embrace Project in full development

Since February 2018, the embrace project is working on tackling common territorial challenges, faced in the MED area, such as: lag in the transition process to a green and competitive circular economy; limited efficieny of policies on promoting resource efficiency and eco-Innovation for a smart and sustainable growth; clusterization of the EU economy.

Up to this day the embrace toolkit, an innnovative instrument applied by SMEs, but allso addressed to Intermediary Organizations (IOs) / Clusters, Policy Makers (PM), is developed and put into practice. More than 70 SMEs from the MED area have been introduced to the toolkit and try it. 

 

 

 

Introducing the embrace Toolkit

The Toolkit is an innovative, user-friendly instrument addressed to SMEs, Intermediary Organizations (IOs) / Clusters, Policy Makers (PM) in agro-food and wine sectors engaged in in a circular way. The Toolkit consists of 18 main tools. It relies on existing experiences, tools and models, but represents a totally new and original methodology and product fine-tuned and ready for use.

The Toolkit has been developed based on: a review of existing experiences, tools and models and evaluation of their suitability for adoption of some  parts of them to the embrace project; selected methodologies and tools have been fine-tuned and adapted and new tools developed; the Toolkit has been conceived and developed based on an iterative process.

The embrace Toolkit consists of 18 main tools. Here are the first five.

embrace Tool A: Ecocanvas Circular Business Model Prototyping

This tool is intended to get circular prototypes of products or services. A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from. A prototype is generally used to evaluate a new design to enhance precision by entrepreneurs and business managers. Prototyping serves to provide specifications for a real, working system rather than a theoretical one. In some design workflow models, creating a prototype (a process sometimes called materialization) is the step between the formalization and the evaluation of an idea.

Check more on embrace Tool A: Ecocanvas Circular Business Model Prototyping here!

embrace Tool A1: Ecocanvas: Business needs and challenges

This Tool is intended to get circular business ideas, products or services and to define what are the market needs and the most challenging aspects of current or initial value propositions. The aim of this tool is to spot the needs of your project / organisation, as a starting point. In order to set a course towards circularity, you have to list all the needs and challenges that you have detected so far and when you have finished, you will start to choose which one (or more) is the most pressing one/s.

Check more on embrace Tool A1: Ecocanvas: Business needs and challenges here!

embrace Tool A2: Ecocanvas: Business Values, Mission & Vision

The aim of this tool is to start understanding the mission, vision and values of the organisation. Sometimes organisations need to rethink about their purpose in order to redesign their strategies, commit themselves to a cause or start considering the environment and social challenges as their mission. You should begin from the basics, identifying what are the organizational values at the bottom of the pyramid (they the pillars), then declare your Mission to finally achieve your Vision. 

Check more on embrace Tool A2: Ecocanvas: Business Values, Mission & Vision here!

embrace Tool A3: Ecocanvas: Selecting a product, service or system

Circular Economy is about metabolisms, interconnected nodes, about systems. So we are sked to start thinking differently about product or services. Systems thinking is a holistic approach to analysis that focuses on the way that a system's constituent parts interrelate and how systems work over time and within the context of larger systems. This tool is aimed at accompanying organization in defining what is their product-service system. 

Check more on embrace Tool A3: Ecocanvas: Selecting a product, service or system here!

embrace Tool A4: Ecocanvas: Setting project objectives and KPIs

With this tool organizations can define from their top needs & challenges what are the objective and how they are going to measure them along the project. Moreover, they will set their KPIs that are SMART: Specific (simple, sensible, significant), Measurable (meaningful, motivating), Achievable (agreed, attainable), Relevant (reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based), Time bound (time-based, time limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive).

Check more on embrace Tool A4: Ecocanvas: Setting project objectives and KPIs here!

 

From theory into practice: primary results of the embrace project!

The application of the Toolkit to SMEs of the Agro-food and Wine Sectors has provided crucial insights and the primary results can group projects that are deemed to contribute to the circular economy in the following Circularity Categories:

- Application of reduce/recycle strategies in design/production phases; A.Design for modularity, easy repair, disassembly and recycling, and longer product life, B.Substituting virgin materials with secondary/recycled materials, C.Reducing input of hazardous substances to facilitate reuse and recycling, D.Development/deployment of innovative materials and process technology that increase circular resource efficiency.

