Clusterbridge Mission, Baden-Württemberg, May 18-22, 2026
From 18 to 22 May 2026, a Ukrainian delegation consisting of Ukrainian Cluster Alliance (UCA) representatives from the Khmelnytskyi and Vinnytsia regions, including Regional Military Admin istrations, Regional Development Agencies, and clusters, conducted a working visit to Stuttgart, Germany.
The mission took place within the framework of the ClusterBridges project, implemented by the German partner VDE/VDI Innovation + Technik GmbH with the support of the Ministry of Eco nomic Affairs, Labour and Tourism of Baden-Württemberg. The initiative is also integrated into the activities of Priority Area 8 (Competitiveness of Enterprises) of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR).
The visit pursued several important objectives:
- to understand how strong regional innovation ecosystems in the EU function;
- to observe practical mechanisms for supporting clusters and SMEs;
- to explore the role of regional institutions in the development of industrial ecosystems;
- to adapt European experience to the objectives of Ukrainian regional cluster programmes;
- to establish new partnerships and project ideas for the next stage of Clusters4Regions.
The mission was a natural progression and reinforcement of the Clusters4Regions initiative, which aimed to implement regional cluster support programmes in six regions of Ukraine. The primary goal of Clusters4Regions is to promote regional economic development through clustering and SME development, as well as enhancing the role of Regional Development Agencies. In this context, the visit to Germany was important for shifting from a theoretical understanding of cluster policy to direct observation and exchange. This exchange focused on how developed regional innovation ecosystems function, the role cluster organisations and other network structures play within them, and the mechanisms and instruments of support provided by public institutions.
The mission has factually served to validate certain aspects of the regional cluster development and support programmes that have already been developed within Clusters4Regions.
Key Insights into the Innovation Ecosystem and Cluster Support in Baden-Württemberg
Clusters as Advanced Institutions for Innovation Ecosystem Development
Clusters in Baden-Württemberg are viewed as long-term institutions for economic and innovation development.
Their functions extend far beyond traditional networking. We saw numerous examples of clusters playing a role in the development of innovations, supporting the transfer of technology, integrating SMEs into global value chains, launching innovation projects and enabling digital and green transi tions.
The VDC Fellbach (Virtual Dimension Center), for example, is a cluster network uniting around 1,000 companies in the XR sector (VR/AR/MR and 3D simulation). It is a prime example of how a cluster can accelerate the development of specific technological segments by facilitating joint projects, technology transfer and the industrial implementation of innovations. In practice, it is a technological ecosystem in which participants gain access to research programmes, demonstration centres, matchmaking and events that accelerate the implementation of digital solutions in manufacturing and engineering. The VDC’s role as an ecosystem broker is particularly notable, as it con nects technology providers, engineering companies, researchers and users around shared values and new market opportunities. Such clusters help to develop an entire technological ecosystem comprising standards, competencies, joint R&D projects, demonstration platforms and channels for international cooperation. The result is faster growth and scaling of technological segments, giving the region a competitive advantage in industrial digital transformation.
“This is an excellent example of technological and innovative leadership. I especially appreciated the focus on standards, knowledge libraries, and use cases — it is a great and exact example of what our technological segments are lacking. Ukrainian high-tech clusters should follow the exam ple of such clusters.” – comments CEO UCA, Yurchak Alexander
Focus on Regional Economic Transformation
The decline of the German automotive industry is the result of mistakes made by politicians and businesses in the past. In fact, it’s not just Germany — the whole of the Western world has invested in China for years, not just in production but also in technology, as a sales market. Today, many Eu ropean industries are losing both market share and the technological race in China at a rapid rate. Experts from the host side frequently mention this example of strategic mistakes when explaining policymakers’ focus on transformation processes — not only in the automotive industry.
