Interreg

In Germany as well as in the Netherlands, “Liefe Science & Health” is an innovative sector with enormous growth potential for the future and thus one of the most important pillars of the economy in both countries. The strong ageing of the population, the increase in chronic diseases, the lack of well-trained health personnel, the growing demand for tailor-made care and the emergence of new disease patterns are major societal challenges.

In the German-Dutch border area, there is a high level of competence in innovation for the health & life science sector. There are various initiatives in both countries that stimulate innovation in this field. However, these initiatives are often not cross-border oriented. The INTERREG project MIND aims to stimulate concrete cooperation between German and Dutch small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the development of innovative health products.

The MIND project promotes both cross-border cooperation and the development of innovative products that can provide an answer to the economic and social challenges, especially in the field of care.

To this end, 6 innovation projects involving 18 companies and 6 research institutions and clinics were realised. In addition, 19 potential analyses for the development of new cross-border project ideas were supported. A core team of 4 network organisations under the leadership of Oost NL as lead partner coordinated the activities and launched the new project approaches.