In 2020, the government of the Federal Republic of Germany decided to gradually phase out coal powered electrification as well as coal mining by 2038. The decision ushered in strategies and programs geared at mitigating negative effects and exploiting opportunities of structural change in the affected regions. One of the fallouts feared from the rollback of the mining ecosystem in the states of North Rhine Westphalia, Brandenburg, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt is the loss of employment and training opportunities. Consequently, the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) has developed a program to strengthen vocational education and training (VET) by piloting VET clusters in lignite-mining regions (BMWK, 2023). The program supports the establishment of clusters in which companies within the same or from a similar industry cooperate in the delivery of VET, based on existing training regulations. VET cluster companies are supposed to be located predominantly in the same lignite-mining district. Industries represented in VET clusters are required to be in line with mission statements defined for each lignite-mining region (Federal Republic of Germany, 2020) as well as the recommendations of a regional analysis of training needs in future-oriented professions (Hünnemeyer et al., 2024).
The initiation, expansion and management of VET clusters lies in the hands of cluster agents. Cluster agents also administrate the governmental funding available for the establishment and management of clusters and are to offer a number of services tailored to the needs of the cluster companies. Apart from that, there is significant leeway for VET clusters regarding the actual design and implementation of the project.
Nonetheless, several common objectives have been defined for VET clusters. The three currently funded VET clusters are supposed to:
• increase the number of newly concluded vocational training contracts in professions deemed crucial for successful structural change;
• secure skilled workers and motivate young people to stay in the mining districts by means of attractive training and employment prospects;
• motivate small and medium sized companies and startups to become training companies;
• increase digital skills of training staff and apprentices and strengthen sustainability aspects in training;
• improve the quality of VET in the long term.
According to Porter’s (1998; 2000) well-known conceptualization of clusters, clusters consist of economically and geographically linked partners engaging in repetitive exchanges that generate horizontal market coordination and a higher level of trust and cooperation than market transactions between firms in different locations. Horizontal linkages and high levels of trust facilitate collaboration on skill formation within clusters (Finegold, 1999). Skills are a concern for clusters since they enable innovation, secure competitiveness and clusters tend to profit from mobility of staff between cluster partners (Finegold, 1999).
For VET clusters, geographic and economic proximity play a key role, too. However, the main link between VET cluster partners is joint action on apprenticeship rather than value chains or markets. VET clusters are created ‘from scratch’ with the purpose of strengthening initial VET  and successfully recruiting local youth to apprenticeship positions provided by cluster companies. While in Germany, cooperation between companies in the delivery of VET is not unusual and can be formalized through contracts and skill levies, joint action such as promotion activities to recruit new apprentices are not common practice. Since the cluster partners cannot necessarily build on a long history of collaboration: How can VET clusters establish cooperation among firms that would otherwise operate separately and possibly even compete for apprentices? To generate tentative answers to this question, we engage in comparative analysis of VET clusters, exploring whether their activities are conducive to developing common goals, trust and collaboration between firms and achieving the above stated goals.

Currently, three different VET clusters are being implemented in the Eastern German states of Brandenburg, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt covering two of the three larger German lignite-mining districts, namely the districts in Lusatia (Lausitz) and central Germany (Mitteldeutschland). The three nascent clusters involve the following sectors: - elderly care and home economics (Lusatia, Saxony); - manufacturing and the construction and building industry (Lusatia, Saxony and Brandenburg); - manufacturing and the chemical industry (Central German district, Saxony-Anhalt). In the German VET context, clusters are a new occurrence. Therefore, the implementation of the program and of the three cluster pilot projects are closely monitored. Data considered for this paper has been gathered through both qualitative and quantitative methods applied in the context of the projects’ implementation monitoring. The monitoring approach is based on a program theory of change and a set of indicators that have been translated, among others, into a yearly survey for all cluster agents and cluster companies in order to assess the state of project implementation. The survey covers several topics including communication and cooperation within the VET cluster, the benefits and relevance of program and project activities for VET cluster companies, as well as questions on the status of vocational training in the cluster companies, sector(s) and region(s). Qualitative data is gathered through interviews with cluster agents and several mapping exercises focusing on cluster structure i.e. the number and variety of cluster partners and their roles, and on project outputs. In a first step, data is analyzed by way of treating each VET cluster project as a separate case study with a focus on types of cluster partners, communication and coordination structures within the cluster, the roles and commitment of cluster partners, VET cluster strategies and goals as well as supporting activities of cluster agents. The findings are contextualized by considering the respective regional and sectoral conditions in which the projects are implemented. As a second measure, promising practices are identified on a cross-case basis, which might turn out crucial for securing inter-firm collaboration on VET and successful implementation of VET clusters.

What the analysis reveals at the point of writing is, that during the initiation phase of the projects, all cluster agents drew on existing networks to find suitable cluster partners, and hence, made use of existing trusting relationships. Therefore, cluster agents advocate for a careful expansion of cluster membership in order not to irritate existing partners. At the same time, convincing companies to join the VET cluster is a continuing challenge for all clusters. This seems particularly difficult in the manufacturing sector in which market competition is stronger. In the care sector, the pressure to find suitable apprentices is high due to continuing labor shortage and companies might be more open to test new approaches to training. To showcase the value added of VET cluster membership, cluster agents engage in a variety of public relations activities, including podcasts, social media channels and company visits. To foster communication and cohesion among cluster partners, cluster agents resort to a similar repertoire such as regular meetings, newsletters and joint participation at career fairs. The prospect of addressing common challenges seems to be a key factor motivating companies to join the VET cluster and, hence, for cooperating with other firms. Improving the quality of training, expanding competences on digitalization and adapting recruiting strategies to be more successful in finding apprentices are among the most important reasons for companies to join the cluster initiative. Moreover, the majority of the companies participating in the VET cluster explicitly seeks to cooperate with other companies in the field of VET. The VET cluster projects are still at an early stage of implementation, having started their work in June 2024, and are funded until the end of 2027. Nevertheless, the insights produced could be highly relevant for interested parties seeking inspiration for innovative approaches to organizing, and for incentivizing firms to cooperate rather than compete in VET.

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