Presenting the MOSAIC paper
From Skills to Applied Research Ecosystems: Strengthening Competences for Productivity and Economic Growth
International Models for VET-UAS-Embedded SME Innovation in Creative and Industrial Sectors
The inspiration
In autumn 2024, a study visit to Canada by the Erasmus+ MOSAIC project consortium served as a catalyst for systemic reflection on vocational excellence. By observing the Canadian College Centres for Technology Transfer (CTTC), partners – including the Cégep de Victoriaville and its research center INOVEM – demonstrated a mature model where applied research is a core, legally mandated function of vocational education. This model offers SMEs rapid, low-threshold support for prototyping and technical problem-solving, standing in sharp contrast to the often fragmented and administratively burdensome support structures found across Europe.
Beyond supporting industry, this model has a profound positive impact on Vocational Education and Training (VET). It creates a “virtuous cycle” of instructional renewal where curricula evolve rapidly as teachers participate in real-world innovation. Students gain more than just technical qualifications; they acquire transversal skills like project-based collaboration and design thinking, significantly increasing their employability and “work-readiness”.
The momentum generated by the initial MOSAIC mission motivated an additional self-funded visit in May 2025. Driven by consortium partner Wooden Oy, this mission brought a multinational delegation from Finland, France and Italy, to Quebec. The primary objective was to evaluate the applicability of the CTTC model within a European context. Hosted by INOVEM, the École nationale du meuble et de l’ébénisterie (ENME), and Cégep de Victoriaville, the delegation was composed of a diverse group of stakeholders, including European and Finnish policymakers, business representatives, and providers of both VET and Higher Education (HE) from Finland. The mission also included representatives of the Canadian Ministry of Education and the commercial representative of the Canadian Embassy.
Following these missions, Finnish entrepreneur Ola Kukkasniemi (Wooden Oy) and Dr. Elina Pylkkänen (Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment) initiated a national dialogue to address slow productivity growth through more responsive, practice-oriented innovation mechanisms.
These challenges are not unique to Finland; they reflect a widespread European struggle to connect VET and Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS) with the immediate innovation needs of small businesses. Recognising this shared urgency, the European Training Foundation (ETF) contributed its insights to this paper, motivated by the need to move from project-dependent collaboration to durable, institutionalised research ecosystems across the continent.
Today, these insights have transitioned from observation to operationalisation, with Finland preparing two pilot centers inspired by the Canadian model to strengthen regional innovation and economic growth. They have also inspired the policy recommendations that can be found in the paper to promote adaptation and scalability of the CTTC model.
Paper Abstract
In a context of accelerated technological change, green and digital transitions, and global competition, SMEs’ capacity to innovate increasingly depends on the quality of skills ecosystems and on stable institutional interfaces between education and applied research.
The European Union has articulated ambitious agendas on skills, innovation, and SME support, yet implementation remains fragmented, particularly where vocational education and training (VET) and Universities of Applied Sciences are expected to connect learning outcomes with firm-level innovation.
This paper examines how different jurisdictions organise applied research within post-secondary institutions to strengthen SME innovation capacity, with a specific focus on creative and design-intensive domains where innovation is often incremental, production-proximate, and reliant on hybrid competences.
Drawing on a comparative discussion of European and international models, the paper analyses French cluster approaches (scale and thematic coherence, but only partial integration between education and innovation), the Basque VET system (where technology transfer infrastructures are embedded in institutional missions), and the Canadian College Centres for Technology Transfer (CCTTs) as a fully institutionalised applied research and technology transfer architecture for SMEs, sustained by governance and durable funding.
The Finnish case illustrates how international benchmarking can operate as a reform lever and as a pathway for piloting new institutional arrangements.
The central claim is institutional: Europe’s bottleneck is less the lack of strategic vision and more the absence of systemic arrangements that make applied research a permanent function of VET and applied higher education, beyond episodic, project-based interventions, thereby enabling sustained SME innovation capacity and productivity growth.
Chapter highlights
- Global Competition: Europe faces a dual challenge of closing skill gaps and scaling SME innovation to compete with the U.S. and China.
- Structural Bottleneck: While European VET and UAS systems are robust, they are often disconnected from practical innovation pathways for SMEs, particularly in creative and design-intensive sectors.
- Creative Economy Drivers: In sectors like furniture and fashion, knowledge and “transversal competences” (design thinking, circular economy) are the primary drivers of value.
- The Need for Institutionalisation: Addressing the competitiveness gap requires moving beyond generic skill-building to configuring VET and UAS providers as stable, mission-oriented research actors.
- France (Competitiveness Clusters): This model achieves scale through thematic clusters but maintains a “bifurcated” mandate where skills and innovation remain separate.
- The Basque Country (Mission-Oriented Integration): A highly advanced model where applied research is a core institutional function of VET centers, coordinated by the TKNIKA center.
- Structural Dimensions: The paper compares these models across four areas: institutional mandate, governance architecture, funding stability, and proximity to SMEs.
- The European Gap: Unlike international models, European systems often treat applied research as a peripheral, project-dependent activity rather than a permanent function.
- A Mature System: Quebec’s Centres collégiaux de transfert de technologie (CTTC) are legally mandated to conduct applied research and technology transfer for industries.
