The eight leading innovation campuses in The Netherlands are outperforming the rest in attracting foreign companies and tech talent. All over the world companies, startups and universities are joining hands and brains in regional R&D clusters that inspire fast, efficient and groundbreaking innovation. This so-called ‘campus model’ has quickly become a global recipe for innovation.

Yet it’s nothing new for The Netherlands. Here science and innovation parks have been around for years, even decades. A study from 2014 by Buck Consultants International (BCI) has identified 39 research campuses in The Netherlands alone. Eight of these are considered ‘mature’, meaning they have significant magnetic power to attract talent, investors and foreign companies, as well as a productive output of innovative products and technologies.

Employment rates
The eight Dutch top innovation campuses - located in Amsterdam, Delft, Eindhoven, Enschede, Leiden, Sittard/Geleen, Utrecht and Wageningen - are collaborating in a joined proposition  to both foreign companies and the national government. Although they differ in size and scope, the campuses share the vision of open innovation and have proven themselves significant vectors for economic growth in The Netherlands.

Rene Buck, CEO of BCI, is optimistic about the development of the Dutch campuses. His company calculated that between 2012 and 2014 the number of companies joining a mature innovation campus in The Netherlands increased by 14% and the number of spin-offs increased by 28%. In the same period employment rates in The Netherlands decreased by 1%, whereas the campuses could boast a job growth of nearly 25%.

“These eight campuses are the benchmark of what The Netherlands has to offer in terms of research, development and innovation,” says Buck. Many of the eight mature campuses are world-leading in their areas of research.

Profit from the ecosystem
Foreign companies also see the potential in the Dutch innovation campuses. Bert Kip, CEO of Brightland Chemelot Campus, one of the eight innovation hubs mentioned above, often welcomes new companies to his chemistry and materials campus. “Educating and attracting talent is one of the key elements of our campus ecosystem. Foreign companies see that our country is an innovative and knowledge-intensive hub.”

As chairman of the collaborative body of eight campuses, Kip recognizes the advantages of working together. If a company wants to locate to his campus but he thinks they fit better into the ecosystem of another one, he’ll advise them to move there. “I’m not interested in a company that only wants to rent office space. They really have to fit in and profit from the ecosystem.”

Dutch DNA
Kip also has a message for his government. “These eight innovation campuses can be real growth poles of regional and national policy. The government should build on what is already strong instead of mainly investing in new initiatives. That requires a bottom-up approach of economic growth, based on strong, local ecosystems.”

What gives the campus model its value, says Kip, is its capacity to build bridges between fundamental research and its applications in innovative products and technologies. He adds that collaborations between the public and private sectors - universities and companies - are more advanced in The Netherlands than elsewhere. “The informal way of collaborating and of transcending boundaries between organizations is part of the Dutch culture. It’s ingrained in our DNA.”

Not a real estate project
Although it’s hard to find proof of the success of innovation campuses in scientific literature, often the proof of the pudding is in the eating. René Buck: “Rental costs on campuses are relatively high, but companies and even startups are willing to afford them because they find on a campus an innovation ecosystem that they can’t find in a regular business park. That also says something.”

Buck admits there is some hype concerning the recent boom of campuses worldwide. He stresses that building office space next to a university and calling it a campus will not work. “A campus is not a real estate project, but a technological collaboration project. It’s all about the interaction that takes place between different researchers. That open access provides the magnetic power you’re looking for.”

Bert Kip couldn’t agree more. “Stacking stones is the easy part. There are examples from Russia where incredible amounts of money were pumped into beautiful looking campuses, but that doesn’t make it an ecosystem. It’s not about pumping in money, it’s about building an ecosystem by building bridges between people of different organizations. And that’s what we do well in The Netherlands.”