- Application of reuse/repair/repurpose/refurbish/remanufacture strategies in use phase; A.Reuse, repair and remanufacturing of products and components up to generally accepted industry standards,  B.Repurposing and refurbishment of abandoned buildings and redundant assets up to generally accepted industry standards C.Decontamination and redevelopment of abandoned brownfield sites, D.Extension of use/life of assets/products through product-as-service, sharing, leasing/ E.Subscription business models incorporating circular economy principles

- Application of recycle/recover strategies in after-use phase;  A.Recovery of materials and chemicals from waste, residues and by-products, B.Recovery of bio-resources, chemicals and nutrients from bio-waste, bio-residues and wastewater sludge, C.Recovery of energy from residual biomass, bio-waste, bio-residues and organic sludge, D.Recovery of waste heat E.Reuse of treated wastewater.

- Support and facilitation of all circular strategies in all lifecycle phases; A.Development/deployment of key enabling ICT technologies and services supporting/facilitating circular business models and value chains.

 

WHITE PAPERS ON THE TRANSITION TOWARDS GREEN GROWTH AND A CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

4 Thematic Working Groups (TWGs) were created within the Green Growth Community to drive systematic technical cooperation and synergies and enable capitalisation and policy outputs. The themes were developed along the lines of the EU Circular Economy Action Plan.  

White Paper 1 – Make More with Less: Resource Efficiency

TWG1 tackled challenges related to resource efficiency with a focus on the agrofood sector and urban areas through the implementation of the Smart City concept. This White Paper zooms in on the difficulties that companies face in measuring their environmental footprint and resource efficiency; the use of predominantly low-cost, low-tech, labour-intensive and rudimentarily equipped greenhouses; the lack of energy efficiency and renovation of EU buildings. It then presents the projects’ solutions and the benefits of resource efficiency for both the environment and the economy.  

White Paper 2 – Towards Circular Towns and Cities: Green & Smart Public Services

TWG2 provided solutions for green public procurement and addressed issues linked to the lacking integration of sustainability and circular economy criteria in green public procurement and the provision of public services. This White Paper also highlights the need to develop the capacity of private actors to adopt eco-innovation and green energy in order to participate in green e-tenders. A further focus concerns the limited availability of mobility data in urban areas due to a reluctance to share data and the high costs involved in data aggregation and management.

White Paper 3 – Zero waste: problems become opportunities in Waste Prevention & Management

TWG3 promoted solutions to reduce both organic (livestock) and inorganic waste, and mapped technologies, systems, and strategies for proper waste management. The paper illustrates the issues faced by TWG3, such as the over-production and over-application of slurry and manure with high nitrogen content and the need to treat it, as well as the lack of treatment of organic and inorganic agrifood waste. The document highlights the projects’ contributions to achieve the full utilization of resources throughout their life cycle in order to create a circular economy.

White Paper 4 – Fit for a circular future: Competitiveness & Innovation

TWG4 implemented and assessed solutions to promote the competitiveness and innovation of Mediterranean SMEs in a circular economy. It addresses issues linked to smart specialization, public-private partnerships and innovative funding; the lack of effective clusters for companies and stakeholders to connect, work together and transfer innovations; the limited access of SMEs to tools, services and funds that drive innovation; limited consumer awareness and interest in “green” and “circular” products and services.

White Paper 5 – Synergies for Green Growth

This transversal White Paper displays the horizontal approach towards cooperation on Circular Economy and Green Growth in the Mediterranean as well as  the challenges, success factors and lessons learned.

Find out more on the Green Growth's White Papers here!

 

European Green Deal Call: €1 billion investment to boost the green and digital transition

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. 

This call will spur Europe’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis by turning green challenges into innovation opportunities. According to Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth: “The €1 billion European Green Deal call is the last and biggest call under Horizon 2020. With innovation at its heart, this investment will accelerate a just and sustainable transition to a climate-neutral Europe by 2050. As we do not want anyone left behind in this systemic transformation, we call for specific actions to engage with citizens in novel ways and improve societal relevance and impact.”

Find out more on the call here!