Brussels, 23 Feb 2006

The EU funded Veritas project has produced a book guidelines on 'how to initiate cooperative networks', which are available free of charge.

The guidelines are aimed in particular at small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), which often have little experience of cooperating on a project, and have limited financial and time resources. Industrial associations, development agencies and individual companies are also expected to find the book useful.

The guidelines address three main aspects of collaboration:

• the success factors for setting up a cooperative network;
• shortening the process and saving resources;
• existing network initiatives and network experts.

The guide focuses on the earliest stages of networks, and offers a checklist of recommendations for each step of the launch process. An annex contains references to literature, examples of good practice, and details of experts.

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The guidelines are the result of 18 months of practical experience in initiating cooperative networks in three European countries through the Veritas project.

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