European Association of Development Agencies (EURADA)

EURADA has 26 years of trajectory; the European Association of Development Agencies gathers people working on economic development with 75 members from 23 countries from Europe and beyond which can be considered as the European network of practitioners in economic development. It works like a bridge between regional development agencies, business partners (SMEs) and European authorities. EURADA was created in 1991 as the exit strategy of a DG REGIO pilot project aiming at demonstrating the value of interregional cooperation. Today, this would be called an Interreg IV C project. Since then, EURADA has been very active in identifying, testing and promoting new practices in the field of regional development (benchmarking, business angels, proof of concept, investment readiness, meet-the-buyers exhibitions, value chain models, gazelles, inter clusters). EURADA has also supported numerous activities (conferences, seminars, transnational projects) aiming at strengthening regional competitiveness based on entrepreneurship, RDTI and internationalisation thanks to the experience of its 75 members and from its contacts with its sister organisations located all over the world: IEDC in USA, SEKES in Finland, FADELRA in Argentina, CNER in France, CIOeste in Brazil, Foro ADR in Spain, etc. EURADA has supported the creation and sponsored the development of EBAN, the European Business Angel Network, for many years. EURADA has also aided the launch of the InterClusters Network and has made an agreement with DG Enterprise and Industry to sustain the IRE Network without any further EU funding. EURADA has a strong track record to mobilise experts, to spot and disseminate practices and to arrange for exchanges of experiences and networking opportunities between members and non-members of the association. EURADA has also developed good relations with different Directorates General of the European Commission and issued each year several position papers regarding EU policies. Within its large network it can get involved and engage relevant stakeholders who are committed to adopting/implementing results. EURADA can identify and share best practices with its network and partners and beyond that through all its contacts. EURADA has proved experience on establishing connections between stakeholders, mainly local governments and SMEs. It has experience on organising seminars, workshops, brokerages events, conferences.