In July 2001, the aviation companies in Hamburg, the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, and a number of associations and institutions joined forces to establish the Joint Initiative “Hamburg – The place for aviation.” The result is a multi-layered network with one common aim: to boost Hamburg’s national and international standing as one of the world’s leading centres of civil aviation and to communicate the excellent prospects for both companies and employees in northern Germany. Mutual relations among members of the initiative are char-acterised by cooperation and the pursuit of overlapping interests and aims. Out of the Joint Initiative evolved a network of partnerships, the Aviation Cluster Hamburg Metropolitan Re-gion.