Med Cities face the problem of overwhelming waste production demanding effective management. Circular Economy (CE) may offer a solution to this challenge, reintroducing waste in the production cycle. Additionally, Cultural & Creative Industries (CCIs) present a remarkable percentage of the total Med Cities urban production. Therefore, building on their common identity by integrating into their productive schemes the circular principles is of great importance. INNOMED-UP proposes to collaborate with CCI SMEs so as to shift local urban economies towards a circular production/consumption paradigm including optimal use of material resources, innovation enhancement for SME level, knowledge transfer among Med-cities, social inclusion and citizens’ engagement. General objective of INNOMED-UP is to propose a strategy for Med Cities, where CCI SMEs create circular economy clusters locally and participate at cross border innovation networks thus promoting urban and social inclusion.
Specific objectives of the project are the following:
- CCI SMEs Clustering in the Mediterranean historic city centers promoting urban revitalization and social integration Networking at cross border level, accessing knowledge Innovation Endorsement of Industrial Symbiosis, Social Economy and Cross-Border schemes. Synergies with local governments and stakeholders.
- CCI SMEs access to new and external knowledge from the research/educational sector and experts on CE and training on the use of new technologies and smart tools to accelerate innovation and boost their competitiveness. Deliver new innovative products and new business models for CCI SMEs on the circular economy concept.
- Promotion of social engagement with CE practices through six case study clusters and active involvement of local stakeholders/local communities. Boosting job opportunities, Enhancement of Social Cooperative Entrepreneurship and Sharing Economy, Promotion of social inclusive and gender equality policies.
Main expected results:
- Urban centers’ revitalization through CCI SMEs supporting the adoption of Circular practices.
- Use and promotion of local knowledge and technology. (Know-how?)
- Development of new networks and clusters of cooperation.
- Production of new innovative products from recycled/upcycled materials.
Among Med Cities, the adoption of new, wasteless productive schemes by CCIs is of outmost importance for the resilience of cities. Project duration: 01 September 2019 – 31 August 2022
The project INNOMED-UP is implemented in the framework of ENI CBC “Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme” 2014-2020 (http://www.enicbcmed.eu/). The total budget of the project is 3.12 million € and 2.8 million € are funded by the European Union through The European Neighbourhood Instrument.
Website: http://www.enicbcmed.eu/projects/innomed-up
Partners:
- National Technical University of Athens NTUA, Greece, Attiki
- Environmental Ploanning Engineering and Management – EPEM, Greece, Attiki
- Municipality of Prato – MoP, Italy, Toscana
- Center for Economic and Social Research for the South of Italy – CRESM, Italy, Sicilia
- Municipality of Tunis, Tunisia, Tunis
- Birzeit University – BZU , Palestine
- Future Pioneers for Empowering Communities’ Members in the environmental and educational fields – FPEC, Jordan, Amman
future-pioneers.org
