Paul de Bruijn, Voorschoten municipal alderman.
“In recent years we have had good experiences with cooperation in the Leiden region. Through Key Region Leiden, parties benefit from each other’s knowledge, expertise and capacity. Voorschoten is small as an organization and therefore benefits from cooperation. As a small municipality, we hitch a ride on the region’s slipstream and make an active contribution to it because we sit constructively at the table. I myself am also an alternate member of the European Committee for the Regions in Brussels. There, too, I make our regional voice and needs heard in terms of entrepreneurship, innovation and the startup and scale-up climate.
Through Key Region Leiden, parties benefit from each other’s knowledge, expertise and capacity.
One idea that Voorschoten would like to develop is to provide newcomers and all people who would like to do business but cannot get over that threshold with the tools to take that step after all. This can be done, for example, by linking people’s skills to jobs that are out there. That way we create a win-win situation. The businesses and local economy benefit, and the people who live and work here also benefit.
The added value of Key Region Leiden is further the structural setting and positive atmosphere in which we work together. Because we sit around the table as governments, entrepreneurs and education from across the 071 region, we don’t each have to reinvent the wheel. We can move forward so quickly within the collaboration, and that is of great value at this time when innovation and entrepreneurship require rapid adjustments.”