Through the Eyes of the VR Health Champions Consortium
Four partners. Four perspectives. One shared view of what makes collaboration within VR Health Champions successful. Through the voices of the consortium, we explore what working with InnoStars looks like beyond project deliverables.
Every project leaves behind reports, milestones and measurable results. More importantly, it also leaves behind relationships, experiences and impressions that are much harder to quantify. As InnoStars continues to strengthen its role in European innovation projects, we wanted to step away from institutional messaging and ask a different question: what is it actually like to work with InnoStars?
To understand how InnoStars is perceived by those who work with us most closely, we spoke with Sarah Haddadin, Project Manager at InnoStars, and representatives of the VR Health Champions (VRHC) consortium: Cristiana Costa, Project Coordinator at Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN); Giulia Mezzanotte from Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK); Michael Barngrover from XR4Europe; and Patricia Couceiro from Unidade Local de Saúde de Coimbra (ULS Coimbra). Instead of asking them to explain the project, we invited them to share their personal reflections on collaboration, partnership and the role InnoStars plays within an international consortium.
Although every organisation approaches the project from a different perspective, their answers revealed something striking. The same themes appeared again and again. Trust. Credibility. Reliability. Collaboration. The ability to connect people, organisations and opportunities.
Together, these conversations offer something more valuable than a project summary. They reveal how InnoStars is experienced by the people who work with us every day.
Looking beyond deliverables
Healthcare innovation is often associated with breakthrough technologies, cutting-edge research and ambitious ideas. Yet anyone working in innovation knows that technology alone is rarely enough.
Between an idea and real-world adoption lies a long and complex journey involving regulation, clinical validation, market readiness, investment, partnerships and implementation. It is a journey that requires many different organisations to contribute their expertise, often across countries, sectors and disciplines. This is exactly where InnoStars positions itself within projects such as VR Health Champions.
Rather than focusing on one isolated element of innovation, the team works where communication, collaboration, business development and ecosystem building intersect. As leader of the Dissemination, Communication, Exploitation and Value Chain Integration activities, InnoStars helps innovative SMEs strengthen the connections that allow promising technologies to move closer to real healthcare practice. For Sarah Haddadin, Project Manager at InnoStars, this philosophy defines the organisation’s role.
“Great ideas do not automatically become successful solutions. Many innovators have the technology, passion and expertise, but they often need the right ecosystem, partnerships and support to bring their ideas to market.”
It is a simple observation, but one that resonates strongly throughout the consortium.
Innovation is rarely limited by technology.
More often, it is limited by access to the right people.
Building ecosystems, not just projects
One of the strongest patterns emerging from our conversations is that partners rarely describe InnoStars through its formal responsibilities.
Instead, they describe its ability to connect.
Connect innovators with healthcare stakeholders.
Connect SMEs with expertise.
Connect regional initiatives with European networks.
Connect ideas with opportunities.
For Cristiana Costa, Project Coordinator at Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN), InnoStars creates value by looking beyond the boundaries of a single project. She sees the organisation as a connector, bringing together innovation-driven activities with the wider European healthcare innovation ecosystem and helping SMEs access the networks, expertise and opportunities needed to move closer to market adoption.
“InnoStars brings strong value by connecting innovation-driven project activities with a broader European health innovation ecosystem.”
The importance of that role extends well beyond networking.
Healthcare innovators often possess excellent technologies but lack access to the relationships that enable those technologies to progress towards implementation. By bringing together innovation ecosystems, healthcare organisations, investors and business support, InnoStars helps create an environment where ideas can continue developing long after a project has finished.
Sarah describes this role from inside the consortium.
“A large part of my role involves working with partners, SMEs, healthcare stakeholders and regional ecosystems to ensure that the project’s results reach the right audiences and continue creating value beyond the project’s duration.”
Perhaps this is why so many partners speak about InnoStars not simply as a project participant, but as an ecosystem builder.
Every partnership starts with trust.
Long before organisations agree to collaborate, submit proposals or join new initiatives, they ask themselves a simple question:
Who are we working with?
For Michael Barngrover from XR4Europe, one of InnoStars’ greatest strengths is the credibility it has built across the European innovation ecosystem. He believes that reputation plays a critical role in bringing the right organisations and stakeholders around the table from the very beginning.
“There is so much credibility built up in the InnoStars network. It’s immediately recognisable. That’s important because stakeholders must believe in the credibility of the project before they invest their time and energy in engaging with it.”
In European collaborative projects, credibility is more than reputation.
It creates confidence.
It shortens the distance between organisations.
It encourages people to participate, contribute ideas and invest their time.
The reflections shared by XR4Europe suggest that one of InnoStars’ greatest assets is not only the network it has built, but also the confidence that network inspires.
