ABSTRACT
In early 2005, when EG had been operating for two and a half years, a questionnaire was completed by all participating actors (firms, town councils, training centres and the local development agency) to evaluate the network. When asked about their motivation to enter the network, 31 per cent answered that they had entered to avoid being left out, 38 per cent answered that they wanted to develop shared projects, and 31 per cent answered that they were conscious that they needed to co-operate to improve competitiveness. Asked about their motivations to remain in the network, the answers varied. Nobody answered that they remained in the network in order to avoid being left out. The majority (84 per cent) responded that they remained in order to develop shared projects, and only 16 per cent said they co-operated in order to improve competitiveness. It took two more years for the representative of one of the firms to show an even deeper change. She put it in a nutshell by saying: ‘When we started I came here to see what I could get out of this for my firm. Nowadays I come because I want my children to have a future in this county.’
