The power of collaborative entrepreneurship

Across European cities local entrepreneurs are joining forces in new ways. AUAS is coordinating an Interreg Europe project examining the impact and importance of this collaborative entrepreneurship.

The ABCitiEs project deals with Area-Based Collaborative Entrepreneurship, or in other words, neighbourhood-based partnerships between business owners, surrounding residents and other stakeholders. The value of such collectives is increasingly recognised by local governments and policy measures to stimulate these initiatives are being developed.

This research aims to facilitate governmental efforts to help local entrepreneurial collectives flourish, by investigating what is needed by these urban commons to have a positive and sustainable impact in the long term.

By systematically capturing local learnings and identifying critical success factors, an action plan will be created. This will be used to design and refine European policy related to collective entrepreneurship.

• The AUAS Centre of Expertise Urban Governance and Social Innovation is lead partner, collaborating closely with the City of Amsterdam and 4 other European cities: Zagreb, Vilnius, Manchester and Athens.

Each European region is exploring multiple case studies. AUAS is focusing on 4 cases in Amsterdam: The Knowledge Mile, Geef om Jan Eef, Plein 40-45 and Noorderpark Onderneemt.