Currently, the government is allocating significant resources to industrial transformation, with de velopment agencies playing a pivotal role. We found the meeting with e-mobil BW particularly il lustrative. e-mobil BW is a specialised public agency that supports the mobility sector. Acting as the central innovation agent in Baden-Württemberg’s mobility sector, it brings together all key stakeholders and does not simply “promote” electromobility, but manages transformation across the entire value chain — from research and technologies to applications, infrastructure, workforce de velopment and support instruments — creating new value chains in the process. At the same time, it is reshaping the industry framework itself. The automotive industry has evolved into numerous new sectors, including smart mobility, electric vehicles (EVs), hydrogen, new logistics, autonomous systems, artificial intelligence (AI), charging infrastructure, urban mobility and data platforms. etc.
Another example of a systematic regional development approach was the meeting with Stuttgart’s municipal development agency. This agency employs only five people and has a budget similar to those of Ukrainian agencies. Nevertheless, it acts as a true orchestrator of innovation development, skilfully combining event networking, crowdfunding, attraction of private capital, and social entre preneurship tools. Similar to e-mobil BW, it demonstrates a new perspective on sector potential and boundaries, alongside a systemic development approach. For instance, within the creative industries, the agency has identified 11 sub-segments and is supporting their development.
Takeaway: The state can develop new economic sectors systematically and with focus, not only through specialised institutions (e.g. E-Mobil), but also through local development agencies.
“The visit to Stuttgart has encouraged us to reconsider our approach to planning and developing sectors of the regional economy. We have practically no remaining questions about the need to integrate cluster approaches, and we are already doing so. However, this mission also provided us with a wealth of useful information and knowledge regarding economic development instruments, innovation, and international cooperation.” – says Roman Uzhva, Deputy Head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Military Administration
Cooperation above all (?)
For the Ukrainian delegation, the visit to the regional innovation prototyping centre ARENA2036 was one of the most memorable experiences. This centre is also one of Germany’s leading national instruments for accelerating innovation in mobility and manufacturing. It is, on the one hand, a tradi tional prototyping centre involving large companies, start-ups and universities in innovation projects focused on applied solutions. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that development teams from different companies work side-by-side in one open space.
When asked what the key advantage is, and why large companies pay to participate when they already have their own R&D centres, the head of the centre replied that companies pay precisely for the new collaboration opportunities — on such a scale and in such forms they only exist there. ARENA2036 also hosts Startup Autobahn, one of the world’s largest startup incubators, what is at tracting venture funding.
In summary, the most valuable aspect of ARENA2036 is the collaboration between different compa nies and institutions on one open platform — a concept that does not really exist elsewhere on this scale, even in other German regions.
“The parallels for Ukraine and the cluster environment are obvious. Unfortunately, closedness and harsh competition among SMEs dominate Ukrainian culture, making it difficult for our clusters to es tablish a culture of cooperation during the early stages of growth. ARENA2036 provides an inspiring example and new ideas about the possibilities of collaboration.” – comments Nadiia Karpliuk, UCA cluster development expert, commented
At the same time, things in Germany are not entirely simple either — many business networks compete with each other, duplicating roles and functions, which according to our partners reflects imperfect public policies.
Development Agencies as Coordination Platforms
A visit to the Heilbronn Development Agency, located in a city of 120,000 people 40 km from Stutt gart, also left a strong impression and prompted much reflection. The agency creates and develops its own local innovation ecosystem comprising three clusters. The agency management presented their transformative project to the Ukrainian delegation. The project focuses on industrial transfor mation in the automotive and related industries, and the agency’s role as a local catalyst and change leader is clearly visible.
It is based on systematic, often individualised, work involving numerous workshops on topics such as production efficiency, AI, automation, ESG, carbon footprint, mobility, HR, employer branding, up skilling, data, VR/AR and business strategy. Importantly, the concept of transformation is not merely reduced to changing industrial or technological focus; broader aspects such as business model changes, workforce competencies, and attempts at foresight are also considered. In summary, the strongest feature of TRANSFORMOTIVE — and the agency itself — is its ecosystem perspective.
‘What we are doing within the #Clusters4Regions project with regional administrations and clusters is a very strong case. Rather than relying on a few support tools due to a lack of resources, we are immediately laying the foundations for integrated transformation platforms where local agen cies, clusters, universities, chambers and other business associations operate as one “machine of change”. After all, our context is very similar — all Ukrainian industries require deep transforma tion.’
