From Soil to Ecosystem: Industry Collaboration in Innovation Clusters for Transforming Agrifood Systems

This thesis examines how innovation clusters can drive sustainable transformation in companies across the agrifood sector through collaboration with industry, including public-private partnerships. Using benchmarking, it compares Foodvalley (Netherlands) and Swiss Food Research (Switzerland) to derive insights for the piloting cluster FoodHealth located in Northwestern Switzerland. Based on literature review, interviews and document analysis, the benchmarking study identifies four converging dimensions: strategic purpose of the cluster, governance structure, industry incentives and collaboration models. All these shape how clusters engage with industry. The findings inform recommendations for designing effective cluster structures to support industry collaboration and highlight areas for future research.