The European Commission has decided to launch a €1 billion call for research and innovation projects that respond to the climate crisis and help protect Europe’s unique ecosystems and biodiversity. The Horizon 2020-funded European Green Deal Call is open for registration. It will spur Europe’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis by turning green challenges into innovation opportunities.
On 16 September 2020, the President of the European Commission, Ms Ursula von der Leyen, gave her first State of the European Union address. President von der Leyen presented the priorities of the Commission for the coming year where the green transition of the economy and the circular economy hold prominent places.
This document is the result of the active involvement of the Interreg MED Green Growth community, together with its projects.
To make circular economy (CE) simpler, more efficient and more competitive, it is suggested to take a holistic, integrated and cooperative approach, by considering all phases in which CE is structured, all levels (from local to European) and all stakeholders involved in the implementation of CE models.
The policy recommendations proposed in the document are structured into six main areas:
Investments and access to finance
Technological infrastructure
Labour market and employment
Awareness and knowledge
Cooperation among stakeholders and technology transfer
The EU-funded DigiCirc project aimed to digitalise the circular economy by building on the innovation potential of SMEs in three strategic areas: Circular Cities, Blue Economy, Bioeconomy.
Open calls for each domain were launched to select 45 consortia of SMEs. The consortia took part in one of the three acceleration programmes to transform concepts into robust business models, a process which was completed in 2022. DigiCirc Open Courses disseminate the contents developed for the three acceleration programmes.
The European project DigiCirc aims toboost the circular economy using digital tools by supporting very innovative SMEs. In order to define the current challenges of a Circular City, DigiCirc is collecting the testimonies of different key actors of the market (local authorities, companies, citizens, etc.) through a questionnaire.
FLOOW2 is working locally and internationally, to identify the need, and the opportunities of asset sharing for businesses by offering a sharing marketplace solution for every business, organization and network.
PharmaSwap is a unique sharing marketplace for pharmacists, hospital-based or otherwise. It creates transparency in the supply and demand for expensive medicines.
The CirQuality OWL plus project is funded by the EU (ERDF) and the Federal State North-Rhine Westfalia with the aim of fostering the circular economy in the area of Eastern Westfalen-Lippe (OWL).
Several regional partners from different fields (from energy to technologies to food to universities and associations) have teamed up to use the circular economy to get the region off the ground in an innovative, crisis-proof, resilient and sustainable way. Together, they organise events and strive to meet the following goals:
Qualification of future specialists and managers for the circular economy
Circular Supply Chain Management Solutions (SSCM)
Turnaround to circular thinking and economics in the building sector
Waste and circular economy of the future in the OWL region.
The National Institute for Circular Economy (INEC) in France is launching the Circular Schools Programme (PEC), an operational project aimed at making schools a model for the circular economy.