– says Khrystyna Solovei, Deputy Director of the Vinnytsia Regional Development Agency
German Regions Are Closer Than They Seem
The visit to the headquarters of Steinbeis Europa Zentrum revealed the largest number of points of contact with the Ukrainian delegation — somewhat surprisingly. Similar to other networks, including cluster networks, Steinbeis is also about connecting innovation ecosystem actors. However, there is a clear and very strong focus on technology transfer, applied projects, and international cooperation.
The 100-person Steinbeis team provides around 500 client consultations per year and implements 90 European projects annually. At the same time, it is not “just another consulting organization” but rather a large-scale network capable of transforming knowledge into funding, partnerships, and practical projects.
It turned out that we had a lot in common with the Zentrum. Firstly, the Steinbeis Europa Zentrum is already implementing a project on partnerships between Ukrainian and German companies in the dual-use and defence sectors. Secondly, Steinbeis representatives are active in Ukraine and there are already potential projects. Thirdly, they also serve as a local contact point in Stuttgart for the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), making them a key partner for UCA, which is part of the EEN Ukraine network. Furthermore, a shared focus on resilience was identified, where work is already ongoing within the EEN platform. This makes projects under the Interreg Danube programme another potential area for cooperation.
Meetings with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism of Baden-Württemberg and the municipal development agency provided valuable information on additional opportunities and points of contact, particularly with regard to exchanges with other Ukrainian regions and cities, as well as future cooperation opportunities. The Ukrainian delegation’s inclusion of heads and deputy heads of Regional Military Administrations and Regional Development Agencies sent an important signal to German partners regarding Ukraine’s commitment to maintaining partnerships.
Conclusions and Action Directions for Ukrainian Stakeholders
The Ukrainian delegation gained a wealth of new knowledge, impressions and contacts during their five days in Stuttgart. The following should be highlighted when summarising the conclusions and action directions for Clusters4Regions participants and other cluster movement stakeholders:
- The study tour significantly strengthened relationships between Ukrainian and German part ners, as well as within the Ukrainian delegation itself. This trust is a key success factor for the further implementation of regional cluster development and support programmes.
- The ClusterBridges study tour complemented and reinforced our Clusters4Regions project perfectly — in terms of timing, location, and environment. It was not only about confirming the direction of regional programmes or our strategies, but also about gaining new knowledge, ideas and contacts to improve existing programmes at regional and UCA community levels.
- The strongest insights are likely to influence the further development of regional stakeholders and their programmes.
- Focusing on target sectors is necessary, but the boundaries of these sectors must be re considered and transformed. Ukraine should not wait until the war ends, but should begin revising these approaches now — especially since Ukraine’s own defence industry has already demonstrated examples of this approach.
- The high level of development and achievements of Baden-Württemberg’s regional in novation ecosystem is the result of a successful combination of policies, strategies and strong institutions (agencies, business networks and clusters), which are usually or chestrated by public authorities. A question requiring discussion in every region is how Ukrainian regions and cities can establish similar sustainable approaches under current conditions of weak institutions and limited resources.
- Germany has a large number of network structures with similar functions. Although these structures cooperate and differentiate roles, our VDE/VDI Innovation partners do not nec essarily recommend imitating this model. Ukraine has significantly fewer resources and faces much more difficult circumstances; therefore, proper strategies and clear role distribution among institutions are critically important. In particular, clusters should be given the role of driving and catalysing digital and green transitions in regional econo mies — but only those clusters that can demonstrate real capacity in these areas should be selected.
A discussion of the visit results among the wider Clusters4Regions community, including details of the following steps, is planned online on 2 June.
Participants of the Ukrainian delegation sincerely thank the German partners from VDE/VDI Innova tion + Technik GmbH and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism of Baden-Württem berg for this mission.
The report was prepared by the Executive Directorate of the UCA (Ukrainian Cluster Alliance).
The Clusterbridges project is funded by the State Ministry Baden-Württemberg and is part of PA 8 of the EUSDR (Priority Area 8 of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region).
The report was prepared by the UCA Executive Directorate.
The present version is a machine-generated translation with internal software by VDI/VDE-IT.