The comparison of the different innovation and development attempts in the Nordic countries through benchmarking was the purpose of the project on which this contribution focuses. The aim of the project was, first, to study and analyse different ways of organizing and managing regional development and innovation processes and, second, to compare the results in order for the collaborative actors to reflect and learn from each others’ approaches and experiences. © Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011.