Project description

MANUNET is a joint effort between 22 contractor partners, representing 13 regions (Basque Country, Catalonia, East Netherlands, Emilia Romagna, Flanders, Lower Austria, Navarra, North Rhein Westfalia, Northern Ireland, Piedmont, Tuscany, Wallonia and Western Greece) and 5 countries (Estonia, Germany, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia), plus 10 extra associated partners (France, Switzerland, Asturias, Lower Silesia, Aragon, East Midlands, Provence, Styria, Tampere and Valencia), based on a shared view for Europe:

1. Manufacturing is and must continue to be one of the fundamentals of the Economy of Knowledge. It is estimated that in total 75% of the EU GDP and 70% of employment in Europe is related to manufacturing.
2. Fortunately, Europe is in a privileged position in some of the key manufacturing sectors, those with high technology demands, and therefore, the sustainability of European manufacturing is the success in R&D for manufacturing.
3. Manufacturing activities tend to concentrate in regional poles, speeding up the value added chains, products, services and knowledge trading. Therefore Regions are naturally suited to respond to these sector needs.
4. A number of these Regions devote R&D programmes to respond to short-to-medium term industrial needs, complementing the longer term focus of national and European programmes.
5. These R&D activities are the most fragmented layer of European research, with little coordination from Agencies, and therefore, there is a large opportunity to contribute to ERA.
6. Manufacturing research must also be understood from the perspective of European Zones that are highly increasing their capacities due to delocalisation from the West.