiden Bio Science Park, Biotech Campus Delft, NL Space Campus and Erasmus MC Campus have a substantial share in this.
Photo: Commissioner Meindert Stolk (far right) presents the grant check to the five innovation campuses
Photo credits: Province of South Holland