Communication with a purpose
One misconception quickly disappeared during these interviews.
None of the partners described InnoStars simply as “the communication partner”.
Instead, communication was repeatedly linked to something much broader.
Creating opportunities.
Supporting innovation.
Building ecosystems.
Helping SMEs move forward.
IPN perhaps captured this most clearly by describing InnoStars as bringing “a communication, dissemination and ecosystem-building perspective” to the consortium.
Rather than communicating only about project achievements, the InnoStars team works closely with flagship SMEs to identify gaps in their value chains, connect them with relevant expertise, facilitate partnerships and contribute to business and investment planning.
Sarah has seen similar challenges emerge regardless of where innovators are based.
“Many healthcare XR innovators face similar challenges on their journey to market. Regardless of the country they operate in or the specific solution they are developing, many encounter obstacles related to validation, market access, partnerships or integration into healthcare systems.”
Communication, therefore, becomes much more than visibility. It becomes part of the innovation process itself.
Collaboration is built through people
International projects are often described through organisations, work packages and governance structures. The people behind those structures receive far less attention. Yet almost every partner highlighted the human dimension of collaboration.
Perhaps the most memorable reflection came from Giulia Mezzanotte of Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), who summed up the foundation of successful international collaboration with remarkable simplicity:
“It’s about collaborating with people, not just partner institutions or logos.”
Those words stayed with us.
Because they describe something that cannot be captured in a consortium agreement.
Successful collaboration depends on openness, trust and the willingness to understand each other’s perspectives.
Reflecting on her experience of the partnership, Patricia Couceiro from Unidade Local de Saúde de Coimbra points to InnoStars’ proactive approach and its determination to create value that extends well beyond contractual project outputs.
“What stands out most is the team’s proactive approach, responsiveness, and strong focus on creating value beyond the immediate project deliverables.”
Similarly, Michael Barngrover from XR4Europe emphasised that effective leadership does not mean excluding others from decision-making.
“They’re very efficient and competent. They lead their work package but make sure to keep us involved in both how the project executes and when. The team has been collaborative and curious about our ideas while maintaining a clear timeline and efficient execution.”
Taken together, these reflections describe a partnership style based on participation rather than hierarchy.
Partners are not simply informed.
They are involved.
Experience becomes visible when complexity appears
Some of the most valuable contributions to collaborative projects are almost invisible.
They are found in the moments when complexity needs to be managed.
When processes become demanding.
When experience makes the difference between delay and progress.
Giulia Mezzanotte, FBK highlighted exactly this point.
“Cascade funding can easily become a minefield without the right experience, but they manage it incredibly well.”
It is a reminder that successful innovation projects require more than vision.They also require organisations capable of navigating complex administrative, financial and operational processes while allowing innovators to remain focused on what they do best.
When asked to summarise InnoStars in only two words, Giulia answered simply:
“Reliable and reassuring.”
Perhaps no project KPI captures partnership better than that.
Creating value that outlives the project
Although VR Health Champions has defined objectives and a clear timeline, none of the partners we interviewed saw the collaboration ending with the final deliverable.
Instead, they spoke about what comes next.
FBK has already invited several consortium partners into new collaborative initiatives.
XR4Europe believes the relationships established through VRHC will support future workshops, policy recommendations and new activities helping healthcare XR companies navigate European markets.
ULS Coimbra sees the consortium as the beginning of future collaborations in digital health innovation.
IPN describes the project as laying the foundations for a long-term support ecosystem that integrates clinical, technical, regulatory and business expertise.
These perspectives closely reflect Sarah’s own vision of success.
“If, a few years from now, some of the innovations supported through VR Health Champions are being used in hospitals and healthcare organisations across Europe, I would feel that we have made a meaningful contribution -not only to the companies we supported, but also to the future of healthcare innovation in Europe.”
The goal, ultimately, is not simply to complete a project.
It is to leave behind stronger companies.
Stronger partnerships.
A stronger innovation ecosystem.
More than a project partner
After speaking with organisations from across the VR Health Champions consortium, one conclusion became impossible to ignore.
None of our partners began by talking about communication campaigns.
None of them started with dissemination activities or work packages.
Instead, they spoke about credibility.
About trust.
About collaboration.
About opening doors.
About connecting organisations that otherwise might never have worked together.
Those reflections reveal something that cannot be communicated through institutional messaging alone.
They show what collaboration with InnoStars feels like from the perspective of the people who experience it.
And perhaps that is the most meaningful way to understand our role in European innovation.
Not simply through the projects we deliver.
But through the partnerships we build, the ecosystems we strengthen and the people who choose to work with us again.