- Sustainable Funding: The model uses a high-leverage financial structure where a modest base grant (approx. 13% of revenue) enables centers to earn the remaining 87% through industry projects.
- SME Impact: CTTCs serve roughly 6,000 organisations annually, significantly lowering the barriers for small firms to access R&D, specialized equipment, and prototyping.
- Educational Integration: Roughly 18,000 students benefit annually from these centers, gaining hands-on innovation experience that improves their work-readiness.
- Benchmarking as Catalyst: A 2025 study visit to Canada inspired Finnish leaders to address a “structural gap” in their own innovation landscape.
- Identified Weaknesses: Finland’s current system suffers from fragmented regional collaboration, underutilised equipment, and teachers who lack time for systematic development work.
- Operational Pilots: By the end of 2025, Finland prepared to launch two pilot centers based on the CTTC model, focusing on agile governance and regional industrial strengths.
- Renewal Goals: These centers aim to update teacher expertise, ensure student competency, and support the growth of small businesses.
- EU Level: Recommendations include broadening the definition of “innovation” to include technical assistance and prototyping, and shifting toward demand-driven RDI instruments.
- National Level: Governments should replace temporary project funding with stable, recurrent budgets for applied research capacity in educational institutions.
- Operational Level: Institutions must hire dedicated research and technology transfer staff rather than relying solely on regular teaching faculty.
- Specialization: Centers should focus on specific local industrial strengths—such as digitalization or sustainability—rather than attempting to cover all fields.
- Shift to Permanence: Europe must move from “promising pilots” to a permanent architecture where applied research is a normalized function of VET and UAS.
- Strategic Connective Tissue: The document concludes that while Europe has talent and policy intent, it lacks the durable funding and mandates to turn schools into consistent engines of innovation.
Events and News
March 24th, 2026
Helsinki, Finland
Hosted by the Chamber of Commerce
Press Conference Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment – presenting the MOSAIC research on the Canadian CTTC model
On March 24th 2026, the Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment recently hosted a high-profile press conference and networking event, bringing together 48 key stakeholders both onsite and online – primarily from the VET (Vocational Education and Training) and HEI (Higher education Institutions) – focused on the future of the Finnish economy and the MOSAIC paper “From Skills to Applied Research Ecosystems: Strengthening Competences for Productivity and Economic Growth”.
April 22nd - 23rd, 2026
Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country
LCAMP Conference 2026
LCAMP Conference 2026
A flagship event for VET teachers, VET centre managers, and advanced manufacturing professionals.
- Key note opening speeches on the topic of the paper by ETF (Georgios Zisimos), and Finnish Ministry (Elina Pylkkänen)
- Workshop moderated by Materahub with contributions from ETF, Finnish Ministry and WOODEN
April 30th, 2026
Trento, Italy
Trento Policy Event
MOSAIC National Dissemination Event
To advocate the model and policy recommendations at national level. Italian Ministry will be present.
March 24th, 2026
Finnish Ministry blog
Unemployment is a symptom of a mismatch problem
The labour market mismatch slows growth, weakens the economy’s production potential, exacerbates unemployment, and increases public spending. However, the problem can be fixed on our own – Elina Pylkkänen
March 16th, 2026
kauppalehti.fi
A Surprising Solution to a Carpenter’s €100,000 Problem – Finland Could Follow Suit
Article by journalist Janne Tervola for ‘Kauppalehti’ – Finland’s leading independent business newspaper with Elina Pylkkänen (Under-Secretary of State for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment Finland) and Ola Kukkasniemi (Wooden Oy CEO and MOSAIC partner).
For many small businesses, product development is an expensive and labour-intensive process. Canada has 40 years of experience in product development partnerships between businesses and educational institutions – Janne Tervola
March 31st, 2026
EfVET Magazine Issue March 2026
‘VET in a disruptive era’
EfVET Magazine - CTTC article
Read the latest CTTC feature in the recent Magazine of the European Forum of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (EfVET), a MOSAIC partner and a leading voice in European policymaking representing over 450 members across 60 countries. In their latest issue, “VET in a Disruptive Era: Transformation and Adaptation to Challenging Times,” we explore why there is no better stage to introduce the CTTC model.
April 7th, 2026
ETF Official Website
European Training Foundation article on the Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment press conference
Key Message
Read the ETF article on the key messages and how they view the MOSAIC project findings as a vital blueprint for addressing Europe’s shared challenges of weak productivity and SME innovation gaps.
By moving beyond simple skills provision, the ETF advocates for a structural shift where vocational and higher education act as “anchors” for applied research ecosystems.
Global Synergies in Vocational Excellence
How the SEPR-Québec Alliance brought the CTTC model to Europe
Building on a decade of committed cooperation with Quebec, the partnership between MOSAIC coordinators SEPR and Cégep de Victoriaville has evolved from traditional mobility exchanges into a strategic alliance that served as the catalyst for Cégep joining the MOSAIC consortium.
This relationship, rooted in shared expertise in the arts and crafts sectors, was solidified by Cégep’s integration of INOVEM, its applied research center and the College Centres for the Transfer of Technologies (CTTC) model.
By including Cégep as a non-EU partner, the MOSAIC project has demonstrated the essential value of international synergy, proving that integrating diverse, global perspectives enriches the EU’s research and development framework, fostering more robust, virtuous ecosystems for vocational excellence.
