Can experiential knowledge and localised learning in start-up policy and practice be transferred between regions? The case of the START network

Although best practice transfer methodologies have become an increasingly common instrument in enterprise policy development, barriers to the exchange and dissemination of knowledge may limit their effectiveness. Using START, an EC-funded network of regional agencies, as a case this paper explores the dynamics of experience exchange in regional enterprise policy. Working closely with the START partnership, the authors developed a detailed account of how the network communicated and disseminated cases and instances of regional start-up policy and practice between themselves. Partners in START were more likely to adapt abstracted principles, concepts and ideas that informed changes to their own practices than to adopt specific initiatives from other regions. This suggests a need to re-focus best practice transfer methodologies away from the transplantation of established practices towards encouraging interactive and collaborative learning based on the sharing of experience.