During the implementation of SNOwMan project, a Guideline for Networking and Transnational Cooperation was developed and presented on the project’s platform.

Both business intermediary organizations and owner-managers in SME sectors tend to operate quite individually and without the transnational or national exchange of knowledge or other kinds of mutually beneficial networking practice with peer organizations and peer SMEs. The reasons and barriers can be many – lack of resources and time, local competition, sectorial traditions, lack of role models and good practice examples etc.

The intermediary partners in the partnership had a double motivation for entering the project. Their main incentive was the need for adjusted tools for improving their professional interaction with the owner-managers and hereby to support them in their efforts toward non-technological innovation. They also had a long-term incentive – to use the project as a springboard of entering committed transnational cooperative environments, mostly in form of transnational exchange of good practice, common problem-solving, exchange of staff etc.

Lithuanian, Polish, Finnish and Danish intermediaries and owner-managers were performed as productive teams with their BSR peers and experienced how valuable transnational cooperation can be for their performances. The HEIs shared their solid experiences in transnational cooperation and networking, with each other and with other HEIs and business partners in and outside the BSR.

A Guideline for Networking and Transnational Cooperation will help to strengthen capabilities of intermediaries and owner-managers of establishing, maintaining and most important benefitting from transnational communication, cooperation and networking. Transnational cooperation can be operated both as physical or distanced meetings and communication. Intermediaries and owner-managers can benefit directly and mutually in facing specific challenges, strategic development, internationalization, market surveys, product development, business partner search etc. The project's guideline for networking will serve as a platform for entering transnational cooperation.