---
id: ch8-klatovy
type: spine
title: "From campus to Klatovy: the proposed Czech-Bavarian innovation hub"
readingTime: 2
standalone: true
core: true
teaser: "Bavaria runs a decentralised network of Technology Campuses; the Czech side has nothing comparable. The pilot's answer is a hub model for Klatovy, still at the proposal stage."
voice: explorer
parent: null
diagram: fig-klatovy-hub
recallQ: "What is the Klatovy innovation hub, what model is it adapted from, and what is its status?"
recallA: "It is a proposed cross-border rural innovation hub in Klatovy, inspired by the decentralised Technology Campus model of Deggendorf Institute of Technology. It would support farmers, SMEs and rural innovators through training, demonstration, advisory services and networking. Its status is proposed: it is anchored in the Czech-Bavarian RAP, with a Memorandum of Understanding and a cross-border Steering Committee planned to continue it after 2026."
highlights:
  - "Bavaria has a decentralised network of Technology Campuses; Klatovy and Šumava lack comparable structures"
  - "The hub would focus on applied digital tools, sustainable agriculture and market access for farmers"
  - "The pilot plans a support model (networks, advisory, digital tools) rather than a single building"
  - "Status: proposed. RAP, hub model, planned MoU and Steering Committee are meant to carry it past 2026"
status: accepted
concept: klatovy-innovation-hub
conceptTitle: "The proposed Klatovy innovation hub"
parents: rural-innovation-hubs|czech-bavarian-pilot
lang: en
lens: czech-bavaria
depth: standard
formalism: none
visuality: balanced
lengthBand: standard
genre: story
state: core
carriers: prose|diagram
---

The Czech-Bavarian policy brief describes the starting point: **"While Bavaria has a decentralised network of Technology Campuses, the Czech side, especially in Klatovy and the Šumava region, lacks comparable support structures."** Without innovation hubs and services tailored to rural sectors, farmers find it harder to innovate and adapt. (The pilot itself is described in [the Czech-Bavarian pilot](#c/czech-bavarian-pilot).)

## The model being transferred

A **Technology Campus** of Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT, a project partner) is a specialised campus outside the main university. Through **application-oriented research with the local economy** it develops practical solutions in rural districts. One example from the Atlas: at Freyung, the start-up hub **GREG** was placed right next to the Technology Campus to encourage research-based start-ups (Atlas of best practices, prp-056).

## What the hub would do

The brief's first recommendation is to **establish a cross-border innovation hub in Klatovy**, "inspired by the Bavarian Technology Campus model". It would support local farmers, SMEs and rural innovators through **training, demonstration and networking**, with a focus on **applied digital tools, sustainable agriculture and market access**.

The pilot's 2026 website text makes the design more modest and concrete. It describes **"rather than a single physical hub"** a rural innovation support model that combines local stakeholder networks, digital tools, advisory capacity and cross-border collaboration. In March 2026 a consultation in Klatovy with a small farmers' association co-designed a Czech-Bavarian **Agricultural Innovation Hub**. Farmers named specific needs: **AI help with subsidies, shared technologies and data-driven advice**, with [JackDaw](#c/jackdaw) as the AI component (prp-051).

## Status: proposed, with a path to continuity

The pilot summarises its logic as **Connect → Experiment → Institutionalise → Continue**:

- **Connect**: Czech and Bavarian stakeholders joined a common ecosystem.
- **Experiment**: open-call projects (FarmTourist, DIPS, LocalLinks.AI) turned regional needs into activities and tools.
- **Institutionalise**: the Regional Action Plan, the hub model, a Steering Committee and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
- **Continue**: the hub and a post-2026 roadmap for joint projects, funding and knowledge exchange.

The website calls it **"the proposed Innovation Hub in Klatovy"**, and the MoU and cross-border Steering Committee are **planned**. The D7.4 roadmap sets the long-term goal for 2040: "a cross-border innovation hub enhancing connectivity, social capital, and territorial identity". A pilot video, "From border to bridge", presents the hub vision to the region (prp-052). D2.2 suggested cheap first steps: a "reverse" incubator that brings urban start-ups to pitch for rural needs, a small border-area grant fund, and rural–urban job-shadowing swaps.

**Sources:**
- D7.3 Policy Brief No. 1, Annex 6 "Unlocking Cross-Border Rural Innovation in Central Europe". [PDF](https://www.poliruralplus.eu/docs/349/D7.3_Policy_Brief_No.1.pdf)
- PoliRuralPlus website, pilot page Czech-Bavarian border region ("Anticipated result", "Results"; German-language "Anticipated result"). [poliruralplus.eu](https://www.poliruralplus.eu/)
- D7.4 Exploitation plans and business models, edition 1, §4.2 Roadmaps (Bavaria-Czechia). [PDF](https://www.poliruralplus.eu/docs/342/D7.4_Exploitation_plans__business_models_edition_1_v1.pdf)
- D2.2 Rural-urban linkages and opportunities post COVID-19, Annex K §3.1 (Pilot 6). [PDF](https://www.poliruralplus.eu/docs/140/Attachment_0_57.pdf)
- Atlas of best practices, prp-051, prp-052, prp-056. [atlasbestpractices.com](https://atlasbestpractices.com)